Integrative Relational Feminine Jungian Therapy

Integrative Relational Feminine Jungian Therapy

I believe that we are living in a new world, where new ideas and institutions abound. This is however not to say that many of the past and indeed outdated paradigms do not remain. Particularly, the concepts of the masculine and feminine tend to evoke historical social constructs that are very difficult to truly reconcile without a complete reconsideration of the meaning of these constructs. On the other hand, the nature of the social dynamic today does not preclude healing via concepts that integrate Jungian psychology with the feministic view of the divine, particularly in the forms of Kali, as discussed by Woodman (1996) and Themis, as addressed by Shearer (in Huskinson, 2008). More importantly still, this healing occurs both on a collective and individual level. Collectively, the long-standing "battle of the sexes" may finally include the possibility of reconciliation, while the same reconciliation can occur within the split consciousness of the self.

The Battle of the Sexes: The Collective Split

Feminism became prominent when women began to fight for their rights in a world where the masculine has taken dominance. It appears that, since women began to contend for the right to vote, all other female rights also became a bone of social contention. The right to enter the workplace, the right to build a professional career, the right to forego marriage until the age of 30, 40, or for life, and other such rights were generally the masculine domain in the Western consciousness. It is only during the latter part of the 20th century that these rights became gradually recognized not only by the law, but also by society in general.

Even today, women share experiences that are less ideal, precisely because of the tendency of masculine dominance within society. Woodman for example describes a dream in which a client was victimized by the masculine power: "She had, in effect, been forced to swallow the false, demonic spirit just as many today are being forced to swallow false masculine power, false spirit, in the home, at school, in the workplace. They, too are being told, this is God" (Woodman, 1996, p.74).

Unfortunately, this is an experience that many women still have within society. The woman who refuses to submit to a culture where the masculine dominates and the feminine is suppressed, tends to suffer as a result. Romantic relationships may for example be subject to the paradigm of masculine power, and end because the female partner refuses to subject her femininity to the masculine requirement. Familial relationships may also suffer, where the traditional patriarchal paradigm is challenged by daughters who refuse to marry and bear children in favor of building a business career.

According to Woodman, the masculine dominant paradigm has been in use for so long that it has pervaded the collective subconscious to the point where both men and women perpetuate it. Some women themselves for example value their traditional roles in the home so highly that they tend to level "snide remarks" at those who choose to challenge these roles. In this way, there is a split not only between the actual masculine and feminine as manifest in gender, but also between the ideal of the masculine social power as accepted by traditionally-minded men and women.

Both Sue Austin (2003) and Marion Woodman (1996) suggest that the social split has resulted in an individual split within the Self as well -- what Austin refers to as a "resistance to identity." Interestingly, both authors emphasize that this resistance is universally human, despite the fact that it manifests differently in men and women. It is a resistance that men and women could perhaps used to begin a reconciliation within the self, and subsequently both individual and collective healing can be achieved. First, however, the nature of the split and the symbolism behind this should be examined; mostly likely a painful process.

Masculinity and Femininity: The Individual Split

Psychoanalysts since Freud and Jung have referred to the capitalized "Self" to examine the individual psyche and his or her relationship with the surrounding world. Because the relationship with the self is paramount in the relationship with others, it is vital to examine how the Self suffers before either individual or collective healing and reconciliation can take place.

According to Woodman (1996, p. 22), and "enormous" split took place in the psyche with the loss of consciousness as a container for the process of transformation. With the rise of monotheism and the repression of the feminine divine in cultural consciousness, the feminine within the self was also repressed. Females became the representative of the "other," the unknown, and its associated darkness. According to some, this darkness manifested itself as "evil" in the collective consciousness and retained female repression for centuries. The perception of the powerful patriarchy has in this way repressed the matriarchy, but has suffered from neuroses as a result. Hence the social split between the male and the potentially powerful female, who is seen as a threat.

Importantly, Woodman shows that this split between the feminine and masculine energies also occur within individuals themselves. Individuals tend to be at war with themselves, as they attempt to repress that within themselves that they consider unacceptable in terms of individual identity. From birth, an individual is identified with either gender, except in very rare biological cases. This identity is perpetuated by the society within which the individual functions. Girls are for example expected to play with dolls, while boys are expected to play with cars and tools. This is further perpetuated by assigning certain clothing to children, where girls are dressed in pink and boys in blue. Since birth then, the split between the masculine and the feminine is printed into the subconscious.

So prominent is the split that even Freud mistook the intra-personal struggle within the female individual as based upon penis-envy, where it is considered better to be a man than a woman. The assumption here is then also that male sexual enjoyment is greater than such physical pleasure for females, who are expected to derive their joy from its effect: motherhood. On an individual level, it might be assumed that this could result in subconscious resentment, which Freud would in turn once again label as penis envy.

Within the modern male, there is also a type of wound that aches around the power of the patriarchy. Today, many men are for example engaged in caring for their children or indeed the children of others. This is not a generally accepted role for men in terms of Western culture. Like women, men in traditional roles tend to be somewhat negative towards those who work in such a capacity. Woodman (1996, p. 11) for example states that these men can be victim to both male and female patriarchs. A mother who considers traditional roles as important for example would raise her sons as "son heroes" who are fearful of what they consider feminine in themselves. The fantasy of the "hero" may for example be shattered when the son enters a usually female profession such as nursing, or should he choose a homosexual lifestyle. In extreme cases, some men find the female aspect in themselves so dominating that they choose to in fact become female by means of operations. Others live comfortably with the male and female aspect by using make-up, wearing females clothes, and accepting a female aspect only on a temporary basis. All these manifestations tend to be frowned upon by society as a whole; a further indication of the power that the patriarchy still holds.

According to Austin (2003), women have generally been regarded as "other" in social discourse. Within the consciousness of the self, what is unknown, dark and monstrous in the self is considered "other" and hence feminine. It is the reconciliation with this other that both Woodman and Shearer suggest as providing healing on both a collective and individual level.

The question is how healing can be obtained within the individual and subsequently within the collective of society as a whole. Woodman (1996) and Shearer (Huskinson, 2008) both suggest a reconsideration of the feminine divine archetype in order to reconcile the warring opposites within the individual and within society.

The Divine: Masculine and Feminine

The divine is probably the most powerful subconscious regulator of paradigms within society. It is the commonly accepted regulator of human life and law. Hence, the power inherent in the rise of monotheism has usurped the recognized power of the feminine divine, although it was unable to destroy it. The inability of the masculine divine to destroy the feminine is manifest in the many neuroses that individuals and society experience.

The drive to recognize the female in the male self and the male in the female self has resulted in a number of difficulties on both an individual and social level. Individuals find themselves at war with each other and with those around them. In order to stop the war and reconcile what appears opposite, authors such as Woodman and Shearer suggest a recognition of the female archetype as manifest in the divine Mother Goddess.

Human beings are manifest as male and female. The long absence of a female deity has resulted in the repression of the female energy as subordinate and less important than that of the male. However, Woodman's suggestion of the Goddess Kali and Shearer's suggestion of Themis could serve as bases for reconciliation within the self and between the genders on a collective level.

Ann Shearer (in Huskinson, 2008, p. 49) notes that Themis provides a point of reconciliation between the male and the female. Her name means "right order," and she represents the relationship of the human with the divine. As a Titan, she predates the split between the male and female and represents the healthy psychological being. Indeed, the author compares her with Jung's concept of the "Self," where an instinctual psychological being is present, where the male and female aspect are in harmony with each other. As archetype, the goddess goes further than entering a relationship with the ego; she represents the very law that governs this relationship.

In terms of power, Themis is able to enter into conversation with the male gods without effects such as pursuit, pregnancy, or abandonment by the male divine. Indeed, she proved its equal in all respects. Hence, she represents an equal relationship between the feminine and masculine aspects before the war between the two, and she can be drawn upon as archetype for post-war reconciliation.

Shearer (p. 52) notes that this reconciliation recognizes both sides of the conflict, silencing each to provide an opportunity for listening and understanding, and subsequently for reconciliation. There is a mutual understanding, even while disagreement is contained in order to cultivate this. This is not without risk, because light is brought to all aspects of the self: "In its containing of opposites, the Self cannot but appear both bright and dark, both good and evil. Yet Jung also saw in this concept great hope for humankind" (Shearer, p. 54).

It is precisely in bringing the split self to life that human society can begin to reconcile its opposite male and female energies. It is only in recognizing the divine archetype as both masculine and feminine that human beings can recognize themselves as aspects of the same divinity rather than as manifesting the opposite concepts of good or evil. The feminine has been associated with the religious culprit, Satan, precisely because she has lost representation by the female divine. This can be changed by means of archetypes such as Themis and Kali, the latter as discussed by Woodman.

In her introduction, Woodman (1996, p. 9) notes that the feminine divine was recognized even as late as the 12th century and even by religions such as Christianity, where the divine mother manifested in the form of Mary. What Woodman refers to as the "psychic" balance between masculine and feminine was complete in the image of the young King Christ and his mother. This has however degenerated with the Protestant view of Christ as opposed to the devil, while the role of Mary was completely subordinated in the religious consciousness. Mary's role was reduced to a simple physical vessel for Christ's birth, after which her importance simply vanished, and with it, the importance of the feminine within Western society.

However, even in this early Christian view of the importance of divine motherhood, there is an essential shortcoming: motherhood is only one aspect of femininity (Woodman, p.12). The celebration of motherhood, however grand, fails to address the entire humanity of what it means to be feminine. Another important aspect here, as mentioned by Woodman, is the fact that men also often play the role of "mother," or caring parent. This is where the concept of Kali is helpful.

Generally regarded as a "dark" Goddess who can give or take life at will, her aspect as mother, incomplete in terms of the human, but nonetheless important, can offer an important platform for reconciliation. In the 21st century, for example, both male and female parents share their responsibilities in a much more balanced way than was the case ever before in Western history. Men can for example opt to stay home and care for the children while females earn money in extreme cases. More likely, today's economic situation necessitates that both male and female relationship partners work. In such a case, both partners share the caring aspect of child rearing, with duties such as homework, food preparation, and homemaking regarded as shared responsibilities. In many cases, both women and men choose to build their careers even while raising their families. This family paradigm offers an excellent platform of equality from which both men and women can recognize the importance of the feminine and the masculine within themselves. Reconciling these can offer both healing within the self and healing in terms of the cultural split.

What was traditionally known as motherhood is now recognized as a more neutral sense of "parenting," where partners share child rearing duties equally. This equality can then be used to manifest equality elsewhere as well. And indeed, this is already evident in many ways. Media representations of men and women have for example begun to change to include men in the homemaking role and women in the role of business executive. Increasingly, men are seen as caring for their children, cooking or cleaning; all of which would have been unheard of as recently as the 1950s. This indeed provides some grounds for Jung's hope for humankind.

It is clear that there is a great shift in consciousness back towards the "glorious" motherhood aspect of the feminine divine. However, much work is still needed in terms of all the other aspects of the goddess Kali.

Woodman (p. 12) also notes the importance of the much-subdued virgin archetype, which is much more than the female version of the "constricted throat and military shoulders" that voices its nature and demands in no uncertain terms. In no less uncertain terms, the Virgin archetype voices her nature and demands without feeling the need to concede to a male partner. Motherhood entails a human partnership while virginity on the other hand entails a perfection that needs no consort, but is happy to simply be and manifest as itself. It is this aspect of the feminine that is most subject to social subordination and peer ridicule. It is here that the most work is needed to reconcile the warring aspects of society and the individual. Indeed, even today a woman who remains unmarried is regarded as flawed in some way, while a man who remains unmarried does not receive the same social prejudice. Generally, there is very little recognition for the single woman who prefers career over family. Such a woman is regarded as "hard" and "cold," while the same aspect in men is regarded as "ambition." In general then, the motherhood aspect is currently accepted as applicable to both men and women. However, the female drive for a career is not viewed in such a positive light, and many inequalities still exist in this regard.