It is said that “Love" is the language of scars and CG Jung in CW vol 7, par 78 states that..
Where love reigns, there is no will to power, and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking.
Lecture. We will explore what is happening in contemporary relationships in our society. From the # Me-too movement which has exposed the abuse of power in our institutions but also the” Mauvaise Foi “ of the social media and the dark net with its emphasis on Sugar babies/daddies/mommies and quick guilt free hooks ups. Additionally now we have Cyber- Bullying and the shallow Celebrity culture feeding into our narcissistic, materialistic and hedonistic desires.
Now the Oedipal Myth is a complex which is now politically incorrect but it does offer some valuable insights into the transformation of our infantile narcissistic omnipotence into a flexible mastery of simultaneous realities. It also reminds us that inherent in every step of individuation there is a threat of minimal object loss resulting in grief and the talionic rage which is projected onto the primitive parental imagoes in the world. This is often becomes a subject of our therapy, art, religion and or play. Can we avoid acting out our angry destructive impulses by taking responsibility and facilitating transformation and maturation? C.G. Jung thought we could by holding the tension between opposites and remembering wholeness is a combination of I and you and these show themselves to be parts of a transcendent unity whose nature can only grasped symbolically.
So no matter what scientific and economic conditions we find ourselves in, we will continue to face the perennial human choices of passivity or responsibility, delight and sympathy in the human condition versus self- loathing and cynicism. As Jung has said, the “World hangs together on a thin thread of good will”. Therefore we must all struggle with the burden of consciousness to find our way.
Presenter
T.C.R. Wilkes, B. Sc., M.B., ChB., M. Phil.
D.C.H., F.R.C.P. (Edin), F.R.C. Psych., F.R.C.P.(C), D.L.F.A.P.A., I.A.A.P.,
Professor, University of Calgary,
Division Head, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Outpatient Section Chief, Child and Adolescent Mental Health & Addictions
Consulting Psychiatrist, Young Adult Outpatient Services,
Alberta Health Services & University of Calgary
