Fullmetal Plagiarist

In this recent post on Teal Bosworth Scott Swan, I wrote about what I'm calling her "originality gap." I cited a number of examples of recycled material – numerous blog posts which rely on word for word lifts from her own previous articles. As stated, this is called self-plagiarism. I also touched on her propensity for relaying ideas, words, and images that strongly resemble work from other sources. I have noted a number of these parallels in the noncasts.

For instance, in the noncast entitled "The Bottomless Rabbit Hole," I referenced a rather striking similarity between her painting called Alchemy and art from the series Fullmetal Alchemist. Imagine my surprise at seeing that image, once again, heading her recent blog post.





The image in question is called the "circle of transmutation." It is the unique construction of Fullmetal Alchemist. It is, therefore, proprietary material.




This is not, I should point out, a blog post about the symbolism in Fullmetal Alchemist or its, perhaps, broader implications. It's not an exploration of how either the manga or the anime series convey the principles of Alchemy. That's something I might enjoy reading. I love analyses of how mythology is expressed in popular culture, which is why I write so much on the topic. But, no, this new post is about how unhappy and afraid teal is and how this is somehow reflected in the principles of Western Alchemy.

More to the point, there is almost no original material in the post. Instead, it draws from a number of previously published works of hers: an article and video on feeling like the universe is against you, a video, and a poem about Alchemy.

Worse, much of this recycled material is also plagiarized from Wikipedia. The following block quote is the text on Alchemy as it appears in this recent blog post and in the previously published text from which it is taken. I have highlighted in green any phrases, words, and partial words, that are direct lifts from the Wikipedia entries on the same topics. (Some words are in different tenses, have been changed from verbs to gerunds, and so on.) I have highlighted text in rose that I have deemed to be paraphrases of those Wikipedia entries. It's not just the highlighted material that is plagiarized, however. To plagiarize content does not simply mean ripping text word for word or paraphrasing it. Any content that conveys "information that is not common knowledge or self-evident," from an un-cited source, is considered plagiarism.

... The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages, which are represented by colors…

Nigredo, a blackening or melanosis. [sic]  It is putrefaction or decomposition. Ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked extensively.  Internally, this represents a kind of spiritual death["dark night of the soul"] and the confronting of one’s shadow aspect.

Albedo,a whitening or leucosis. [sic] The washing away of impurities.  The physical subject (such as an ingredient) is to be purified and divided into two opposing principles.  Internally, this represents regaining the original purity and receptivity of the soul.  Washing away the ashes to find the soul.

Cirtinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis. [sic] This refers to transmutation.  The actual turning of a subject (such as an ingredient) into its highest state such as silver into gold.  Internally this represents awakening. Becoming a manifestation of the soul.  Becoming a walking embodiment of the soul, rather than a muted reflection of it["dawning of the 'solar light' inherent in one's being, and that the reflective 'lunar or soul light' was no longer necessary"].** It is a process of turning.

Rubedo,a reddening, purpling, or iosis. [sic]  Rubedo refers to the end state["culmination"].  Alchemical success.  The achievement of the perfected state.  The final state of perfection of a subject (such as an ingredient).  It can be interpreted as achieving enlightened consciousness and the total fusion of spirit and matter. ["wholeness"]  This stage is often represented by the symbol of the phoenix.

**If you doubt my analysis of the paraphrased section, see her stanza on Citrinitas:

We can see now
That the moon’s light["lunar or soul light"]
Is not sun light, ["solar light"]
It is just a reflection.
We are just a reflection of what we really are.
When we decide to turn from moonlight to sunlight

To begin with, each of the sentence fragments with which she begins her definitions of the "stages," is a word for word lift from this Wikipedia post on the Magnum Opus– Great Work – of Alchemy. The little numbers in brackets, in the Wikipedia posts correspond to footnotes, because Wikipedia, for all its faults, cites its sources.

... It originally had four stages:^[1][2]

• nigredo, a blackening or melanosis
• albedo, a whitening or leucosis
• citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis
• rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis

Here is the source text for the definition of Nigredo. 

In alchemy, nigredo, or blackness, means putrefaction or decomposition. The alchemists believed that as a first step in the pathway to the philosopher's stone all alchemical ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked extensively to a uniform black matter.^[1]

In analytical psychology, the term became a metaphor 'for the dark night of the soul, when an individual confronts the shadow within'.^[2]

Here is the source text for the definition of Albedo.

In alchemy, albedo is one of the four major stages of the magnum opus; along with nigredo, citrinitas and rubedo. It is a Latinicized term meaning "whiteness". Following the chaos or massa confusa of the nigredo stage, the alchemist undertakes a purification in albedo, which is literally referred to as ablutio– the washing away of impurities. In this process, the subject is divided into two opposing principles to be later coagulated to form a unity of opposites or coincidentia oppositorum during rubedo.^[1]

Titus Burckhardt interprets the albedo as the end of the lesser work, corresponding to a spiritualization of the body. The goal of this portion of the process is to regainthe original purity and receptivity of the soul.^[2] Psychologist Carl Jung equated the albedo with unconscious contrasexual soul images; the anima in men and animus in women. It is a phase where insight into shadow projections are realized, and inflated ego and unneeded conceptualizations are removed from the psyche.

Here is the source text for the definition of Citrinitas.

Citrinitas, sometimes referred to as xanthosis,^[1] is a term given by alchemists to "yellowness." It was one of the four major stages of the alchemical magnum opus, and literally referred to "transmutation of silver into gold" or "yellowing of the lunar consciousness."^{[citation needed]} In alchemical philosophy, citrinitas stood for the dawning of the "solar light" inherent in one's being, and that the reflective "lunar or soul light" was no longer necessary. The other three alchemical stages were nigredo (blackness), albedo (whiteness), and rubedo (redness).

Psychologist Carl Jung is credited with interpreting the pseudo-scientific alchemical process as analogous to modern-day psychoanalysis. In the Jungian archetypal schema, nigredo is the Shadow; albedo refers to the anima and animus (contrasexual soul images); citrinitas is the wise old man (or woman) archetype; and rubedo is the Self archetype which has achieved wholeness.

Finally, this is the source text for the definition of Rubedo.

Rubedo is a Latin word meaning "redness" that was adopted by alchemists to define the fourth and final major stage in their magnum opus. Both gold, and the philosopher's stone were associated with the color red, as rubedo signalled alchemical success, and the end of the great work.^[1] Rubedo is also known by the Greek word, Iosis.

. . .

The symbols used in alchemical writing and art to represent this red stage can include blood, a phoenix, a rose, a crowned king, or a figure wearing red clothes. Countless sources mention a reddening process; the seventeenth dictum of the 12th century Turba Philosophorum is one example:

O Turba of Philosophers and disciples, now hast thou spoken about making into white, but it yet remains to treat concerning the reddening! Know, all ye seekers after this Art, that unless ye whiten, ye cannot make red, because the two natures are nothing other than red and white. Whiten, therefore, the red, and redden the white! ^[3]

. . .

In the framework of psychological development (especially with followers of Jungian psychology), these four alchemical steps are viewed as analogous to the process of attaining individuation. In an archetypal schema, rubedo would represent the Selfarchetype, and would be the culmination of the four stages, the merging of ego and Self.^[4]

The Self manifests itself in "wholeness," a point in which a person discovers their true nature.

What is arguably more troubling than teal's obvious plagiarism of Wikipedia as a source on Alchemy, is that Wikipedia's material is more informative and better developed. It also offers references to source material, for further study.

Aside from the blatant ethical violation that is plagiarism, not providing references disempowers readers. This is and always has been my larger problem with teal. By not citing her sources, she positions herself as the cosmic answer lady. She closes the loop. When you refer the reader to other sources, you offer them the opportunity to read and evaluate those sources and expand their own learning. But, teal has a lot of her followers convinced that she is an authority on Alchemy and other spiritual disciplines, as if she never needed to read any of it. This encourages dependency. Anything you'd ever want to know about anything at all: just "Ask Teal."

No thanks. I can read Wikipedia for myself.

This post has 20 paragraphs and 1 poem of 4 stanzas, so we'll call that 24 paragraphs. Out of that, roughly 7 1/2 paragraphs were not directly traceable to older material, some of which was directly traceable to Wikipedia. Some of that new text is transitions in and out of the previously published material. In other words, a little over a quarter of this post is actually new.

So, what do we learn in those seven paragraphs? That teal is afraid, therefore everyone is afraid. That she went for a run in a sports bra and shorts and has the photographic evidence to prove it. That she's a victim who is being "scapegoated" and has been since childhood. That, for some strange reason, being a homewrecker has earned her some hostility and that this is mystifying to her. Basically, this post boils down to self-pity, self-plagiarism, and some plagiarized Wikipedia stuff about Alchemy.

I know I'm looking forward to teal's "energy diagnosis" of Paris. My husband suspects the "dominant negative vibration" will be something like "booming." My "energy diagnosis" of the smattering of new material in this post, though, is fear and victimhood. If I were a law of attraction person, I'd say it's not surprising that she was "a match" to multiple coordinated terrorist attacks. Her explanation of the timing is a little different, though.


 

Yes, she and her tribe are there to be beacons of light in this difficult time. It's funny how the mass murder by that poor, unfairly maligned boy Elliott Rodger was the reason she didn't move to Santa Barbara, but terrorist attacks in Paris are the reason she did go there. Well, either way, now that she's coordinating these "high frequency" sit-ins, I look forward to hearing about her taking the tribe into Syria.
 
In the meanwhile, if I want to hear about depression and Alchemy, I'll just watch Strindberg and Helium.