Apsychologicalapproachofthe

BlackLady

Fred Gustafson is a protestant theologian who practices analytical psychology. Here is what he concludes about the sense of the Black Madonna for todays collective and individual psychology: the psychological integrity is possible through the symbolism of the Black Madonna. It is through her that a person does not dissipate his energy in the projection onto others, a projection that would take dark characteristics such as racial prejudices, witch hunting and minority oppressions. Every time that individual does not accept his dark side, it is projected on the nearest or easiest object or person. For most of the people in the West, it is necessary to feed on the mystery of the Black Madonna, and through her intermediary, to feel an aspect of life that is not only important, but essential to have a total perspective of the rhythms of life. This psychological integrity is the same as if one talks about God in theological terms, or of the ego in psychological terms. In both cases, the Black Lady, or the archetype she represents, are essential. In our culture, the projection of the dark feminine side is the dynamic of all kinds of witch hunts without refraining. The repression of the feminine has been, in a more subtle but more dangerous manner, a factor in events such as the slavery of Africans, the almost total annihilation of the Amerindians, degrading behaviours towards women, and as a consequence, heroic expectations for the men, our behaviour towards our bodies, and particularly towards our sexuality and the way we deal with the Earth in general. The Black Lady talks to this impoverish area of our soul hungry for value and hope in the midst of the lack of sense and the vital anxiety. Each of these phenomenons carries the dark side of the absence of the feminine archetype in our epoch. She does not simply compensate a lack of femininity in our culture, but the lack of a specific type of femininity that constitutes the matrix of all creativity and all renewal. She incorporates what is illogic, irrational, free and apparently without sense. It is the difficult side to integrate. What are there thunderstorms, unexpected deaths and diseases that slowly disintegrate the body and the soul of a person, for no reason? We may call this destiny, but the word is not satisfactory. To acknowledge that these events may be themselves elements of growth and of psycho-spiritual maturity is the new task that we have to take on.

[Gustafson, Fred. The Black Madonna, Boston Sigo Press, 1990, pp115-119] (translated from French, itself a translation from the English original)

In: Bernard LIETAER: Au Cur de la Monnaie: sous-systmes montaires, inconscient collective, archtypes et tabous. Editions Yves Michel, 2011: translated from Mysterium Geld, Munich Riemann Verlag, 2000.