Dear Online Rorschach Self-Diagnostic Quiz Guy:
I hope you read this personally because you’ll laugh your ass off.
My analyst was trained, or supervised by, or trained by someone supervised by Theodor Reik. I suspect Reik analyzed him, even if casually, and maybe also Anna Freud.
Why Anna?
When someone brags every six months, “I once had a ninety-minute phone conversation with Anna Freud,” you start to wonder.
The only way I’ve found thus far to tease him is to say, “So, you had a private lesson with Siggy’s daughter?”
In any case…
Last week, I walked in to see a Rorschach pack on his desk. I wanted a good look. He demurred.
“It’s incomplete.”
“So? Are they the real deal?”
“Yes.”
“Then, c’mon, Daniel. Let me see? Puleeze?”
What followed was most likely wildly diagnostic, in spite of the fact that he protested, “This isn’t how it’s administered” and “Your comments don’t mean anything.”
Like hell, they don’t.
Remember, this is one of Theodor Reik’s favorites who had the equivalent of a private master class with Anna. I mean, really. You don’t think he ran a Rorschach in his head the day I walked through his door?
For all I know, he did it on purpose—left the box of cards where I’d find them—to see if there was some godawful hidden pathology in me that he hadn’t managed to drag out in three years.
I had a lot of fun. He said nothing. Afterward, went on with the session, but when I got home, I did a little research on what you’re “supposed to see.”
When I fell across your site, I about fell out of my chair regarding Card VII and that if you see a certain thing, you’re probably “schizophrenic.”
I now submit for your amusement my observations:
Card I
“This is…magic. It’s a woman…doing…I don’t know…magic, but not a witch…see the hands? It’s just…magic.”
Card V
“Oh for… it’s the stupid moth. Everybody knows that,” and I stuffed it back in the package.
Card VIII *
Instantly, “That’s human vertebrae.”
He just looked at me.
“Oh, for … you took anatomy and physiology in your gym teacher undergrad, Dan. Do I have to bring in my pharmacy textbook? It’s vertebrae.”
Card X:
I got that one right, except I turned it upside down, so the brown thing is “the skeleton of a horseshoe crab.”
Pathological nature? Or environmental nurture?
I do happen to live on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Card VII, the Deadly One:
“Oh wow, look at all the white space.”
Then, about two seconds later, no more than three:
“Daniel, this is birth.”
He looked at me funny as I continued to stare, completely enthralled, looking for some way to explain it.
Finally, I said, “See that? Down at the bottom? That’s sort of a…birth canal…sort of…but…”
Three magical seconds later: “This is Birth!”
Now, I had no clue you were not supposed to give abstract answers like “magic” and “birth.” I’m also highly amused that “seeing all that white space” can indicate latent schizophrenia, but I’ll leave you with this:
In pondering how schizophrenics’ minds work—the voices, the characters, the colors, the ideas—I’ve decided that, unless you’re truly loopy and need serious meds, a little schizophrenia is one hell of an asset for a writer.
*Update 10.13.2023
I pulled up the images. I don’t know now which card he had, but as of today’s review:
Card VIII: a human pelvic bowl
Card IX: that structure on a cooked chicken that’s encased in bones as fine as a fish spine, so don’t bother picking out the meat. Drop the whole works in the pot for bone broth … and it also somehow represents a vagina.
Images courtesy of Fineartamerica.com
NOTE: Maybe I see Rorschach differently because I see everything differently
Click HERE or on the image below to find out Do You See What I See?
Featured image courtesy of Fotolia
