Introduction
The texts in this issue comprise papers from the UA-MAAP conference "Kaleidoscopes of Love," held in June 2024. The image of a kaleidoscope transports us to a fluid, ever-changing perspective on the timeless reality of the phenomenon of love, which can be viewed in an infinite range of its components and manifestations.
Let's also look at the works of the issue's authors as an expressive part of this range. V. Andreeva's work, which reflects on the development of the aesthetic experience of life, is addressed to the analytical Ego. She finds its source in the symbolic space within the mother and between the parents, who create the opportunity to enjoy beauty and experience what the author called "the ambiguity of beauty": the ambivalence and conflict of intimacy.
The next group of works also combines the ethical with the aesthetic: the authors turn to an analysis of relationships and partnerships in which we experience love, learn about love, and create new inner territories. We will look at love through poetry (where psychoanalysis has not yet looked, poets have already been – see A. Stasevich's article) and colors, delving into the stories of Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst (Yu. Novikova's article), Edvard Munch (I. Polyanskaya's article), and Frida Kahlo (J. Shapiro's article). Yu. Kazakevich's work can be placed in the same category, as she transfers the theme of developing the capacity to love into the space of complex analyst-patient relationships.
And from these works, it is but a small step to an exclusively Jungian view of love as an intrapsychic interaction that draws the Ego into intimacy with accessible and distant layers of the unconscious.
R. Moradi considers romantic love as a complex process of alchemical transformation and reflects on the special position of the analyst, who is destined to witness the client's obsession with the sickness of love.
G. Hoyer's presentation is dedicated to the discovery of the ancient Coptic manuscript—the Gospel of Judas. It presents the well-known story of betrayal in a completely different light and makes us reflect on the exceptional role of those who carry shadow projections and on forgiveness.
S. Pollard, who combines Jungian practice with monastic service, considers love an integral part of analytical relationships and creates a beautiful image of an empty inner room in which there is room only for God.
The articles in the "Problem of the True Self" section, which concludes in this issue, perfectly illustrate the theme of love in the relationship between the Ego and the Self. The multifaceted love for another, for oneself, for life—this is a consequence of seeking and feeling one's own wholeness, the Self, which unites our inner parts with love.
Four scholars from South Africa decided to discover the Self not theoretically, but experimentally. It sounds somewhat strange, but they achieved their goal by turning to self-contemplation. Monique Verrier took a more understandable path, beginning personal therapy at age 11. Her story sounds like a fairy tale: nothing helped, she wandered in a labyrinth of addictions and childhood traumas, and then suddenly discovered Ariadne's golden thread—an undamaged wholeness within herself. We hope that this issue will serve as a guiding thread for you.
Maria Loseva, Elena Purtova
Contents
Perspective
Victoria Andreeva. Perception of the Beauty of the World
Gottfried Hoyer. The Gospel of Judas – Potential for Peace. A Post-Post-Jungian Perspective.
Alchemy of Love
Alexandra Stasevich. Poets on Love.
Irina Polyanskaya. Love in Colors. Edvard Munch’s Frieze as a Process of Individuation in Relationships.
Yulia Novikova. Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst: The Alchemy of Love.
Janice Shapiro. "Why do I need feet if I have wings to fly." Art as a Transcendent Function.
Analysis and Love
Susan Pollard. Fragile Vessel, Blossoming Branch, Desert Coming Alive: A Journey into Unconditional Love within the Analytical Frame.
Yulia Kazakevich. First Meeting – Last Meeting: An Individual Image of Love for "Difficult Patients"
Robert Moradi. Romantic Love in Analysis.
The Problem of the True Self
Stephen D. Edwards, Sumeshnie Govender, Dumisani Nzima and Mandla Hlongwane. An Exploration of Self-Contemplation in a Spiritual and Transpersonal Psychological Context.
Monique Verrier. The Transpersonal Self as a Basis for Healing.
