Erotic Identification

We have considered various ways in which myths can assist us in our moral motivation. Perhaps the most important of these is the power of myths to generate erotic identification.

That myths can entice, involve and persuade us lies in their ability to stir our desires. Our desire then connects us to the mythic hero, value or object. This is a process of erotic identification and expresses the movement of love in a variety of ways.

Features of Erotic Identification

Creative Imagination

  • Creative imagination – in order to be able to make connections with mythic narratives we need a well-developed imaginative capacity.
  • This can operate on three levels. (a) Horizontal: here we connect with the myths themselves and to other people. (b) Vertical: our imagination translates the myth so that it can connect internally to our own thoughts and desires. (c) Reflexive or ironic:  toleration of the ambivalence that arises when we resist the pull of eros to over-identify with a myth.
  • This inner space is a form of ‘imagination’ which is not to be confused with ‘fantasies’ or ‘daydreams’. Preoccupation with fantasies is passive whereas imagination involves a great amount of effort and is a creative process.
  • Erotic creativity is not an art form because it is not concerned with aesthetic performances. Erotic imagination is essentially moral and ethical.

 

Psychological Faith

  • We need to pay attention to our internal imagery and invest it with psychological faith. The internal movement of love or eros transforms mere images into inner living presences.
  • Psychological faith enables a self to give credit to the reality and power of the mythological images. This feeds the imagination and promotes a sense of significance which transcends the personal life.
  • When faced with inner darkness we move forward by trusting our imagination and living the story.
  • This is not a form of possession. Through our imagination we can endow an object with desire; we can let eros connect us to it. But we do not have to act out the fantasy. A re-mythologised mind frees the imagination but does not become its slave.
  • The flame of desire awakens the self to begin its work of psychological labour. This produces the insights and self-awareness that enables the heat and light of eros to warm and enlighten without burning and blinding us.

 

The Erotic Is Not the Same as Sexual Desire

  • The notion of the ‘erotic’ should not be reduced to sexual desire. Eros represents the fundamental need (expressed through desire) to bridge the gulf between self and other. It is a yearning to leave the dank prison of loneliness.
  • The best example of the nature of erotic connections within a psychological frame is that of transference and countertransference in psychotherapeutic relationships.
  • The moverment of eros cannot be confined to the misconceptions of sexual desire, romantic love or beauty. Above all eros provides us with a connection to the secular sacred and thereby enhances our motivation to act morally.

You might find the following articles to be of interest:


Erotic Identification


Reflexive Mythology


The Power of Myths to Motivate