The Jungian analyst Dr. John A. Desteian of St. Paul, Minnesota, invested an enormous amount of time and energy in studying the work of C. G. Jung -- and in writing the accessible 2021 book Coming Together -- Coming Apart: The Play of Opposites in Love Relationships (Chiron Publishing), which I highlight in this article.

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Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) September 17, 2024: In my OEN article "Young Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman" (dated September 3, 2024), I discussed the beautiful young Lynda Carter's role as Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman in the Wonder Woman television series (1976-1979; 59 episodes):

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After I watched the beautiful young Lynda Carter perform in her wonderful revealing Wonder Woman costume on the DVD version of the television series, it dawned of me that I had been projecting the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in my psyche onto Lynda Carter.

Now, my discussion of the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche and of the optimal and positive form of the masculine Lover archetype in the human psyche is, of course, indebted to the work of the late Jungian analyst and theorist Robert L. Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in psychology and religion, University of Chicago, 1975) of the Chicago Theological Seminary. Moore co-authored with Douglas Gillette the following books:

(1) the accessible overview book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine (HarperSanFrancisco/ HarperCollins);

(2) The King Within: Accessing the King [Archetype] in the Male Psyche (William Morrow, 1992a);

(3) The Warrior Within: Accessing the Knight [Archetype] Within the Male Psyche (William Morrow, 1992b);

(4) The Magician Within: Accessing the Shaman [Archetype] in the Male Psyche (William Morrow, 1993a);

(5) The Lover Within: Accessing the Lover [Archetype] in the Male Psyche (William Morrow, 1993b);

(6) The King Within: Accessing the King [Archetype] in the Male Psyche, revised and expanded second edition (Explorations Press, 2007).

However, what I say in my OEN article "Young Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman" in the Wonder Woman television series and what I am saying here the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in my psyche grows out of my own firsthand experience with the feminine Lover archetype in my psyche and my reflection of my experience as aided and guided by Robert L. Moore's Jungian account of the four masculine and the four feminine archetypes of maturity in the human psyche.

Arguably Wonder Woman as portrayed in the Wonder Woman television series, not only represents the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in the human psyche, but also the optimal and positive form of the feminine Warrior/Knight archetype in the human psyche, and also the optimal and positive form of the feminine Magician/Shaman archetype in the human psyche.

But Wonder Woman in the Wonder Woman television series does NOT represent the optimal and positive form of the Queen archetype in the human psyche - because she is not portrayed as a queen, but as a princess (her mother is the Queen of the Amazons on Paradise Island).

But to spell out something else explicitly here, Wonder Woman in the Wonder Woman television series is not portrayed as being in a love relationship with any man. In a way, this may make her look more appealing to male viewers - as though she were available for a love relationship with them individually off camera, of course - or in their imaginations.

In any event, I decided to order a copy of the Jungian analyst Dr. John A Desteian's 2021 book Coming Together - Coming Apart: The Play of Opposites in Love Relationships (Chiron Publications). He and his wife, Judith A. Savage, who is also a Jungian analyst, practice psychotherapy in their home offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. A member of the Bar of the State of Minnesota, John Desteian completed his analyst's dissertation at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. Desteian's 2021 book appears to be a revised and expanded version of his analyst's dissertation at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich.

At the website of Chiron Publications, we are told the following about Desteian's 2021 book: "Relationships are hard enough to negotiate without advice from outsiders who don't know you at all. This book is not a 'how-to' [book] aimed at attaining the ideal. Rather, it is a how-it-is [book], an exploration of how relationships are, how they develop, how they deteriorate, how they may end and how they may even revive."

That's quite an agenda - to say the least! (This text also appears on the back cover of the paperback edition of the Desteian's 2021 book.)

In any event, John A. Desteian has clearly invested an enormous amount of time and energy in studying the work of C. G. Jung - and in writing his 2021 book.

Now, the most efficient way that I can provide you with an overview of Desteian's 2021 book Coming Together - Coming Apart: The Play of Opposites in Love Relationships is to tell you its parts:

Title page (p. i).

Copyright page (p. ii).

Dedication page (p. iii).

"Note from Author" (p. iv).

"Table of Contents" (p. v).

"List of Illustrations" (p. vi).

"Preamble" (pp. 1-14).

"Preface" (pp. 15-17).

"Acknowledgments" (p. 19).

Chapter One: "Introduction" (pp. 21-46).

Chapter Two: "Animation" (pp. 47-67).

Chapter Three: "The Psyche: Structure and Contents" (pp. 69-90).

Chapter Four: "Infatuation: How We Animate" (pp. 91-114).

Chapter Five: "Dreams" (pp. 115-152).

Chapter Six: "Marriage and Separation" (pp. 153-196).

Chapter Seven: "Reunion" (pp. 197-238).

Chapter Eight: "The Symbolic Life" (pp. 239-242).

"Epilogue" (pp. 243-245).

"Bibliography" (pp. 247-248).

"Index" (pp. 249-252).

"Notes" pages appear as separate pages at the end of each chapter.

Most of the illustrations scattered throughout the book feature a King figure and a Queen figure. These two features are, of course, related to the optimal and positive form of the King archetype in the human psyche and to the optimal and positive form of the Queen archetype in the human psyche. But, of course, many people in love relationships have not yet learned to access the optimal and positive forms of the King and the Queen archetypes in their psyches.

As a matter of fact, when most young people find themselves involved in a serious love relationship, the young man in the love relationship is usually learning how to access the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in his psyche, and the young woman in the love relationship is usually learning how to access the optimal and positive form of the masculine Lover archetype in her psyche.

Now, the term "Preamble" that Desteian uses here calls to mind the term amble. Yes, we may think of Desteian's 2021 book as an amble through Jungian thought regarding love relationships.

In studies of prose style, George Williamson's 1951 book The Senecan Amble: A Study in Prose Form from Bacon to Collier (University of Chicago Press) is a famous title. In studies of prose style, the Senecan able style is contrasted with the Ciceronian rhetorical style. Desteian's accessible prose style in his 2021 book may be characterized as a leisurely Senecan amble, rather than a Ciceronian rhetorical declamation.

In any event, in the terminology that Desteian uses regularly throughout his 2021 book, I would now describe my fascination with the beautiful young Lynda Carter in her wonderfully revealing Wonder Woman costume in the Wonder Woman television series in the 1970s, mentioned above, as infatuation - which Desteian differentiates from a love relationship. (For specific page references to infatuation, see the "Index" [p. 25].)

Because I did not know Lynda Carter in the 1970s, I could not have formed a love relationship with her then. Because I still do not know Lynda Carter today, I still cannot form a love relationship with her today.

Nevertheless, my experience of infatuation with the image of the beautiful young Lynda Carter on my television screen is instructive. In short, it is possible to experience infatuation with a person based solely on seeing that person's image on a screen.

Now, regarding infatuation with "people they have seen only in the movies or on television" (p. 47), Desteian says in Chapter Two: "Animation," "Proximity is not a necessary condition. Adolescents and lonely persons often become infatuated with people they have seen only in the movies or on television screens" - or on computer screens watching porn videos (p. 47).

In Desteian's Chapter Four: "Infatuation: How We Animate" in his 2021 book, he says, "We must beware, however, of confusing infatuation with sexual arousal. The first part of a creative process that involves the total psyche and proceeds to several other stages; the second is an instinctual reaction that is limited in scope and duration. Sexual arousal certainly occurs in infatuation, but infatuation is not essential to the [sexual] arousal. What we examine in the following sections of this chapter is the process of infatuation in which sexual arousal and satisfaction occur as part of a process rather than as an end in itself" (p. 93).

Subsequently in Desteian's Chapter Four: "Infatuation: How We Animate," he says, "All the psychic liveliness described in Chapter Two ["Animation"] and the awakening of one's creativity during infatuation result from the animation of the personality. The stagnation that precedes the projection of the anima or animus is a necessary antecedent to infatuation because it is symptomatic of a narrowing or limitation of the personality brought about by repression, of no longer being able to find meaning or satisfaction within the confines of our old ways of being and seeing things" (p. 106).

Now, in addition, in Desteian's Chapter One: "Introduction" in his 2021 book, he says, "As a full-time analyst and part-time relationship counselor (I spend only four hours of my 40-hour work week engaged in group therapy), I am not there to tell the group participants what they are doing wrong or how to change their behaviors" (p. 23). Subsequently in his "Introduction," he says, "Another example would be a woman who tells the group about a dream she has had of an Amazon, a tall, strong, powerful woman [like the beautiful young Lynda Carter playing the Amazon Wonder Woman from Paradise Island in the 1970s Wonder Woman television series], who, in the dream, is able to clear all physical obstacles in her path when she walks in the forest. Since the dreamer happens to be an unhappy, depressed, and weak person who often weeps and gives the impression of being inadequate, I see the dream image as having considerable value for her. I interpret it as another side of herself that is eager to be given life. My intention would be to mediate between the Amazon expressed in the dream and her conscious weak ego; I would hope that by helping her recognize the value of that strong and fearless part of herself, she would begin to integrate these traits within her conscious self-image" (p. 24).

Subsequently in Desteian's Chapter One: "Introduction," he also says, "The dependent woman I mentioned earlier [p. 24], whose dream of the Amazon helped her identify a more independent part of herself with which she could make contact and so live out in the world, is a case in point ["the work of bringing unconscious contents into consciousness, that is, personality traits that are unacceptable to us and so have been repressed, as well as personality traits we have never seen in ourselves"]" (p. 44).

Now, with regard to my recent powerful fascination with the beautiful young Lynda Carter in her wonderfully revealing Wonder Woman costume, I have no problem with interpreting my powerful fascination with her as somehow "bringing unconscious contents into consciousness" (p. 44). As a matter of fact, I had assumed something like this before I read Desteian's statement on page 44. I had interpreted my fascination with the beautiful young Lynda Carter as a manifestation of the optimal and positive form of the feminine lover archetype in my psyche. For me, the deeper question here involves exactly what "unconscious contents" are being brought into my consciousness. Yes, the optimal and positive form of the feminine Lover archetype in my psyche represents unconscious contents; but what are these unconscious contents bringing into my ego-consciousness and thus into my everyday world? Thus far, the answer to this deeper question is not yet clear to me. I will have to dwell on it further until and answer to it becomes clear to me.

Now, in Desteian's subsection "About This Book" in Chapter One: "Introduction" in his 2021 book (pp. 33-38), he provides a detailed chapter-by-chapter overview of the book.

In Desteian's subsection on "Spirit" in Chapter Two: "Animation" in his 2021 book (pp. 60-66), he operationally defines and explains three key terms that he subsequently uses throughout the book: (1) spirit; (2) prevailing spirit; and (3) essential spirit. (For specific pages references, see the "Index" entries for essential spirit [p. 250], prevailing spirit [p. 251], and spirit [p. 252].)

In conclusion, I have highlighted here John A. Desteian's 2021 book Coming Together - Coming Apart: The Play of Opposites in Love Relationships. The highlights I have mentioned here should provide you with an overall sense of what the book has to offer - if you have the interest and inclination to read it for yourself.

Authors Website: http://www.d.umn.edu/~tfarrell

Authors Bio:

Thomas James Farrell is professor emeritus of writing studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He started teaching at UMD in Fall 1987, and he retired from UMD at the end of May 2009. He was born in 1944. He holds three degrees from Saint Louis University (SLU): B.A. in English, 1966; M.A.(T) in English 1968; Ph.D.in higher education, 1974. On May 16, 1969, the editors of the SLU student newspaper named him Man of the Year, an honor customarily conferred on an administrator or a faculty member, not on a graduate student -- nor on a woman up to that time. He is the proud author of the book WALTER ONG'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CULTURAL STUDIES: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE WORD AND I-THOU COMMUNICATION (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000; 2nd ed. 2009, forthcoming). The first edition won the 2001 Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology conferred by the Media Ecology Association. For further information about his education and his publications, see his UMD homepage: Click here to visit Dr. Farrell's homepage.

On September 10 and 22, 2009, he discussed Walter Ong's work on the blog radio talk show "Ethics Talk" that is hosted by Hope May in philosophy at Central Michigan University. Each hour-long show has been archived and is available for people who missed the live broadcast to listen to. Here are the website addresses for the two archived shows:

Click here to listen the Technologizing of the Word Interview

Click here to listen the Ramus, Method & The Decay of Dialogue Interview