Editorial

As we write this Editorial, we observe the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945—commemorating the emancipation from an engine of genocide and hatred against whatever is “other”. It is all the more disturbing that in many western countries we witness the rise of nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments and the discrimination against whatever is seen as different and not belonging to “us”. Against this background, the Journal of Analytical Psychology is proud of its international outlook with contributions from various countries and cultures.

In the ongoing tension between oppression and liberation, we hold out hope for the continued meaningful dialogues offered by the internationality of the Journal. Fear, envy, greed, projection, oppression, punitive cultural superegos, disempowerment: whether these drive nationalism or are their inevitable byproducts, we find analytical psychology a venue for vital understanding as analysts address not only the internal battles of the individual in the consulting room, but cultural tensions and increasingly polarizing ideologies vying for ascendency, knowing they will influence whether—and how—human beings proceed on this planet.

Against this backdrop, the papers in this issue can be seen from a political perspective. In reading Ginny Hill's paper, we invite the reader to consider—as Jung did with his reckoning with the dead—what encounters with the dead of Auschwitz might teach us. Barbara Cerminara refers to the idealized notion of forgiveness, which in turn can perpetuate an unjust structure of oppression, fulminated by a punitive cultural superego. Daniel Anderson, in talking about Buddha-nature and the universal Self, reminds us of our potential for shared “peaceful joy”, which is void of desire, certainly void of greed. Jetthe Fabioola brings attention to the necessity for the feminine heroic for female children and in so doing, speaks to the ongoing imbalance of male-focused cultural attitudes t