Lecture delivered by Bob Bongiovanni on February 10, 2002
1)
Note
that we are dealing with a particular variation of the archetypal Mother – a
Mother related to beauty, sexual rapture, and jealousy. This negative mother energy drives the entire
tale and colors the main feminine character, Psyche, and the main masculine
character, Eros.
2)
It’s
also a tale about projection of archetypal energy.
a.
In
Psyche’s case, it concerns being the recipient of projected anima energy, and
thus being thrust into a place where she, a mere mortal, must confront
archetypal energies without being obliterated by them. In regard to Eros, she encounters a version
of animus that is highly colored by the Mother archetype. In regard to Venus, she encounters a
devouring mother whose animus is projected on her divine son. This is a familiar situation to any woman
whose husband becomes a timid little boy in the presence of her
mother-in-law. She must undertake two
nighttime journeys, at great peril, in order to individuate and become
immortal. She is at her most vulnerable
at the two moments when she is aware of her mortal fragility – once when she
feared her husband, and once when she sensed her beauty fading.
b.
In
Eros’ case, it is about finding a way to mature out of a mother-laden anima
into a more adult relationship with anima.
This inevitably involves projecting anima on a mortal woman, deceiving
and manipulating her, being brought into consciousness and thereby wounded,
trying to go home to mother, then an inevitable defiance in order to become
autonomous.
c.
In
Venus’ case, it’s about withdrawing her animus projection on her son, accepting
that she cannot be the only feminine object of adoration (especially where her
son is concerned), and coming to respect feminine energy that has a different
archetypal quality than her own.
3)
Some
further observations about Psyche
a.
At
first, she accepts the projection willingly, but unconsciously. When she is delivered up for her first
nighttime journey – placed on the summit to meet her gruesome suitor—she seems
to regard her beauty as a curse that brought down archetypal ire.
b.
Her
unconsciousness results in her residing in a fantasyland that is neither the
abode of the gods nor of mortal men.
She is surrounded by servants, who cater to her needs, but she cannot
actually see them. She cannot even
really see her husband, who weaves this fantasy. Such is the world of a person who has achieved fame, but lost
touch with humanity in the process.
Presumably, she might have stayed in this never-never land for all time,
had she not been visited by her more mundane sisters, to whom it seems that
Psyche has achieved bliss. Thus does it
often seem to those who have not achieved the fame that comes from projection. In the end, the jealous sisters ground
Psyche back in her human reality. For
the first time, she realizes that her seemingly idyllic life might be perilous
to her mortal body. When ego-awareness
emerges, she breaks the stable order of things and defies her husband’s
rule. In the process, she forces him to
confront his own greatest fear – defying his mother – and wounds him with her
attempt to bring him to consciousness.
Animus leaves her, departing for the unconscious, where he will eventually
reemerge to mediate between her and the archetypes, including his mother.
c.
Now,
her life priorities change. She wants a
new connection with animus, but this time a more conscious one. She now knows that she must confront her
most frightening nemesis, the negative mother who has taken the form of
Venus. She willingly accepts whatever
trial that the negative mother might offer.
i.
In
the first three trials, she takes the position of the helpless maiden, and it
works. Help comes to her, and she
accepts it willingly. The trials become
increasingly death-defying, but she elicits the compassion of those who
recognize the unfairness of it, and her guilelessness. Particularly for the first two trials, those
who help her (ants and a reed) are often overlooked as weak or
insignificant. The first task is about
bringing order out of chaos. The second
task is about surviving an encounter with unpredictable, easily aroused
masculine energy (the ram). In the
third task, she encounters the vastness of life in the form of the river of
death, and her helper is the traditional ally of Jupiter, an eagle.
ii.
The
fourth trial calls on Psyche to accomplish a second nighttime journey, even
more fearsome than the first, guided only by helpful advice. No easy helpers relieve her of this task. Her advisor is a tower – a symbol of ego,
particularly phallic masculine ego. She
must face the archetypal energy that she most embodies – Persephone, the dark
maiden. Just when she was on the verge
of success, she nearly fails. She
doubts whether she can resume relationship with her divine animus if her
physical beauty has faded, and this understandable human weakness causes her to
foolhardily attempt to assimilate the ultimate feminine mystery. As a
consequence, he plunges into unconsciousness.
iii.
Eros
reemerges, out of grips of Venus, and spurs her out of unconsciousness with the
force of his love. He appeals to the
Father to acknowledge that Psyche has individuated and is thus worthy to rise
to the realm of the gods as an immortal and as his partner. So it occurs, and so Psyche rises to the
level of a peer with her once-fierce mother-in-law, Venus.
iv.
According
to further legend, she gives birth to a girl child, named Pleasure.
4)
Some
observations about Eros
a.
Both
he and his mother share the archetypal quality of love. Her love is primordial, rising out of the
ocean that bore her, a love that consumes all and resists change or
defiance. His love is the love that
draws lovers together in obsession or relationship; a form of loving that motivates
action and transformation of life, and thus more of a masculine character.
b.
He
fears being truly seen in the harsh light of consciousness. He wants to love in the shadows, because if
he is truly seen he will be recognized for what he is: a frightened boy living in the terrible
shadow of his devouring mother.
c.
Eventually,
he must leave his mother’s house to fully claim his divine nature. Only the love he projects on a mortal woman
gives him the courage to do so.
5)
The
names of the characters in this story are not accidental. This tale teaches us something about the
interplay of the human soul, or psyche, and the transpersonal power of love, in
both its feminine and masculine variations.