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Volume XXXVIII, No. 1, Winter 2008

From the Editor — Kathryn Madden

In this second tribute issue of Quadrant to Jungian analyst Philip Zabriskie, authors Sonu Shamdasani, Sherry Salman, Michael Vannoy Adams, and Linda Carter offer essays in tribute.

Death is an inspiration. How so? Dr. Shamdasani reflectively addresses this question in the first printed version of the Inaugural Philip Zabriskie Memorial Lecture given on November 2, 2007 He focuses upon Jung’s confrontation with the unconscious, the ontology of the soul, and the development of consciousness that does not stop at the grave. Jung speculates that perhaps the further development of the dead is dependent upon an increase of consciousness of the living. Through his theory of synchronicity, Jung discovered a theoretical basis for an epistemology of the soul’s survival. Jung’s later experience with extreme illness informed his understanding of the primary goal of analysis, which is to prepare for the separation of the soul from the body.

Salman, expanding upon some of Ulanov’s themes from the previous issue, questions the efficacy of Eros to still bind and hold (emphasizing the splits in Jungian communities). Is sacrifice of the old and the known necessary to allow for the new? Drawing from Jung, the project of kinship instinct may need to be withdrawn toward the goal of kinship of the unknown self. From this perspective, confronting the unknown is another intimation of death, a dissolution out of which arises rebirth and very possibly the dynamism of the Self.

Adams offers in a patient’s dream the image and motif of a stuck butterfly. In this clinical example, the psyche can remain immobile. In contrast, in its deepest and most ancient metaphor, transformation of the butterfly ultimately symbolizes transformation of the psyche and transmigration of the soul in which the body dies and the soul is reborn. This transformation must happen consciously, as spontaneous and unconscious transformation of the psyche does not always guarantee new birth.

Carter, too, centers on the theme of transformation from the perspective of bidirectional influences in clinical practice, explaining implicit and explicit memory. Implicit memory might also be thought of as archetypal patterning. Comparing Jung with the perspective of intersubjective dynamics, a therapist responds authentically over and above mere technical response for effective change to occur.

These authors, with their various creative forms of expression have captured in true intersubjective fashion “[the] aliveness of conscious systems interacting, moving, living,” in honor of their mentor, and colleague, Philip Zabriskie. May we all remain wide-eyed at the “liminal edge of order and chaos,” anticipating influences from the old while remaining open to the new, creative, collaborative, mutual, dialogical, relational exchange possible in the way Philip Zabriskie lived his life.

In so living, we die a daily death for the other and prepare for the continuation of personal soul. A “bottomless mist” devoid of body ad ego is the “true life,” a life “free,” “whole,” and “ineffably grand,” “replete with space and fulfillment.” To prepare for this transition, learning to die teaches us to live.

— Kathryn Madden

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