Exploring the Sacred Medieval Psyche: The Flowering of Feminine Mysticism, 1200–1350

Within the writings and teachings of three 13th-century female mystics, Hadewijch of Flanders, Mechthild of Magdeberg, and Marguerite Porete of Hainault, we discover a new beginning in Christian mysticism, where the unio mystico is brought up to a new level of relationship. While simultaneously redeeming and strengthening the feminine, both within the God-image and within medieval Christian society, this new relationship is now characterized as reciprocal, in that the mystic can influence God as much as God can influence the mystic.

Jung suggested that instead of imitating the spiritual techniques of the East, it would be better to find out whether an introverted tendency exists in the unconscious that is similar to this guiding principle so that “we would be in a position to build on our own ground with our own methods” (1958, par. 773). Jungian dream analysis and active imagination are methods of achieving this, and the roots of these methods in the West link back to Christian mysticism.

The similarities between Christian mysticism and depth psychology are numerous, but in particular it is the practice of sacrificing and withdrawing projections from the outer world that allows the internalized libidinal energy to activate the inner God-image. This leads us to the critical understanding that just as the mystics knew that God was within them, so we too in the modern age, thanks to Jung's work, understand that the Self exists within the individual psyche.     

Jung's equation of the ground of being with the ground of psyche

The paper amplifies Jung's psychology of ground associated with the culmination of the alchemical process in the unus mundus. It argues that Jung and Dorn identify the experience of the ground with the experience of divinity as the common originary source of individual and totality. It notes the monistic and pantheistic implications of the experience and goes on to amplify the experience through Eckhart's mediaeval mysticism of ground and Paul Tillich's modern philosophical/theological understanding of ground. It concludes that the Jung/Dorn psychological understanding of ground supersedes monotheistic consciousness. Their vision supports the emergence of a societal myth based on the identification of the ground as the source of all divinities and faith in them. This source currently urges a mythic consciousness that would surpass its past and current concretions and so alleviate the threat that monotheistic consciousness in any domain now poses to human survival.     

Archaic man meets a marvellous automaton: posthumanism,social robots,archetypes

Posthumanism is associated with critical explorations of how new technologies are rewriting our understanding of what it means to be human and how they might alter human existence itself. Intersections with analytical psychology vary depending on which technologies are held in focus. Social robotics promises to populate everyday settings with entities that have populated the imagination for millennia. A legend of A Marvellous Automaton appears as early as 350 B.C. in a book of Taoist teachings, and is joined by ancient and medieval legends of manmade humanoids coming to life, as well as the familiar robots of modern science fiction. However, while the robotics industry seems to be realizing an archetypal fantasy, the technology creates new social realities that generate distinctive issues of potential relevance for the theory and practice of analytical psychology.     

Marking the Perception–Cognition Boundary: The Criterion of Stimulus-Dependence

Philosophy, scientific psychology, and common sense all distinguish perception from cognition. While there is little agreement about how the perception–cognition boundary ought to be drawn, one prominent idea is that perceptual states are dependent on a stimulus, or are stimulus-dependent, in a way that cognitive states are not. This paper seeks to develop this idea in a way that can accommodate two apparent counterexamples: hallucinations, which are prima facie perceptual yet stimulus-independent; and demonstrative thoughts, which are prima facie cognitive yet stimulus-dependent. The payoff is not only a specific proposal for marking the perception–cognition boundary, but also a deeper understanding of the natures of hallucination and demonstrative thought.     

Countertransference as active imagination: imaginative experiences of the analyst

Active imagination is at the heart of Jung's elucidation of depth psychology. Yet, in the discourse of present day analytical psychology theory it is not always given the serious attention accorded to some other Jungian concepts. Active imagination emerges spontaneously within the 'third' area--the imaginal or dynamic field--in-between patient and analyst. It is commonly regarded as the patient's experience but I am proposing that, looked upon as the analyst's experience as well, active imagination offers a distinctly Jungian way of understanding some forms of countertransference. I am describing what I think many present-day analytical psychologists already do in their clinical practice but, as far as I know, it has not been theorized in quite this way before. The intention is to exploit the unique contribution of our Jungian heritage by reframing certain profoundly symbolic countertransference-generated imagery as active imagination. In this article these are differentiated from other less complex forms of imaginative countertransference through examples from clinical practice. The point is that such countertransference experiences may activate the symbolic function in the analyst and thus contribute to the mediation of emergent consciousness in the analysand.     

Could Presentism in the Histories of Psychology Actually be Futuristic?

Disputes about the origins of psychology in the history of the discipline are functional not for our understanding of the past, but as normative signs that regulate the construction of ideas in the future. We introduce the notion of open-ended normativity that regulates the development of a given discipline towards its future. Hence the question of the cultural origins of psychology becomes contested in the 21st century as an important topic. It proves that the history of psychology is an active participant in the making of psychology, as it is creating its future.     

Archetypes as action patterns1

Abstract: The discovery of mirror neurons by researchers at the University of Parma promises to radically alter our understanding of fundamental cognitive and affective states. This paper explores the relationship of mirror neurons to Jung's theory of archetypes and proposes that archetypes may be viewed as elementary action patterns. The paper begins with a review of a proposed interpretation of the fainting spells of S. Freud in his relationship with Jung as an example of an action pattern that also defines an archetypal image. The challenge that mirror neurons present to traditional views in analytical psychology and psychoanalysis, however, is that they operate without recourse to a cognitive processing element. This is a position that is gaining increasing acceptance in other fields as well. The paper therefore reviews the most recent claims made by the Boston Process of Change Study Group as well as conclusions drawn from dynamic systems views of development and theoretical robotics to underline the conclusion that unconscious agency is not a requirement for coherent action. It concludes with the suggestion that this entire body of research may lead to the conclusion that the dynamic unconscious is an unnecessary hypothesis in psychoanalysis and analytical psychology.     

Mindfulness in Context: A Historical Discourse Analysis

‘Mindfulness’ has become a buzzword, yet its meaning and origins have received relatively little critical consideration. This article places the current ‘mindfulness movement’ in context, examining the evolving discourse surrounding the concept of mindfulness. Through the first systematic etymology of the term, drawing from old Western and Buddhist writings, contemporary psychology and popular media, it is established that the contemporary understanding of mindfulness has been substantially simplified and divorced from its origins. However, quantitative data suggests that this manoeuvre was essential for the mainstreaming of the concept. Moreover, the resulting momentum has stimulated a new and dynamic discourse about the relationship between ‘secular’ mindfulness and Buddhism, sparking questions about ‘McMindfulness’, ‘stealth’ Buddhism and cultural imperialism. Therefore, this article argues that the recontextualisation of mindfulness created the scaffolding that supported the emergence of a deeper and more meaningful conversation about its implications for Buddhism and society that we see today.     

NEUROMYTHOLOGY: BRAINS AND STORIES

Abstract. I sketch a synthetic integration of several levels of explanation in addressing how myths, narratives, and stories engage human beings, produce their sense of identity and self‐understanding, and shape their intellectual, emotional, and embodied lives. Ultimately it is our engagement with the metanarratives of religious imagination by which we address a set of existentially necessary but ontologically unanswerable metaphysical questions that form the basis of religious belief. I show how a multileveled understanding of evolutionary biology, history, neuroscience, psychology, narrative, and mythology may form a coherent picture of the human spirit. Neuropsychological functions involved in constructing and responding to the narratives by which we form our identities and build meaningful lives include memory, attention, emotional marking, and temporal sequencing. It is the neural substrate, the emotional shaping, and the narrative structuring of higher cognitive function that provide the sine qua non for the construction of meaning, relationship, morality, and purpose that extend beyond our personal boundaries, both spatial and temporal. This includes a neural affect system shaped by our developmental dependency, the dynamic narratives of self formed in the development of identity and reconstructed over the life span, drawing on culturally available mythic and storied forms. Narrative constitutes our movement in moral space and may have the potential both for healing and for disruption for us as individuals and as a species, providing a contingent solution to the alienation and fragmentation of personhood, relationship, and community.     

The dynamic role of personality States in mediating the relationship between extraversion and positive affect

One of the most noteworthy and robust findings in personality psychology is the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. Existing theories have debated the origins and nature of this relationship, offering both structural/fixed and environmental/dynamic explanations. We tested the novel and straightforward dynamic hypothesis that part of the reason trait extraversion predicts trait positive affect is through an increased propensity to enact extraverted states, which in turn leads to experiencing more positive affect states. We report 5 experience sampling studies (and a meta‐analysis of primary studies) conducted in natural environments and laboratory settings in which undergraduate participants (N = 241) provided ratings of trait extraversion, trait positive affect, extraversion states, and positive affect states. Results of primary studies and the meta‐analysis showed that relationships between trait extraversion and trait positive affect were partially mediated by aggregated extraversion states and aggregated positive affect states. The results supported our dynamic hypothesis and suggested that dynamic explanations of the relationship between trait extraversion and trait positive affect are compatible with structural explanations. An important implication of these findings is that individuals might be able to increase their happiness by self‐regulating their extraverted states.     

History of Methodology in Psychology: Starting Point,Not the Goal

Current mainstream psychology is characterized by mismatch between questions asked and methods used to answer the questions. There are several important and theoretically justified methodological principles that can be found in pre-WWII (mostly continental Europe) psychology, but disappeared from current mainstream psychology. Future psychology can be built with understanding that not everything that is new is better than the old and not everything that disappeared in the history of psychology disappeared for rational reasons. Methodological thinking of several pre-WWII psychologists may have been far ahead of current mainstream psychology.

Military Psychology: Applicable Research1

Many psychologists and social scientists are unaware of the field of military psychology. Although marginally aware of Division 19: Military Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA), a number of psychologists have very mistaken ideas about what military psychology includes and the uses thereof (APA Monitor, 1984). The purpose of this special issue is to present some research conducted under the rubric of military psychology. This issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (JASP) may provide some preliminary answers to the frequently asked questions: What is this creature called military psychology? Who does it? What kinds of research are classified as military psychology?What Is Military Psychology?     

Hartmann, health, and homosexuality: some clinical aspects of "Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation"

Hartmann's theories have experienced a remarkable rise and fall in popularity over the past fifty years. In this paper, an effort is made to arrive at a balanced view. The genetic and economic aspects of Hartmann's ego psychology are found to be problematic, but the dynamic aspect led to a sophisticated psychoanalytic concept of health as yet unsurpassed. Hartmann always called for the clinical application of his ideas. In this spirit, a vignette is offered from a clinical area in which questions of "health" and "illness" are particularly vexing at present.     

The truth and nothing but the truth,yet never the whole truth: Frege,Russell and the analysis of unities

It is widely assumed that Russell's problems with the unity of the proposition were recurring and insoluble within the framework of the logical theory of his Principles of Mathematics. By contrast, Frege's functional analysis of thoughts (grounded in a type-theoretic distinction between concepts and objects) is commonly assumed to provide a solution to the problem or, at least, a means of avoiding the difficulty altogether. The Fregean solution is unavailable to Russell because of his commitment to the thesis that there is only one ultimate ontological category. This, combined with Russell's reification of propositions, ensures that he must hold concepts and objects to be of the same logical and ontological type. In this paper I argue that, while Frege's treatment of the unity of the proposition has immediate advantages over Russell's, a deeper consideration of the philosophical underpinnings and metaphysical consequences of the two approaches reveals that Frege's supposed solution is, in fact, far from satisfactory. Russell's repudiation of the Fregean position in the Principles is, I contend, convincing and Russell's own position, despite its problems, conforms to a greater extent than Frege's with common sense and, furthermore, with certain ideas which are central to our understanding of the origins of the analytical tradition.     

Self-imaging: beyond children’s and adolescents’ self-image / El Self imaginando-se: más allá de la autoimagen de niños y adolescentes

Abstract

This article documents the case studies of two Brazilian children aged 10 and 11, for whom drawing is a symbolic tool of self-meaning. Semi-structured interviews were methodologically carried out from drawings they had created previous to and during the interview. Using semiotic cultural psychology as a reference, the concept of Self-imaging is put forward as an alternative to the self-image construct, highlighting the active role of the subject in the construction of his/her life trajectory. Results suggest that the transition process to adolescence represents a challenge in which young people recreate images of themselves by projecting new possibilities of action in the world through their imagination.     

SECOND NATURE AND SPIRIT: HEGEL ON THE ROLE OF HABIT IN THE APPEARANCE OF PERCEPTUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Hegel's discussion of the concept of “habit” appears at a crucial point in his Encyclopedia system, namely, in the transition from the topic of “nature” to the topic of “spirit” (Geist): it is through habit that the subject both distinguishes itself from its various sensory states as an absolute unity (the I) and, at the same time, preserves those sensory states as the content of sensory consciousness. By calling habit a “second nature,” Hegel highlights the fact that incipient spirit retains a “moment” of the natural that marks a limitation compared to “pure thought” but that also makes perceptual consciousness possible. This makes Hegel's account analogous in important respects to John McDowell's “naturalism of second nature.” But Hegel's account of habit can be seen as a version of a Kantian synthesis of the productive imagination—and hence presupposes a given material that can become one's own by means of habit. This does not mean that Hegel falls into the Myth of the Given, but it does suggest that an appropriate account of second nature might be committed to something McDowell wants to deny: that nonconceptual states of consciousness play a role (even if not a justificatory role) in perception.     

On the Physical Origins of Inverted Optic Images

In the behavioral sciences, discussions of vision often carry an implicit assumption that the formation of inverted optic images is a result of human technology (i.e., cameras) or biological mechanisms (i.e., the chambered eye). If this assumption were true, then inverted images would be—in effect—an invention of living things, which, in turn, would have important consequences for our understanding of the evolution and psychology of vision. In this article, I briefly review the history of ideas relating vision and optics to the formation of inverted optic images. I then evaluate the necessary and sufficient conditions for the formation of inverted images. I demonstrate that inverted optic images (including inverted optic flow) can and do form in the absence of any biology and that sufficient conditions for inverted image formation predate the origins of life. Inverted images are not an invention of biological systems; rather, biological systems and human technologies exploit preexisting facts of physical optics. This conclusion is consistent with the ecological premise that life is coherent with physical law.     

C. S. LEWIS & CHRISTOLOGICAL PREFIGUREMENT

This paper is an examination of the Christology and Pneumatology that C. S. Lewis read from the apparent prefiguring of elements of the Incarnation‐Resurrection narrative in religious myths, and also his assertion that the incarnation‐resurrection narrative operates on us both as fact and myth. After an initial examination of the term myth and mythopoeia, Lewis' writings on the myth that became reality (the Christ event) are discussed along with examples of prefigurement. Through his understanding of natural theology (rooted in that of Augustine, though fed by Lewis' daily reading of the Summa Theologiae) and his cautious respect for human imagination (from the poet, theologian and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge) and in contrast to his earlier deference for the conclusions of the Victorian religionist and social anthropologist James George Frazer, Lewis came to regard these prefigurements as the work of the Holy Spirit – intimations of God's salvific action in Christ – though Lewis' orthodoxy saw human imagination as flawed through original sin. This leads us to ask three questions: first, how do these prefigured ideas come to be in these myths and how do these intimations, splintered fragments of the true light, relate to Lewis' understanding of Christ as the light of the world; second, how does the Incarnation‐Resurrection narrative act/operate on us as a myth, whether spoken or read (a baptized imagination is crucial here for Lewis in both the creation and receiving/hearing of such narratives); and third, is there internal evidence for a mythopoeic interpretation within the Incarnation‐Resurrection narrative? Our conclusions can be illustrated by a brief examination of Lewis' own Christian myth – Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia– originally written for a Christian audience but now read by mainly non‐Christian/post‐Christian children and adults.