A cultured, attractive young woman on learning that she had leukemia attempted to ward off her fear of death with the fantasy of eternal union with her dead brother. It represented, among other things, the phallic wholeness of the father as well as the fusion with the good mother image. As a child, she had felt rejected by an aloof mother. In her Oedipal strivings, she at first transferred her affection to her father. He failed to live up to her ideals and also seemed fonder of her brother. Her libido finally rested with her brother. As children they had read Tristan and Isolde together. She was particularly impressed by Isolde's wish to become united with Tristan in death. After her brother's death, she developed leukemia which she attributed to guilt caused by incestuous fantasies. This psychogenic theory was also used by her to deny the seriousness of her illness and to employ the analyst to exorcise the demons.