Many unconscious motives for war have been described, but war and militarism in general also have important spiritual sources. Various authors have noted that, for many people, war is a kind of sacrament or blood ritual that draws on the archetypal energies within the psyche. It is not surprising that religious passions so often produce violence; one can think of violence and nationalism as aspects of the psyche’s intrinsic religious function, so that war becomes intoxicating, allowing a sense of participation in a greater whole. A better understanding of the unconscious, spiritual, and mythic roots of militarism will help us to develop antidotes to this global plague.
Lionel Corbett, M.D., trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Dr. Corbett is a core faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He is particularly interested in the synthesis of psychoanalytic and Jungian ideas. His primary dedication has been to the religious function of the psyche, especially the way in which personal religious experience is relevant to individual psychology. He is the author of The Religious Function of the Psyche and is co-editor, with Dennis Patrick Slattery, of Depth Psychology: Meditations in the Field and Psychology at the Threshold. He has also authored Spirituality Beyond Religion, a set of audiotapes produced with Sounds True.
Part of “Psyche and World: Depth Psychology and Contemporary Events,” the Club’s 32nd Annual Jungian Conference