When Sex is No Longer Taboo – Jungian Analysis of Promiscuity

Abstract

Archetypal roots of promiscuity are being explored. In the classic Greek and Roman mythology some promiscuous father figures may be found, such as Chronos (Saturn), and Zeus (Jupiter). Another form of Saturnian promiscuous dynamic is explored in the mythological figures of Oedipus and Antigone. This is followed by presentation of a case history. Ines is a woman in her early thirties and enters analysis, because she would like to solve her unfitting partnerships, in which her partners are predominantly promiscuous. The father had psychotic disorder and the patient was the only family member who supported him. Psychotherapy started with stable frequency of two sessions a week. Within the transference, there appear two figures. One is that of a positive father, and the other is that of the “all – knowing one”. The latter may be compared with the mythological figure of Oedipus, whose intelligence was exceptional, being demonstrated in his redemption of Thebes from the Sphinx. All the same, Oedipus suffered from a promiscuously incestuous relationship with his mother Iocaste. During his old age, when he was expelled, and accompanied by his faithful daughter Antigone, Oedipus was most probably psychotic. In the analysis, Ines has decided, after 200 hours of analysis, to reduce the frequency down to one session a week. The problem of analytic interpretation is described and dealt with, as well as the actual effects of interpretation (when it finally took place) that it had on the analytic relationship and analytic process.