Working with the experience
Routledge eBooks October 9, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429449093-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that a numinous experience is made legitimate when patient and analyst accept it as a truly mysterious phenomenon, and that Jung's formulation explains this through the experience's relationship to ego consciousness. Contends that the ego both consolidates its dominance in the psyche and resists relinquishing ascendancy, and proposes that explaining the psychoid region and its unknowable material is needed to situate the psychoanalytic aspect of such experience within religious or mystical traditions. |
Abstract
An experience will be made legitimate when it is accepted by the patient and the analyst as a truly mysterious phenomenon that has occurred. The importance of Jung&s;s formulation to ascribe legitimacy to a numinous experience is to be understood in the relationship of that experience to ego consciousness. There is philosophical debate as to whether a mystical experience is a pure subjective experience or essentially a cognitive event, where the thinking mind is always engaged. The ego holds two fundamental positions in relation to the unconscious: it consolidates its position where possible to be the dominant structure in the psyche; and it resists any attempt to relinquish its ascendancy. An explanation of the psychoid region and its unknowable material may be needed to bring the psychoanalytic aspect of the experience into situations where it is firmly placed within a religious or mystical tradition.