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)
The hero, Chiwantopel, appears on horseback. This fact seems of
importance, because as the further course of the drama shows (see
Chapter VIII) the horse plays no indifferent rôle, but suffers the same
death as the hero, and is even called “faithful brother” by the latter.
These allusions point to a remarkable similarity between horse and
rider. There seems to exist an intimate connection between the two,
which guides them to the same destiny. We already have seen that the
symbolization of “the libido in resistance” through the “terrible
mother” in some places runs parallel with the horse.[574] Strictly
speaking, it would be incorrect to say that the horse is, or means, the
mother. The mother idea is a libido symbol, and the horse is also a
libido symbol, and at some points the two symbols intersect in their
significances. The common feature of the two ideas lies in the libido,
especially in the libido repressed from incest. The hero and the horse
appear to us in this setting like an artistic formation of the idea of
humanity with its repressed libido, whereby the horse acquires the
significance of the animal unconscious, which appears domesticated and
subjected to the will of man. Agni upon the ram, Wotan upon Sleipneir,
Ahuramazda upon Angromainyu,[575] Jahwe upon the monstrous seraph,
Christ upon the ass,[576] Dionysus upon the ass, Mithra upon the horse,
Men upon the human-footed horse, Freir upon the golden-bristled boar,
etc., are parallel representations. The chargers of mythology are always
invested with great significance; they very often appear
anthropomorphized. Thus, Men’s horse has human forelegs; Balaam’s ass,
human speech; the retreating bull, upon whose back Mithra springs in
order to strike him down, is, according to a Persian legend, actually
the God himself. The mock crucifix of the Palatine represents the
crucified with an ass’s head, perhaps in reference to the ancient legend
that in the temple of Jerusalem the image of an ass was worshipped. As
Drosselbart (horse’s mane) Wotan is half-human, half-horse.[577] An old
German riddle very prettily shows this unity between horse and
horseman.[578] “Who are the two, who travel to Thing? Together they have
three eyes, ten feet[579] and one tail; and thus they travel over the
land.” Legends ascribe properties to the horse, which psychologically
belong to the unconscious of man; horses are clairvoyant and
clairaudient; they show the way when the lost wanderer is helpless; they
have mantic powers. In the Iliad the horse prophesies evil. They hear
the words which the corpse speaks when it is taken to the grave—words
which men cannot hear. Cæsar learned from his human-footed horse
(probably taken from the identification of Cæsar with the Phrygian Men)
that he was to conquer the world. An ass prophesied to Augustus the
victory of Actium. The horse also sees phantoms. All these things
correspond to typical manifestations of the unconscious. Therefore, it
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