Editorial

Our November issue brings a rich collection of papers reflecting new explorations of myths both well known and lesser known in the Jungian canon, hermeneutic explorations into feminine development, clinical consideration of dissociation and artmaking, and explorations into the symbolism of both the mandala and the I Ching.

In “The Alchemical Oedipus: Re-visioning the Myth,” Reginald Ajuonuma notes “the absence of a developed Jungian response to Oedipus” and suggests that “analytical psychology can fruitfully re-engage with Oedipus by reinterpreting his story as a paternal rebirth.” He artfully amplifies the story of Oedipus and offers a new perspective on the myth that proved so fundamental to the founding of psychoanalysis. Engaging a compelling cross-disciplinary approach to the exploration of myth, he locates the story of Oedipus in its larger cultural context. He weaves in the alchemical image of the death, rebirth, and redemption of the King and uses Visio Arislei (Vision of Arisleus) from the 1593 alchemical compendium Aris Auriferae as a parable for the “paternal rebirth” by which he artfully circumambulates and effectively refashions Oedipus' relationship to his father, Laius. The result is a far more nuanced, erotic and generative dynamic than suggested by the simple and universal act of patricide of Freud's retelling. By placing the Oedipus tragedy within a salvation drama, Ajuonuma “illuminates the deeper meaning that may inhere in human suffering.”

In her paper “Mythological Underpinnings of Feminine Development,” Diana Oxley draws on a different mythic figure, Myrrha, as a feminine counterpart to Oedipus Rex, in contrast to Jung's identification of Electra as holding that place. She explores the archetypal forces driving feminine development by looking first into the parallels between these two myths. Revisiting Freud's and Jung's differing interpretations of the incest theme in personality development, she explores the dynamics of Myrrha's incest, contem