Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido. A Contribution to the History of the Evolution of ThoughtJung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Philosophy
Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido. A Contribution to the History of the Evolution of Thought
Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Libido (Psychology); Mother and child; Psychoanalysis; Subconsciousness; Symbolism (Psychology)
“Then Tiâmat and Marduk, the wise one of the gods, came together,
Rising for the fight, approaching to the battle:
Then the lord spread out his net and caught her.
He let loose the Imḫullu in his train at her face,
Then Tiâmat now opened her mouth as wide as she could.
He let the Imḫullu rush in so that her lips could not close;
With the raging winds he filled her womb.
Her inward parts were seized and she opened wide her mouth.
He touched her with the spear, dismembered her body,
He slashed her inward parts, and cut out her heart,
Subdued her and put an end to her life.
He threw down her body and stepped upon it.”
After Marduk slew the mother, he devised the creation of the world.
“There the lord rested contemplating her body,
Then divided he the Colossus, planning wisely.
He cut it apart like a flat fish, into two parts,[530]
One half he took and with it he covered the Heavens.”
In this manner Marduk created the universe from the mother. It is
clearly evident that the killing of the mother-dragon here takes place
under the idea of a wind fecundation with negative accompaniments.
The world is created from the mother, that is to say, from the libido
taken away from the mother through sacrifice. We shall have to consider
this significant formula more closely in the last chapter. The most
interesting parallels to this primitive myth are to be found in the
literature of the Old Testament, as Gunkel[531] has brilliantly pointed
out. It is worth while to trace the psychology of these parallels.
_Isaiah_ li:9:
(9) “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the
ancient days, in the generation of old. Art thou not it that hath cut
Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
(10) “Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the
great deep, that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the
ransomed to pass over?”
The name of Rahab is frequently used for Egypt in the Old Testament,
also dragon. _Isaiah_, chapter xxx, verse 7, calls Egypt “the silent
Rahab,” and means, therefore, something evil and hostile. Rahab is the
well-known whore of Jericho, who later, as the wife of Prince Salma,
became the ancestress of Christ. Here Rahab appeared as the old dragon,
as Tiâmat, against whose evil power Marduk, or Jehovah, marched forth.
The expression “the ransomed” refers to the Jews freed from bondage, but
it is also mythological, for the hero again frees those previously
devoured by the whale. (Frobenius.)
_Psalm_, lxxxix:10:
“Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain.”
_Job_ xxvi:12–13:
“He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he
smiteth through the proud.
“By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his hand hath formed the
crooked serpent.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account