On Freud's View of the Infant-Mother Relationship and of the Oceanic Feeling—Some Subjective Influences

MORE THAN A DECADE AGO, apropos Freud's disturbance on the Acropolis, I observed (1966) that psychogenic disturbances of consciousness such as déjà experiences, acute derealization, and depersonalization, and the uncanny sensations that are typically associated with such phenomena, cannot be adequately understood in terms of neurotic conflict alone, or entirely on the basis of defense. That paper, which reflected the profound influence of Jacobson's work (1964), focused on temporary disruptions of the continuous mental activity contributing to the sensing of one's own self1 or identity, as Freud experienced this on the Acropolis. In a subsequent paper dealing with the developmental vicissitudes of maternal awe (1975), I noted that maternal awe is intrinsic to feelings of wonder and, hence, to mystical and religious