Presented by
Association of Jungian Analysts
„No matter how friendly and obliging a woman’s Eros may be, no logic on earth can shake her if she is ridden by the animus. Often the man has the feeling – and he is not altogether wrong – that only seduction or a beating or rape would have the necessary power of persuasion.” (Jung, CW9i para. 29).
Should not an analytic community be reading such words in conjunction with the astonishing, under-reported, infrequently punished, and pervasive culture of rape in our societies? In an expanded session from a paper first given at the Analysis & Activism Conference in London 2014, Dr Susan Rowland will offer archetypal, historical, collective, political and embodied context for “Jung’s infamous quote” which will argue for its productive potential for healing transformation, as well as for its role in awakening us anew to sexual trauma. Persephone is a hero for our time and not only for women.
