Dreams, Desire and Addiction: An Archetypal Analysis

282 Pages·1998·6.544 MB·English

by  Kate Joyner

DREAMS, 'DESIRE AND ADDICTION:
'AN ARCHETYPAL ANALYSIS
Kate Joyner
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, Submitted in fulfilment of the requirem ents for the
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Degree of Masters of Social Science in
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the Department of Religious Studies and
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the University of Cape Town.
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Supervisor:
Professor pavid Chidester
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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No
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quotation from it or information derived from it is to be

published without full acknowledgeement of the source.
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The thesis is to be used for private study or non-
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commercial research purposes only.

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Published by the Universit y of Cape Town (UCT) in terms
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of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
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ABSTRACT
This thesis suggests that dream analysis is a crucial theoretical tool, not
simply to assist the individuation process, but also to gain understanding of
the severing of body from soul that is so linked to addiction. Thus the thesis
proposes that dream analysis is a key means to access one's spirituality, not.
, simply a psychoanalytic technique. It draws on a range of qisciplines and
discourses, located in a Jungian and ecofeminist framework, to suggest that a
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growing crisis of ill health - at both individual and ecological wlevels - is
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attributable, in essence, to a loss of soul. It focuses onT addiction as a

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re'flection of this loss, attempting to show that the relentless craving of the
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addict is best understood as spiritual hunger. The deep desire which
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underlies this hunger is expressed in mfultiple ways in our dreams. A major
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aspect of the thesis is an attempt yto explicate the nature of the loss, and of
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the hunger which points to it. I suggest that both have their roots in the
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patriarchal conquest anvd denigration of women and the feminine, which may
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be seen inscribedU on the ravaged bodies of women and Mother Earth.
The first four chapters lay the groundwork for the case study of a woman
whose experience illustrates much of the complexity of this theoretical
discussion. The value of dream analysis as a theoretical tool which actively
assists the individuation process is presented in Chapter 1 within a mUlti
disciplinary framework. In Chapter 2, the focus details and analyses the
Jungian model and approach to dream interpretation in preparation for the
concluding 9ase study. Parallels between relevant aspects of the Buddhist
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and Hindu traditions and Jungian models are also explored. Chapter 3
examines archetypal patterns of addiction seeking to understand the dynamic
of wounded desire and displaced spiritual hunger. Postmodern links are
made. Chapter 4 suggests that the devaluation and violation of the female
body has its roots in the elevation of the patriarchal sky god of the
Abrahamic tradition. The need for a rigorous application of a hermeneutic of
suspicion towards androcentric constructions of meaning is highlighted and
related to the vulnerabilities females experience in relation to embodiment.
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Foreshadowing key issues of the case study and linked cleawrly to the
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thematic of addiction, the impact of sexual abuse on thTe childls experience of

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embodiment becomes a theoretical focus. The case study conducted with a
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31-year-old bulimic after her release from hospital, attempts to demonstrate
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the practical relevance of these ideas. fA series of dreams recorded by her
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are analysed thematically and inteyrpreted to support the claim that dreams
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offer a window on the transformative process of soul recovery.
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Thus major theUoretical issues explored include the nature of the feminine,
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various notions of "soul", themes of embodiment in relation to the
disembodiment characteristic of the addict, the contemporary relevance of the
archetypal imagery contained in myth and folk tales, and convergences
between Jungian, ecofeminist, New Age, Eastern and postmodern
discourses. Dream work, I suggest, opens the way to healing and
empowerment.
DREAMS, DESIRE AND ADDICTIONS:
AN ARCHETYPAL ANALYSIS
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
CONTENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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1. INTRODUCTION .............................................e..................................... 1
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2. THE DREAM MOVEMENT .............. ..................................................... 6
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Introduction
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Framework and theoreticasl issues
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Nature within, nature without
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The addictive modern West
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Balance
Why dream analysis?
Addictions as an aspect of imbalance
Embodiment and the feminist Eros
Ecofeminism
So what is the New Age? .
Jungian theory
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Dreaming within a socio-political paradigm
Myth and folk / fairy tales
The psychology of religion
2. APPROACHES TO DREAM INTERPRETATION ............................ 53
Working with the dream: an examination of Jungian techniques
The dramatic structure of dreams
Compensation
Amplification n
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A comprehensive model for interpretive purposes
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Anima/Animus

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Parallels between Eastern and Jungian approaches
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Relevant aspects of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions

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3. ADDIC"nONS AS DISPLACtED SPIRITUAL HUNGER .................... 93 .
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Dracula as demon loveer
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Damaged instincntis and the demonic·
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Archetypal patterns in addiction
Archetypal patterns underlying alcoholism: a paradigm
Archetypal patterns relating to the sacredness of the feminine
Technologies of the self and the question of cultural embodiment
4. BODY AND SOUL ............................................................................. 126
The impact of patriarchy orfthe experience of embodiment and the
feminist Eros
The androcentric construction of meaning
The impact of chilq sexual abuse on the experience of embodiment
Overcoming the trauma of childhood sexual abuse
The negative mother complex
Eating disorders and the negative mother complex
Descent and transformation n
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Wounded desire - displaced spiritual hunger o
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Embodiment, ecofeminism and the feminist Eros
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Quest for the soul a
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Embodiment and the nature of desire

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5. CASE STUDy ...................i.................................................................. 182
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Origins of the case study
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Alexandra's history
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Child sexual abuse and damage to the instincts
The house of incest
Sin and sexuality
Scope for transformation
6. CONCLUSiON .................................................................................... 229
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................2 39
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For Caro, who took me into the heart of the matter and taught me so much
there.
Alex, you have my eternal gratitude for your commitment to your own
psychological growth and process, and for your enthusiasm to work with me
in the exploration of the deeper dimensions that we have both nfound so
meaningful. w
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Thank-you my son, Adam, for your age-old, four year-oTld wisdom and your
beautiful, powerful spirit. You have challenged me tremendously in the
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writing of this.
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I am also deeply indebted to my supervisorC, David Chidester, and my
analytical supervisor, Renee Ramsden. Thank you, David, for your skill,

insight, sensitivity, patience and good fhumour. Renee, you played an
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absolutely crucial role for both Alex and I. Thank you for your own deep

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commitment to the craft.
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Thank you my dear friendsr and gifted editors, Shauna Westcott and Mary
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Armour, for your strength and generosity throughout some dark and
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desperate times. I shall always cherish you both for the being the sources of
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wisdom, clarity and ndepth that made all the difference.
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To another dear friend, Annie Leatt, thanks so much for your invaluable
assistance with the computer in the race for deadline, and for our more
leisurely discussions around Bynum, Foucault and bulimia.
Thank you, also, to a long-lost friend, Jeremy Burnham, for introducing me to
the New Age healing ethos of our time.
And finally, thank you Sia, for our dialogue that clarified and shifted so much
in the direction of healing at a most difficult and crucial time.
INTRODUCTION
There are many kinds of power, used and unused, acknowledged or otherwise.
The erotic is a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and
spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognised
feeling. In order to perpetuate itself, every oppression must corrupt or distort
those various sources of power within the culture· of the oppressed that can
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provide energy for change. For women, this has meant a suppression of the
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erotic as a considered source of power and information within our lives (Lorde

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1989: 208) p
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If lithe eroticll is read here to mean thoe instinctual, creative, spiritual life, then this

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thesis seeks to demonstrate the value of clear engagement with the depths of one's
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dream life as a vital facet of rthis domain. Consider that erotic comes from the Greek
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word eros, the personification of love in all its aspects; born of Chaos, it epitomises
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creative power and harmony. My premise, then is that our dream-life is a vital and
valuable part of this creative flow. In our age, however, the rational ethos of
technological, post-modernist, post-industrial socio-cultural constellation, which has
been produced by centuries of patriarchal domination, seems to have created an
enormously displaced hunger. This hunger has been variously identified (Woolger
1983, Moore 1992, Woodman 1993) as a craving for the soul-life. This displaced
spiritual craving appears to be ritualised in the rampant addictions that ultimately
devastate so many modern lives.
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A key principle that gives form to my critical feminist hermeneutic of healing is the
growing understanding that our wounds are the source of our power. Healing the
fragmentation and divisions of our death-loving society requires a _ radical
transformation in both our understanding of the world, and our motivations for action
in it.
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TI"lis thesis values and demonstrates the eclectic approach offered by multi
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disciplinary discourse, although the keynote throughout is feminist. The nature of the

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feminist Eros forms a leitmotif of the thesis, whicph aims to build an understanding of
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the value of, and need for, more "heare anCd the soul work best enabled by dream

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analysis. The thesis examines the difoficulties women experience in relation to their

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embodiment and explores why. In this regard, ecofeminist· critique raises questions
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about the symbolism parallerling personal and global issues. This in turn raises
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questions about displaiced desires - addiction and starvation, the language of the
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body and the symbolic language of dream. Thus the ecoferninist lens focuses on
the links that can be made between the denigration of both women and nature within
the dominant patriarchal ideology, and the real-life problems experienced by women
on earth today which reflect this deep background. Aspects of the conceptual
framework of the New Age healing field are brought into relief in this endeavour,
which concludes with a case study intended to demonstrate the practical application
of this theory.