Chapter V: Sigmund Freud

I must begin by disclosing that I am not a fan of Sigmund Freud. Although the man had a tremendous impact on contemporary culture, his almost puerile obsession with sex as the cause of ALL psychological difficulty is almost laughable if it didn't have such a negative impact on women. For example, in Freud’s paper "The Psychical Consequences of the Anatomic Distinction Between the Sexes," Freud wrote, "Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own." Don't even get me started on his penis envy argument… But I digress.

So I was interested to hear how Jung described their relationship and how he finally broke his connection with Freud. It appeared that Jung was initially drawn to Freud after he wrote "The Interpretation of Dreams." Jung had already begun his work on the aspect of repression as it becomes unveiled through dreams. However, even from the beginning, Jung did not agree with Freud as to the cause of the repression which Freud viewed as solely sexual trauma. Nevertheless, the two eventually met and had an instant liking. At the first meeting they talked for 13 hours. I envision Jung, who was much younger than Freud, enamored by Freud's confidence and intellect. Freud probably equally liked Jung’s intellect, but more importantly his attention and admiration. Jung writes, "Freud was the first man of real importance I had encountered; in my experience up to that time, no one else could compare with him." He was an enigma and Jung liked to unravel puzzles. You will see that he succeeds yet again to unravel Freud.

Throughout this relationship Jung continued to have reservations about the sexual theme in Freud's work, but Freud “pooh-poohed” his reservation as due to inexperience. In addition (and not surprisingly), Jung was equally concerned about Freud's views regarding spirituality. In discussing Freud, Jung said, " whenever, in a person or in a work of art, an expression of spirituality (in the intellectual, not in the supernatural sense) came to light, he suspected it, and insinuated that it was repressed sexuality." Freud was emotionally involved in his sexual theory in an extreme way desiring Jung to stand firm making a "dogma of it, an unshakable bulwark...against the black tide of mud of occultism." [Really, Sigmund?] Jung identified this fervor as Freud's identification of sexuality as a "sort of numinosum." Jung viewed Freud's obsession as equally occult, by which he meant that is an unproven hypothesis. It was Freud’s bitter obsession that kept him from the other side of his personality which was more mystical. Jung believed that unless Freud embraced his mystical side, he would remain bitter and unreconciled.

Jung describes an paranormal experience he had with Freud. There was a sound in a bookcase that Jung identified as a "catalytic exteriorisation phenomenon." Freud, of course was incredulous. Jung then predicted with certainty that another loud sound would occur which it precipitously did. Then on another occasion when Jung and Freud were dining together, Jung began to discuss some "peat-bog corpses" that were found mummified in Germany. [I know, I know...but the man was fascinated by nature.] Freud was upset by the topic of conversation and fainted. Freud interpreted the fainting as the result of Jung's death wish for Freud as based on the corpse conversation. He later fainted at another event when the conversation was about Amenophis IV and whether he had murdered his father. Obviously, the “death wish” issue was a reoccurring theme for Freud. Freud expressed his desire for Jung to be his intellectual heir, a desire that was difficult for Jung who wished to blaze his own trail. However, the final breach for Jung came when they were at a conference together and agreed to interpret each others dreams. Freud was unable to provide any insight into Jung's dreams which were highly symbolic of a collective nature. When Jung attempted to analyze Freud's dream he commented to him that it would help if he knew more about Freud's personal history. To this, Freud exclaimed, "But I can not risk my authority." Bad choice of words. Jung believed Freud was placing "personal authority above truth.”

It was during this time that Jung had a dream which ultimately lead him to his idea of the "collective unconscious." The dream contained two skulls which Jung viewed as a representation of a primitive culture. Freud, yet again, felt that it was a death wish for two unnamed individuals. He would not let this ideas go until Jung gave two people's names who he “wished” dead. Jung felt badly telling Freud a lie but made the disclaimer just to get him off his back." It would have been impossible for me to afford him any insight into my mental world. The gulf between it and his was too great." Freud was contented with the disclosure and no longer discussed it. Freud believed the meaning of dreams was hidden and beyond the understanding of the conscious mind. By contrast, Jung believed that dreams were a symbolic language to bring awareness from the unconscious to the conscious mind.

Soon Jung began to study archeology and mythology which lead him to writing the "Psychology of the Unconscious." He had a dream which had a significant personal impact and foretold the ultimate breakup of his relationship with Freud. Jung pondered the dream carefully for quite some time and realized that he had given Freud an authority over him that could not continue. From the dream he discovered that "my whole being was seeking for something still unknown which might confer meaning upon the banality of life." Jung’s unraveling of Freud described him as suffering from a neurosis, something Freud himself believed was part of all humanity. Jung was not contented with that assertion and was more interested in learning how to assist patients in escaping their neurosis rather than simply identifying it.

During this time period the ultimate break occurred when Jung expressed in writing a contradiction to Freud’s views. Jung’s book dealt with incest in which he wrote about the “significance of incest as a symbol.” “But my main concern,” he wrote has been to investigate, over and about its [that is sexuality] personal significance and biological function, its spiritual aspect and its numinous meaning.” With that he was ostracized by the community of Freudians and off again on his independent and highly individual journey.