So serious depression in middle-aged and older men is a hellish experience that is brought to them by their unconscious. It is probably brought to them by the anima archetype in their psyches. In men, the anima archetype is the central archetype of the unconscious. For this reason, men who have experienced serious depression should want to improve their relationship with the anima archetype in their psyches.
Next, I want to mention M. Esther Harding, M.D. (1888-1971), author of the book Woman's Mysteries: Ancient and Modern: A Psychological Interpretation of the Feminine Principle as Portrayed in Myth, Story, and Dreams (1971). This is a book by a woman, about women, and primarily for women. But men might find it instructive not only for understanding women but also for understanding the feminine principle in the male psyche -- the anima archetype. I have mentioned above the official church proclamation of the Immaculate Conception (1854). Harding discusses the Virgin Mary as portrayed in the Christ myth. Harding connects her title as Virgin with the spirit of submission found in ancient initiation rites. Harding then writes the following about how the Virgin Mary is said to be the mother of the god-man known as the Christ:
"The love which is born from the initiation in the temple [e.g., of the goddess Ishtar] is maternal in character. The legends and myths are unanimous in stating that the goddess as virgin conceives by an immaculate conception. The outcome of the hieros gamos [sacred marriage] is that the virgin is with child. Her child is the hero, the savior, the redeemer. He is the man-god, partaking of the nature of both man and god" (pages 153-154).
In the Christian tradition of thought, the mother of Jesus is not thought of as a goddess. But the followers of the historical Jesus who constructed the Christ myth were undoubtedly familiar with the kind of ancient pagan thought that Harding discusses.
Now, Harding also refers to the ancient initiation processes. Today many people are not as familiar with ancient initiation processes as Harding was. In the title of her book Woman's Mysteries, she refers to mysteries. Ancient mystery religions typically included initiation processes. As I have indicated, men in the second half of their lives might find her book instructive as they work to understand the feminine principle in their psyches -- the anima archetype. The anima archetype in men's psyches represents the spirit of the ancient mystery religions -- the mysteries that Harding associates with woman in her title. Moreover, learning through suffering in serious depression strikingly resembles the spirit of suffering that was freely embraced in undergoing ancient initiation processes.
Now, Harding indicates that the outcome of the hieros gamos (sacred marriage) is the virgin goddesses' child -- the man-god, the redeemer. In the above-quoted passage from Jung, he also refers to the inner "marriage" that produces "redeeming effects."
Both Harding and Jung are discussing inner psychological processes of initiation that may seem quite removed from the experiences of most people today. But I need to belabor the points that these two authors are making to advance to the point that I want to make here. For a man in the second half of his life, the outcome is for the sacred marriage to occur in his psyche and for the optimal form of the anima archetype in his psyche to produce the "redeeming effects" mentioned by Jung -- in a word, for him to become the man-god mentioned by Harding.
In the Christian tradition of thought in patristic and medieval times, the emergence of the man-god in an individual man was referred to as deification. Of course in the Christian tradition of thought, the mythic Christ was thought to have deified the man -- usually involving the Holy Spirit.
See Norman Russell's book The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (2004) and A. N. Williams' book The Ground of Union: Deification in Aquinas and Palamas (1999).
Now, was Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) familiar with the patristic and medieval Christian tradition of thought about deification? Probably not. The Superman (Overman) that he envisioned probably does not grow out of this older Christian tradition of thought. Nevertheless, the Superman (Overman) that he envisioned does have a certain family resemblance.
Now, do you have to be a Christian to experience deification today? No. In theory, the psychological process involved in deification is available to all men in the second half of their lives.
Now, in the above-quoted passage, Jung claims that the unconscious wants equal status with ego-consciousness.
Now, I ask you, "Have you heard actual women talk about wanting equal status with men?"
I have. This is a common battle cry of feminists. No doubt this common battle cry of feminists is what the misogynists in the Vatican are referring to as radical feminism. It is radical to them because they are deeply entrenched in centuries-old male fantasies -- you know, Eve was made from Adam's rib, as Pope Francis himself reminded the woman journalist who interviewed him. If you have heard such talk from women, have you ever wondered what, if anything, might move men to grant women equal status?
One important step would involve the anima archetype in men's psyches. As long as men project sub-optimal forms of the anima archetype in their psyches on to women, those men will not be inclined to grant women equal status.
In all honesty, I consider Pope Francis and Cardinal Mueller and the other Roman Catholic bishops to be hopeless. Frankly, they are stuck in sub-optimal forms of the anima archetype in their psyches. In short, they are a lost cause.
But life in the church and outside the church will go on without the bishops.
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