Wisdom and Woe

The Symbols of Transformation (1912) represents a milestone in the rupture between Freud and Jung. Concluding that sexual desire is inadequate as a universal explanation for neurosis, Jung rejects Freud's "so-called Oedipus complex with its famous incest tendency." Instead he theorizes "a 'Jonah-and-the-Whale' complex, which has any number of variants, for instance the witch who eats children, the wolf, the ogre, the dragon, and so on."

The defining feature of this complex is the subject's irrational desire to regress to the safety of the womb, distinguished from Freud's Oedipus as a non-sexual reunion with the mother. But Jung's myth is also distinguishable by its optimistic (rather than tragic) resolution. Just as Jonah's internment in the belly of the whale incites repentance and restores his relationship with God, so the neurotic subject--through a radical confrontation with one's inner darkness--may gestate a profound psychological emancipation and "rebirth."

For Jung, then, religion is not a mere fugitive of Enlightenment rationality (ala Freud), but a custodian of symbolic stories to facilitate self-realization, constructively channeling instinctual forces into vital civil and spiritual purposes.

In "Symbols of the Mother and of Rebirth" (Part 2, chapter 5 of The Symbols of Transformation), Jung uses his case study of "Miss Miller" to analyze maternal imagery and motifs, and elaborates his theory of the "Jonah-and-the-Whale complex."

The Symbols of Transformation:

The Book of Jonah is one of the most recognizable, most curious, and most strangely compelling in the Bible. For centuries, it has inspired sermons, art, literature, music, and debate (including debate about whether the story is history, parable, allegory, or satire). Despite its familiarity and antiquity, it is filled with surprises and themes that are still relevant.

As sacred text, it serves as a source of revelation and wisdom about the divine. But Jonah is a paradoxical figure: he is a prophet almost without a message and nearly lacking the courage to convey it. And the Book's brevity--"one of the smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures"--belies its rapid shifts in scene and plethora of challenges to the hero. Besides the famous "great fish" (or whale, in fact a small part of the narrative) it features storms and sailors, rebellion and rescue, preaching and protest, and a miraculous plant and miraculous worms that devour it.

The Book of Jonah:

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) was a 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet, ranked among such great intellectual and philosophical theologians such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. After 1567, when he joined with Teresa of Ávila to institute reforms in the Carmelite order, opponents of the reform had him arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to public floggings. His ordeal lasted for nine months, but it provided the foundational experience for much of his subsequent poetry and spiritual writings.

"The Dark Night" ("Noche Oscura," c. 1577) is his poem and commentary of the same name, a masterpiece of mystical Christian literature. He coined the term "the dark night" to describe a painful series of purifications on the spiritual journey towards union with God. In the first phase (the night of sense), the soul begins to practice self-denial and detachment from worldly desires. In the second phase (the night of spirit), the divine light reveals the soul's own imperfections and sins. During this process, the soul suffers great anguish, feeling abandoned and forsaken, but perseverance promises an ultimate revelation of peace, love, and knowledge of God.

The writings of St. John have influenced centuries of theologians, philosophers, artists, poets, and psychologists. The concept of "the dark night" has been adopted to mean an intense period of personal crisis, emotional hardship, and/or deep introspection. Joseph Campbell states "The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed." Night-evoking places--e.g., the abyss, a cave, prison, or belly of the whale--are regarded as both tomb and womb, death and renewal, on the way through Campbell's hero's journey.

Dark Night of the Soul:

Ethan Allen (1738-1789) was a farmer, businessman, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, politician, and American Revolutionary War hero. After he and his "Green Mountain Boys" made their celebrated capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British, Allen led an attack on Montreal. But at the Battle of Longue-Pointe, his forces were scattered and he and thirty of his men were captured. He spent nearly three years languishing in British prison ships, under execrable conditions, before he was released in May of 1778.

Allen's Narrative of Captivity (1807) recounts these events, providing both a personal testament to the power of endurance and a crucial primary source on the realities of the early war. What particularly distinguished his account from earlier "captivity narratives" (such as that of Mary Rowlandson) was its focus on politics and patriotism, rather than on religious faith and perseverance. It became a bestseller, helping to galvanize the American spirit against British cruelty, and promoting the cause of his fellow Revolutionaries.

A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity: