Depth Psychology Research Articles

Ariadne’s Thread: A Depth Psychology Exploration of Liminal Immanence in Dance/Movement

The ancient Greek myth of Ariadne provides clues about the vitality of movement—its expression and action—and how it evokes a concept of selfhood that does not venerate arrival. This article analyzes how symbols from Ariadne’s myth appear in performances by Martha Graham and Jeanine Durning, which similarly offer examples of dancing as liminal immanence. Ultimately this research shows how a depth psychology perspective, based on Carl Jung’s theories, brings unconscious material to consciousness through analysis of image and symbol and might be a generative framework for analyzing dance and choreography as they connect to theories of individuation and anima/animus.

THE BLOOD AND ALCHEMY OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE: THE BLOOD OF THE ANCESTORS, THE BLOOD OF CHILDBIRTH AND THE BLOOD OF COMMUNION

This work, based on Carl Gustav Jung's depth psychology, looks at blood as an alchemical element of the body and soul that connects us to our roots, to our ancestors, to the original peoples, connecting us both as individuals and as a Brazilian people. By delving into the symbolism of blood and understanding its relationship with the formation and identity of the Brazilian people, some memories will be pointed out regarding the history of the Brazilian people, from the beginning of the colonization process by the white European people, as well as how the Brazilian people were born, the quality of the bonds and relationships between the indigenous original peoples and the Portuguese from the 16th century to the present day, relating some stories that reveal, today, the conflicts over the demarcation of lands and the protection of indigenous peoples in Brazil. Blood, as a living element that constitutes and connects us, will also be approached from the point of view of indigenous mythology, through the narrative of the story of Kamé and Kairú, of the meeting between the Sun and the Moon from the point of view of the Kaingang people. For the alchemical integration of these processes between blood and the individual and collective psyche, the symbolism of blood in the chalice, the blood of communion, will be the alchemical vessel for combining the parts studied here, in order to create awareness and transformation through the process of individuation.

Determinism and Descent: A Naturalistic Exploration of Human Tragedy in Shakespeare's 'King Lear' and Its Lasting Impact on Literary Traditions

This research paper examines the influence of naturalism on literature, focusing on its emergence in the late 19th century and its lasting impact through an analysis of William Shakespeare's 'King Lear.' Naturalism, rooted in scientific determinism, aimed to realistically portray human existence shaped by external forces. The paper explores how 'King Lear' serves as a significant naturalistic work, delving into themes of flawed decisions, betrayal, the inexorable march of time, and the interplay between individual agency and cosmic forces. Shakespeare's characters in 'King Lear' reflect the naturalistic approach to character development, exhibiting psychological depth influenced by their environment and circumstances. The play offers a deterministic vision, aligning with naturalistic principles, and explores the consequences of human choices within a larger cosmic context. The influence of Shakespeare on subsequent naturalistic writers is evident in their nuanced characters and societal explorations. Analyzing 'King Lear' through interconnected naturalistic elements—character motivations, societal structures, and the inexorable march of fate—reveals how Lear's motivations, shaped by societal expectations, lead to a tragic cascade of events. Symbolism and imagery in the play amplify naturalistic themes, such as the storm representing the chaos of human existence. The cathartic experience of tragedy in 'King Lear' is rooted in the naturalistic portrayal of life's harsh realities, prompting reflection on the broader human experience. Diverse critical interpretations, from deterministic readings to discussions on individual agency, add complexity to the naturalistic exploration, inviting readers to engage with the text from various perspectives.

Саариахо, Маалуф, Селларс: соавторство в оперном театре

The focus of the research is the creative collaboration between composer Kaija Saariaho and her regular partners, playwright Amin Maalouf and director Peter Sellars, vividly embodied in the field of musical theater. The subject of the study is three operas by Saariaho, created in different years; the compositions carry a certain artistic image, characterizing the joint work of the three masters. The three operas are united by such a specific factor as the combination of a special psychological depth in the development of the plot with some elements of unreality. In each of the operas, this factor is manifested in its own way. When analyzing various aspects of the works, the article focuses on the degree and nature of the contribution of the composer, librettist, and director in their embodiment. In the conclusion, conclusions are drawn regarding the properties that allowed the creative team to achieve such successful and harmonious collaboration. This article is the first to explore Saariaho’s operas from such a perspective.

Methodological basis of the relationship between art and medicine

The aim of the article is to show the importance of methodological foundations in the relationship between art and medicine, whose source is the sacral core of the syncretic complex of primitive society, which includes the principles of harmony and beauty, the use of which makes it possible to have a therapeutic effect on human health under conditions where modern art of the West and East is characterized by the use of many new technologies that cancel the lines between abstract thinking and artistic activity. All this is directly related to the functioning of medicine III, which combines the methods of Eastern and technology and the instrument base of Western medicine, as well as new concepts and paradigms in the context of such trends of the modern world as aestheticization and technization. Materials and methods. This article uses the followingg theoretical tools: the idea by C. Jung, quite widely used in modern research, that a person’s psychological impulses (archetypes) lie dormant in his collective unconscious (self), which contains the golden ratio; a new approach to the relationship between art and medicine, when the Universe is a masterpiece of Baroque art, and medicine has a quantum character; the paradigm of the fractal nature of the world; the concept of the relationship between the synergetics of the human brain and the synergetics of art; the relationship between art and medicine in the aspect of disaster theory; the paradigms of “integration of the model of healing and healing according the traditions of the East and West; mythological and ritual source of the unity of arts and medicine; the model of digital art and human consciousness. The analytical psychology of K. Jung was chosen as the methodology and logic of scientific research into the relationship between art and medicine, which makes it possible to show the significance of their deep connections in adapting to the complex world of uncertainty and extremity. Results. For the first time in philosophical literature, the philosophical and methodological significance of the relationship between art and medicine is shown from the position of depth psychology by C. Jung in the development of the unconscious of civilizations and cultures of our planet, which makes it possible to adequately assess the degree of their significance in the context of an increasing number of extreme situations. For the first time, a hypothesis has been put forward, according to which art therapy gives a person’s life high meaning. Conclusions. It is proposed to use methodological problems of the relationship between art and medicine based on the depth psychology by C. Jung to overcome the cultural savagery of humanity so that it can survive in the extreme situation of the modern world.

The Alchemical Oedipus: Re-Visioning the Myth.

The Oedipus myth is foundational to depth psychology due to Freud's use of Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex in the creation of psychoanalysis. But analytical psychology's engagement with the myth has been limited despite the importance Jung also places upon it. The absence of a developed Jungian response to Oedipus means the myth's psychologically constructive elements have been overlooked in favour of reductive Freudian interpretations. I examine whether analytical psychology can fruitfully re-engage with Oedipus by reinterpreting his story as a paternal rebirth. This is achieved by reincorporating those parts of the myth that occur before and after the period portrayed in Oedipus Rex. Such a move reintegrates Oedipus' father, King Laius, into the story and unveils important parallels with the alchemical trope of the king's renewal by his son. Using Jung's method of amplification, Oedipus is recast as Laius' redeemer and identified with the archetype of psychological wholeness, the Self. The contention is that such an understanding of Oedipus supports a clearer recognition of the potentially generative quality of human suffering, restoring to the myth the quality of moral instruction it possessed in antiquity.

Shaun McNiff: Trailblazer, innovator, visionary

This article explores the visionary nature in the five decades work of Shaun McNiff. Starting in law school and leaving to become a painter, McNiff brought his acumen to academia establishing the first integrated arts and psychology master’s programme in the world. His trailblazing nature gained notoriety in those who had influence in depth psychology and mental health. He was not only interested in the interdisciplinarity of all art forms but the integration of ideas from many facets of social and political landscapes focusing his efforts on training those similarly interested in utilizing the arts towards addressing the human condition. He wrote the first book on art-based research. He has authored more than fifteen books and numerous articles, as well as delivering keynote addresses all over the world. He was a dean at Lesley University and provost at Endicott College where he continued his legacy of establishing integrated arts programmes.

요괴 서사의 문화콘텐츠 활용 방안 연구

This study examined three distinct fantasy elements present among the nine different monsters featured in the classic trilogy “Myeong-Ju-Bo-Wol-Bing” and effectively integrated them into the creation of a drama synopsis. The fantasy elements embedded within this epic narrative can be summarized as follows: Firstly, the monsters' remarkable and unbounded transformation abilities enable an in-depth exploration of their conflicts with humans, providing a means for humans to fulfill their desires vicariously. Secondly, the narrative unfolds through captivating encounters, featuring mysterious items, between the monsters and celestial beings, resulting in awe-inspiring spectacles. Thirdly, the tale of reincarnation, transitioning between monster and human forms and vice versa, instills a sense of tension and eager anticipation.
 The drama synopsis takes native monsters from Korean classic literature and reimagines them as modern entities, delving into their hidden psychological depths and desires. The narrative serves as a fantasy hero novel, weaving themes of coexistence and communication between humans and monsters into its core.

Критика «традиции» в контексте «психоаналитического метода» экзегезы О. Древермана

The paper examines the functions of “tradition” in the Catholic critical discourse basing on the works of one of the most provocative catholic authors of the second half of the 20th century. The meaning of “tradition” in Catholic theology seems to be rather vague; however, in the works of the 20th century theologians it is possible to trace two most general aspects of the concept: tradition as transcendent truth, given by God, and tradition as order, custom or teaching, created by people, historical in its character. The transcendent core of tradition has a strong positive connotation, while its historical aspect can be subject to critique. The two aspects are used both by the adherents of a conservative policy, and by the supporters of church reform, which testifies to a certain flexibility of the term. Eugen Drewermann, one of the most notable modern critics of the Catholic Church, uses the notion in a negative sense, which magnifies the critical potential of his argument. This critical effect does not result singularly from the definition of “tradition” Drewermann gives in his texts. In order to explicate the specific way the author uses the term and to reconstruct its critical potential, the article analyzes the notion of “tradition” functionally: basing on the author's three-volume thesis, Structures of Evil, where he combined biblical exegesis with current psychoanalytic knowledge, and Depth Psychology and Exegesis, the book where Drewermann continues to develop his innovative exegetical method. This approach makes it possible to trace how the notion acquires negative connotations: by excluding the transcendent aspect from the field of its denotations, by discussing religion in terms of psychoanalysis, as well as by linking tradition to such negatively connoted terms as “fear”, “neuroticism”, “external” and contrasting it to the “objective”, “internal”, “natural” and “true”. Eugen Drewermann’s critical interpretation of tradition based on the psychological understanding of religion in fact deprives Christianity of its transcendent origin and delegitimizes the modern institutional form of Catholicism: which allows the author to radicalize the question of the extent to which the Church is liable to change.

Revivalism and Decoloniality: The Paradox of Modernization without Westernization in the Political Theology of Israr Ahmad

This article explores the contribution of modern Muslim revivalism to Muslims’ political decolonization, and the paradoxical role the West plays in that process. On the one hand, revivalism rejects the founding principles of liberal political theory, and on the other hand, it readily adopts the salient structures and mechanisms of the modern polity with a view to Islamize them, all the while insisting on the Muslims’ need to de-Westernize. Toward revealing the hitherto neglected dimensions of revivalism, my analysis adopts an unconventional route by subjecting revivalism to a semiotic analysis in conversation with the archetypal theories of Mircea Eliade and Carl G. Jung. The analysis unveils the universal psychological structures of revival, and their specific Muslim symbolization. I conclude (a) that depth psychology makes modern Muslim revival inevitable, which will only grow stronger and gain wider appeal while the Muslims continue to suffer decline; (b) that among the different forms of Muslim revival, revivalism ventures the farthest in decolonizing Muslim political imagination; (c) that the revivalist imagination makes their espoused caliphate imperative for the purpose of ritual participation in Islam’s sacred origins; and (d) that a critical reconstruction and evolution of revivalism holds out the promise of a greater contribution to Muslim decolonization. For my analysis, I largely turn to the Pakistani political theologian Israr Ahmad (d. 2010), whose ideas have been disseminated widely across the Muslim world, yet who has not received the requisite academic scrutiny. Moreover, intra-revivalist critique of revivalism has been a neglected aspect in the study of revival, and its careful scrutiny should become a topic of investigation in its own right. In that regard, Ahmad offers a most important critique of earlier revival efforts and their entanglement with certain aspects of coloniality.

Hogarth's Networks and the Eighteenth-Century “Graphic” Novel

Abstract This article positions the eighteenth-century novel alongside contemporary developments in the modeling of complex systems, including Leonhard Euler's solution to the Königsberg bridge problem and William Hogarth's serial engravings. Unlike studies that apply network theory to literary forms like the early novel, it instead identifies a strain of network thinking in the arts characteristic of the British eighteenth century. At this junction between network-style thinking and the rise of complex forms of affiliation in the emerging middle classes, art forms appear that this article risks calling the “graphic” novel. While we generally think of the novel's rise as paralleling the development of depth psychology or modern individualism, this account of the novel instead forges an argument for its development as a means of cataloging the complex systems of relationships characteristic of the “middling sort.” Its exemplary author is William Hogarth, whose Marriage A-la-Mode offers a signal instance of the forms of network-style visualization seeking to make sense of the urban everyday, and whose Analysis of Beauty includes a surprisingly thorough account of the network-like aesthetics that characterize midcentury literary form.

Reconstructed multisensoriality. Reading The Catcher in the Rye

Summary In natural face-to-face interactions, verbal communication always occurs in association with expressions of nonverbal behavior. The functional contribution of these multimodal aspects to the meaning of the message and to its effects fulfils multiple communicative functions that differ according primarily to the speaker’s intentions, to the interpersonal relations between the speaker and the addressee, to the nature of the message, and to the context. When nonverbal behavior is reproduced in a written literary text, it becomes functional to the textual and narrative process as it serves as a signifier for the reader. A fictional character is never fixed and unchanging. Through writing, each author encourages the explicit or implicit evocation of a multisensory world, which readers decode and reconstruct, inevitably conditioned by their cognitive and cultural environment. In this paper, we refer to Salinger’s famous novel The Catcher in the Rye to analyze the literary valence of representing the characters’ multisensory communication, focusing on the core relationship between the explicit and the implicit parts in reconstructing the psychological depth of a literary character.

Blue Chambers, Bluebooks, and Contes Bleus: Gothic Terror and Female Deviance in Nineteenth-Century Adaptations of ‘Bluebeard’

With its suspenseful atmosphere, mysterious and murderous male protagonist, and magical objects, it is hardly surprising that Charles Perrault’s conte bleu ‘La Barbe bleue’ (1697) was the inspiration for numerous Gothic tales in the nineteenth century. Some of these adaptations placed Gothic devices such as the representation of the terror experienced by Bluebeard’s latest wife within the broader nineteenth-century cultural discourse on female deviance, and its relations with masculine authority and dominance. By removing from the tale Perrault’s warning against female curiosity and imprudence and focusing on the wife’s feelings of fear and terror, these adaptations amplify the intrinsic Gothicism of the Bluebeard story, thus providing the female protagonist with a psychological depth that includes, as I demonstrate in this study, a display of a variety of abnormal behaviours. In these Gothic adaptations, the terror experienced by Bluebeard’s wife serves as a springboard for the representation of psychological and nervous disorders commonly diagnosed in the nineteenth century such as hysteria, monomania, female depravity, and masochism. Showing the interculturality and intermediality of these themes, this essay analyses rewritings of Perrault’s ‘Bluebeard’ from nineteenth-century Britain, France, and the United States, including Gothic bluebooks, poems, dramas, and short stories.

Love’s Labor’s Lost: The Lived-Experience, A Pan-European Play

ABSTRACT This article addresses Abel Lefranc’s analysis of Love’s Labor’s Lost. Lefranc was a member of the Académie française, a highly respected Renaissance specialist, who published Behind the Mask of William Shakespeare in 1918. Nothing in Shakespere of Stratford’s hundreds of business records or will (the only records we have) reveal any knowledge of French. He never travelled abroad. He was a teenager in Stratford when the events in the play take place. He possibly began to learn French when he roomed with a French Huguenot family in London at the age of thirty-eight in 1602; however, Hamlet, based on an untranslated French source, was presented in 1593. Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594–98) reveals a detailed knowledge of historical events at the French court of Nérac from 1578 to 1582 and presents important, as well as minor French historical characters, and even a suppressed scandal – a wealth of knowledge not available to the general public. There is no known primary source for the play. Whoever wrote the play knew in great detail what was happening at the court of Nérac between 1578–1582. Lefranc did a phenomenal amount of research to reveal the forgotten history behind the play – the lived experience and its pan-European vision. Restoring the history reveals the play’s rich psychological depth.

Mark Twain, the Talking Cure, and Literary Form

Abstract [The] significance [of Mark Twain’s Autobiography] for the story of mental health in America has as much to do with its form as with its content—an innovative autobiographical form that Twain crafted not only out of personal upheavals but also with acute insight into the depth psychology of his time.

Implicit States of Connectivity in the Clinical Practice of Jungian Psychoanalysis and Andean Shamanism.

This paper will describe the spiritual states of "oneness" experienced by Andean shamans in relation to oceanic states in early infancy and working with trauma in Jungian analysis. The author's work exploring implicit energetic experience with Andean shamans will be referenced with comparisons made to depth psychology, in both theory and in practice. Definitions of Q'echua terms describing different psychic meditative states that Andean shamans enter into will be provided as Andean medicine people have a much more developed language for conceptualizing these experiences. A clinical vignette will be presented that demonstrates how the spaces of implicit connection that occur between an analyst and analysand in the analytic setting can be a catalyst for healing.

A Coin with Two Sides: Role-Playing Games as Symbolic Devices

This article explores RPGs through the lens of philosophy and depth psychology. He discusses their ritual and mythic nature and how these elements converge as symbols.

International Journal of Role-playing 13 -- Full Issue -- IJRP

IJRP 13: Full Issue
 Table of Contents
 Sarah Lynne Bowman, William J. White, and Evan Torner, "Editorial: Transformative Play Seminar 2022: Education,Personal Development, and Meaning Making”
 This special issue is the first of a two-part series collecting the short articles presented during the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar, held at Uppsala University Campus Gotland in Visby, Sweden on October 20-21, 2022.
 Maryanne Cullinanand Jennifer Genova, “Gaming the Systems: A Component Analysis Frameworkfor the Classroom Use of RPGs”
 This article presents guidelines for constructing educational experiences with learning role-playing games (LRPGs) based on specific learning objectives, including academic skills, social emotional skills, and executive functioning skills.
 Josefin Westborg, “The Educational Role-Playing Game Design Matrix:Mapping Design Components onto Types of Education”
 This article offers categories for understanding different facets of learning and role-playing games, including setting, purpose, framing, type of processing, and learning objectives. Types of games categorized include leisure, stand-alone educational RPGs, RPGs in education, and Educational RPGs.
 Aditya Anupam, "Playing the Belly of the Beast: Games for Learning Strategic Thinking in Tech Ethics"
 This article discusses the design of an interactive digital narrative the author is developing called Lights Out Warehouse, which is geared toward engineering students in universities. The game explores ethical issues around automated labor and organizing.
 Xiong Shuo,Ruoyu Wen, andHuijuan Zheng, “The Player Category Research of Murder Mystery Games”
 This article introduces the development process of Jubensha in China. Inspired by Bartle’s (1996) Player Taxonomy the authors build a model of a player typology for MMG, including the professor, braggart, conqueror, detective, actor, politician, socializer, and viewer.
 Miguel Angel BastarracheaMagnani, “A Coin with Two Sides:Role-Playing Games as Symbolic Devices”
 This article explores RPGs through the lens of philosophy and depth psychology. He discusses their ritual and mythic nature and how these elements converge as symbols.
 Ayça Durmus andSedef Topcuoglu, “Self Arcana: A Self-Reflective, Story-Based Tarot Game”
 This article discusses the development of Self Arcana, a role-playing game involving drawing one’s own tarot cards and engaging in storytelling in order to achieve greater self-insight. The authors offer a duoethnography featuring their experiences designing and playing the game.
 Giuseppe Femia, “A Reparative Play in Dungeons & Dragons”
 This article highlights RPGs’ potential for reparative play in which participants can express queer identities. The author includes an autoethnographic account of his experiences in Dungeons & Dragons, which allowed him to express his assexuality in meaningful ways.
 Albert R. Spencer, “The Vampire Foucault:Erotic Horror Role-Playing Games as a Technologies of the Self”
 This article describes the potential of erotic horror role-playing games such as in the World of Darkness to provide opportunities for transformative bleed.

The Vampire Foucault: Erotic Horror Role-Playing Games as a Technologies of the Self

In Technologies of the Self (1988), philosopher and sociologist Michel Foucault summarizes his life work as an analysis of how various truth games explore “the relationships between truth, power, and self” and in this series of lectures he investigates the “practices whereby individuals, by their own means or with the help of others, acted on their own bodies, souls, thoughts, conduct, and way of being in order to transform themselves to attain a certain state of perfection or happiness” (Foucault 1988, 15, 18). While Foucault provides a genealogy of religious and philosophical examples of these technologies of the self, those familiar with role-playing games (RPGs) recognize that their practice also meets these criteria. Even though most people play RPGs for entertainment and escapism, they are potentially transformative (Kemper 2020; Bowman and Hugaas 2021), especially erotic-horror RPGs, like Vampire: The Masquerade (VtM) (Davis et al. 1992).This essay will explain how RPGs function as a type of truth game and how they can be understood as technologies of the self when played to achieve transformative bleed. It will also use Foucault’s thought to explain how some RPGs, like VtM, are better suited for transformative bleed because their technology of signs, i.e., the setting and rules that define meaning within the game, enable the development of more psychologically complex characters through game mechanics inspired by Jungian depth psychology (Bowman 2010; Beltrán 2012, 2013). Finally, my most recent character, Robin Alecto, Robin Alecto, will be used as a case study of how the game mechanics of VtM function as a technology of the self.

Pulling Together in Tug of War

Analyzing the old, traditional game of Tug of War (TOW) as played by both males and females uncovers both conscious and unconscious meanings of the game. The formal structure of the game mimics combat between two groups, and on a surface level the players experience the pleasure of cooperation in the competition. Drawing upon depth psychology, the analyst discovers unconscious sources of the pleasure of the experience playing TOW, exploring differences between the experiences of males and females.