Eight women—Jungian psychoanalysts—share our personal stories of the emergence of and transformative manifestations of the archetypal feminine, the complexities of love and the necessity for Eros – relatedness to inner and outer realities. Meaningful experiences span the heartbeats of life and reveal the significance of a woman’s emotional, sexual and spiritual awakenings as she learns to claim her own value and voice. In a zeitgeist of patriarchal attitudes in which divine archetypal feminine images and principles continue to be devalued, categorized, and pathologized, the storytellers’ desire to personally claim Her significance and authority has encouraged us to write a part of our stories—in honor of Her.
The effects of collective consciousness, religious beliefs, and parental patterns of relating are prominent aspects of these stories. There is no avoidance of this reality for any of us, and we have lived the first half of our lives in degrees of acceptance or rejection, responding to its ideals for the normal, the acceptable, the agreeable, and the expected role of a girl and a woman in a man’s world. Our mothers and fathers are the first source of these legacies and expectations, both affecting the girl’s psychological development and, later, challenging the woman’s consciousness. In that particular stage of life we have lived, for the most part, unconsciously—acquiring an ego identity and persona that establishes a sense of self and seeking love and/or power that provides a sense of fulfillment. In this endeavor we repress many of the negative and positive aspects of the feminine deemed bad, inferior, weak, unacceptable, and yet they slip into our dreams and relationships as unconscious shadow selves that we project, avoid or deny. This works for a time—until it doesn’t: until the moral dilemma, the sudden illness, the amazing dream; until the stagnation, the empty nest, the heartbreaking loss, or the final and consequential “no more.”
This book tells of the pivotal struggles, revelatory dreams, illuminating myths and the emotional fires that have informed, transformed, and supported us on our paths of individuation. The mysteries of the archetypal feminine and the devalued and repressed attributes of Her nature have enriched and strengthened our feminine identities as well as challenged and influenced our relatedness to the archetypal masculine and, thus, to the cultural milieu and the men in our lives. These experiences have been a gift of and a tribute to the complexities of love.
Contributors Include:
(Editor) Marilyn Marshall
Constance Romero
Carolyn Bates
Nancy Qualls-Corbett
Susan Negley
Janice Quinn
Barbara Friedman
Jacqueline Wright
Praise for In Honor of the Feminine
“I love the book—badly needed in these days of patriarchal chaos. Analysts tell better stories, and these Jungian analysts share remarkable personal stories of love and Eros. These dig deep into the mythic heritage of the feminine; one open to men as well as women if they have the wisdom to read with the soul. In this book find troubled Psyche, Persephone in the underworld, mermaids, sea goddesses, tortured Medusa, and more, in dialogue with animus figures who may be stunted by, or liberated from, patriarchy. Here the personal is political, archetypal, potent. It provides rich fertile ground for anyone who seeks the feminine or any of Her gifts, divine relationships, or relationship with the divine. Read this book and you are helping Her return to the world that cannot live without Her.”
– Susan Rowland, author of the Mary Wandwalker mysteries and Jung: A Feminist Revision
“This book is a true gift, a gift that must not be read with one’s eyes but, as Cyrano de Bergerac would do, with one’s lips, with one’s heart. Through these profound, moving, brave, beautiful autobiographical stories, the authors—eight women, eight analysts—have once again reminded me that knowledge and meaning are not just forms of understanding and explaining. In fact, a true meaning must always entail a redemption from the difficulties, the setbacks, even the dismays of our lives and, above all, from the dark allures of nihilism. The redemption that this kind of meaning makes possible, and that so beautifully moves this book deep from within, is the transformation of the tragic nature of life into beauty and freedom through compassion and love. These eight stories in honor of feminine lives are testaments of this. Some books are good books, some may be very good, but it is a very rare occasion to read a book and to feel overwhelmed with gratitude. I do feel moved and grateful for the depth, honesty, wisdom, and, above everything else, for the redeeming, transformative love of these testimonies, these eight wonderful stories. Their literary fabric—which sometimes reminded me of my beloved Alice Munro or Kent Haruf—is made of the shining emotional substance through which every analyst and patient weave together the threads of their stories through memory, to redeem the tragedy of life into beauty. The memories, feelings, and reflections that the authors share so intimately with us transcend the love of which they are made into a spiritual testament and make of this book a must that any analyst—anyone— should read.”
– Stefano Carta, professor of Dynamic Psychology and Ethnopsychology at the University of Cagliari, Italy; past president of the Italian Association of Analytical Psychology and past co-editor for Europe of the Journal of Analytical Psychology, author of The Infinite Ladder, Routledge
“These are the voices we have been waiting for. We feel we know these women and, though each story is profoundly unique, they are also us. We can relate! Life changes sometimes in a flash, an event, or a startling awareness. And sometimes it changes at a slow roll until clarity reveals itself, the path opens, and we seize the opportunity offered to us for a new view and a more meaningful life. These women, Jungian analysts, generously share deeply and personally from their own depths; stories of feeling lost, unmoored, betrayed, ‘messed up,’ vulnerable and brokenhearted. Jung reminds us that early on we find we get “caught and entangled in aimless experiences, and the judging intellect with its categories proves itself powerless.” (CW 9i, par. 66) …. So then what? The authors share a way through dreams, unexpected encounters, myths, and artistic expression that, if we can allow the brokenness and accept the descent, an inner life, the presence of Psyche will guide us. This is a tribute to all who find love in the wounded places. We hear in these stories of love which survives, with open eyes, the grief and crushing pain of the human condition. Of love which rises, reconstructed from the ashes of defeat and betrayals. We hear of love that burns on in the rubble of the broken heart. We are assured of a love that nourishes in the center of the greatest vulnerability. And it is our love too, within each of us; it belongs to us, and we will honor the feminine who will accompany and guide us along the serpentine path of self-discovery. It is the sacred feminine who will hold the space for us to live again, to continue on, to surprise us, and ultimately, to ‘Love.’ This is a book for men who, through the lens of the feminine, see all that they can be, and of course for women who honor the ever-evolving mystery of the feminine and the sisterhood of those who are brave enough to share their stories.”
– Anne Pickup, LCMFT, Jungian analyst, Washington D.C.
“This book is a profound, courageous, and compelling exploration of the archetypal feminine and its transformative power through the lens of the lives of Jungian analysts. Through deeply personal narratives, these women share their struggles, revelations, and the healing that comes from engaging deeply with the unconscious and the shadow. Themes of societal and patriarchal constraint, love, sexuality, spirituality, and individuation weave through these stories, offering readers a rich tapestry of insight into the divine feminine and how it is experienced in the lives of modern women.”
– Christina Becker, Jungian analyst, author of Soul-Making, A Journey of Resilience and Spiritual Rediscovery and The Heart of the Matter: Individuation as an Ethical Process
“This book is a rare treasure. The reader is invited to glimpse inside the lives of eight Jungian analysts—all of them women—as they share transformational stories of meetings with the archetypal feminine. This text offers a chance to learn from professionals who are highly experienced in guiding others through the realms of the psyche—only this time they are describing their own life experiences of meeting love, vulnerability, awe, and mystery, as well as confronting the shadow. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to deepen their relationships with self and other.”
– Mary-Jayne Rust, Jungian Psychoanalyst, author of Towards an Ecopsychotherapy, Confer Books and co-editor of Vital Signs: Psychological Responses to Ecological Crisis, Karnac Books
“These stories from women trained in listening to self-experience through a Jungian lens give the reader the primary experiential material out of which a feminine self is constructed. It is liberating to have this account of a key part of psyche they have come to know and honor. Theirs is a text that all of us can learn from.”
– John Beebe, author of Integrity in Depth
“These individuation stories of relatedness and love are told by eight women—all Jungian analysts—who name and honor the manifestations of the divine feminine in the unfolding of their lives. Edited by Jungian Analyst Marilyn Marshall, these deeply moving stories embody a variety of experiences of psyche’s journey that call us all to recognize and embrace the re-valuation of the archetypal feminine against the tide of cultural constriction. I identified with many of these stories. I think this book should be read by candidates in our training programs so that they may see what individuation looks like.”
– Mary Dougherty, MFA, ATRBC, Jungian Psychoanalyst, Member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts
“In this wonderful collection, eight women who are Jungian analysts courageously, honestly, and openly reflect deeply on the many ways love has shaped their lives. The book lifts the veil behind which lie the mysteries of the feminine soul on its journey to find itself. It incorporates the erotic as part of the expression of love but it penetrates beyond to offer an expansive view of how Eros guides the female soul to maturity and to the freedom that comes from living more truthfully and fully in the world. Further, this is a book not just for women but also for men who wish to further their understanding of the women in their lives, and of how Eros lives within themselves.”
– Steve Eliezer Zemmelman, M.S.W., Ph.D., Jungian Adult and Child Psychoanalyst, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of California San Francisco, adjunct professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and the Inter-Regional Society for Jungian Analysts
“How rare to be given the opportunity to accompany eight Jungian analysts—all women—on their paths to dig deep in the Psyche and find their authentic feminine roots. Each woman shares her journey through wounding, hurting, and healing to transformation and discovers her unique voice—a voice which is personal and which also reaches into the depths of the archetypal feminine energy. By telling their stories, which include the struggle with the dominant patriarchal power and facing the shadows of anger, resentment, and fear, these women show that courage, faith, and hope and a way of renewal is possible for both women and men. Read the book and come along on the adventure of Love.”
–Linda Schierse Leonard, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst, author of The Wounded Woman: Healing the Father-Daughter Relationship (and six other books)
“Among its many treasures this book is a great gift to men as a window into the hearts and psyches of women and the living reality of the feminine, both of which will undoubtedly and hopefully remain something of a mystery to us men forever.”
–Thomas Singer, MD, author of A Field Guide to American Cultural Complexes: The Battleground of the Splintered American Psyche
Table of Contents
List Of Illustrations
Introduction – Marilyn Marshall
Candles in the Sea – Constance Romero
Love Letters – Carolyn Bates
I Still Listen for Her Voice – Nancy Qualls-Corbett
A Love Story – Susan Clements Negley
Eros And the Stranger – Janice Quinn
Training In Love – Marilyn Marshall
The Healing of Medusa: A Dream Journey – Barbara Friedman
Liberated By Love – Jacqueline Wright
Concluding Remarks in Her Honor – Marilyn Marshall
A Summary of The Eros and Psyche Myth – Marilyn Marshall
References
Additional Resources from the Authors
About The Authors
