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The author's point of departure in this, in many respects, remarkable book is matriarchal symbolism (for which the term Ouroboros is used). He attempts to construct a developmental history of human consciousness and conceives mythology, the symbols of which are used extensively in the study, as an epiphenomenon of that evolutionary process. This development is traced through several archetypical phases, which lead from the 'natural state' of total unconsciousness characterized by omnipotence of unconscious strivings to the evolution of the ego and consciousness (Zentroversion).
The first part of the book is an exposition of this thesis which is supported by references to mythological themes—these are projections of unconscious forces—which presumably shaped the wishes and feelings of members of ancient cultures as much as those of modern man. The second part deals with the psychological stages of personality development in terms of archetypical phases, and essentially represents an application of the 'insights' gained in the preceding chapters to the psychological growth processes of the