C.G. JUNG, J.J. HONEGGER, AND THE CASE OF EMIL SCHWYZER (THE ‘SOLAR PHALLUS’ MAN)

The case of Emil Schwyzer, a.k.a. the ‘Solar-Phallus Man’, was foundational in giving shape to Jung’s early reflections on the concept of the collective unconscious. In 1906 Schwyzer identified a tail of light coming off the sun as a phallus, which Jung interpreted as a particularly important example of ‘the fantasies or delusions of…patients…[being] paralleled in mythological material of which they knew nothing’ (Bennet 1985:69). This was because it represented not only a single mythological symbol or idea that Schwyzer could not have known but an entire passage from an ancient document known as the Mithras Liturgy. According to Jung, Schwyzer’s ‘vision’ also paralleled a rare theme in Medieval art. Jung’s student J.J. Honegger gave a paper on the Schwyzer case at the March 1910 Second Psychoanalytic Congress in Nuremberg. In it he again discussed Schwyzer’s description of the light tail on the sun but especially his concept of a Ptolemaic flat earth. Relying largely on archival material not previously discussed, the present article provides a history of the Schwyzer case along with a thoroughgoing evaluation of what Jung and Honegger made of it. KEYWORDS J.J. Honegger, Emil Schwyzer, ‘Solar-Phallus Man’, Mithras Liturgy, Collective unconscious, Inherited ideas, Hortus Conclusus.

Cambio de perspectiva. El adentro y el afuera

Traducción del francés al español de Luis Alfonso Paláu-Castaño «Continuemos nuestros análisis. Con frecuencia —e incluso desde el comienzo— le hemos reprochado a la filosofía no haberse preocupado lo suficiente por la exterioridad (desacreditada para siempre) y por los objetos, a veces incluso ignorarlos para encerrarse mejor en la sola subjetividad (por esto la egología, el hortus conclusus). Carente de lo que la habría animado e incluso armado —el tener en cuenta nuestro entorno y a quien lo ocupa— la filosofía se repliega sobre sí misma, cree autonomizarse mientras se echa a perder. Nos atrevemos a preguntar, con el fin de poner en aprietos al filósofo hipotético que imaginamosy que sin duda caricaturizamos, sobre qué o a partir de qué eleva su reflexión.»

Z33 Hasselt: Hortus Conclusus as a Model for an Urban Interior

This contribution reviews the recent renovation of Z33—House for Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture in Hasselt, Belgium—in the light of its unique implementation of different levels of interiority. The institute is housed in the former beguinage, a site with a rich and layered history and one of the few green public spaces in the city centre. The intervention by architect Francesca Torzo builds further on and strengthens the existing qualities of the site through a creative process of copying and improving. By doing so, she changed the overall appearance of the beguinage, strengthening its quality as an enclosed public space—an intimate yet collective hortus conclusus.

Hortus conclusus posmodernos: el refugio de los tecnócratas. Representaciones del estatus social en el urbanismo y la arquitectura tal y como han quedado reflejadas en el cine del capitalismo avanzado (hacia 1980-)

En el presente estudio cultural se expondrá cómo el cine de las últimas cuatro décadas ha mostrado el espacio ciudadano dedicado a las clases altas, espacios muy marcados y con las zonas de intercambio con las otras clases estrictamente delimitadas. Durante los años del capitalismo avanzado las ciudades se han pensado según un esquema bipolar muy acentuado, con pequeñas zonas valladas dedicadas a la élite afortunada, y grandes extensiones de chabolas alrededor de ellas. El cine del periodo lo ha plasmado, al ser un arte difusor de ideas entre grandes audiencias. Para el análisis se han tenido en cuenta películas de géneros, tipos y procedencias muy variados: fantástico, drama, de culto, blockbusters, Hollywood, cine europeo, suramericano… La propuesta parte del visionado de varias películas, más una base teórica de referencias bibliográficas que sustentan el discurso.

"Hortus conclusus": tradición y reescritura en la poesía de posguerra de Carmen Conde

Resumen: La obra de Carmen Conde (Cartagena, 1907-Madrid, 1996) escrita en el período de posguerra establece un profundo diálogo con el tópico del locus amoenus a través de uno de los espacios con los que frecuentemente aparece relacionado, el jardín u hortus conclusus, y de uno de sus elementos constitutivos, la flor. En algunos de los poemas pertenecientes a Ansia de la gracia (1945) e Iluminada tierra (1951), el jardín y el imaginario floral servirán para plantear modelos de identidad femenina que transgreden tanto la imagen pasiva de la mujer proyectada por la literatura patriarcal a través de los tópicos, como la impuesta por el proyecto identitario nacional del régimen de Franco. En este artículo se elabora un marco teórico desde la teoría literaria feminista para el estudio de esta reescritura y se analizan algunos de los textos de Carmen Conde que son representativos de la misma. Abstract: The literary work of Carmen Conde (Cartagena, 1907-Madrid, 1996) written during the post-war period stablishes a deep dialogue with the topic of locus amoenus through one of the spaces which it is frecuently connected to, the garden or hortus conclusus, and through one of its main elements, the flower. In some of the poems in Ansia de la gracia (1945) and Iluminada tierra (1951), the garden and the floral imaginary serve to suggest models of female identity that transgress both the pasive image of women portrayed in male literature and the one imposed by the national identity of Franco’s Regime. In this article I develop a theoretical framework from the perspective of feminist literary criticism for the study of this rewriting and I analize some of the texts by Carmen Conde that are representative of this rewriting.

The Coral Altar with the Apocalyptic Woman in the Treasury of St Mary’s Basilica in Krakow. Theological Contents

The Polish version of the article was published in “Roczniki Humanistyczne,” vol. 64 (2016), issue 4. In Polish museum collections there are a few objects made of coral or decorated with it. They are, among others, altars, holy water fonts, crucifixes and other liturgical items. Most often they were bought during Poles’ travels to Italy in the Mannerism and Baroque epochs. St Mary’s Basilica’s treasury boasts of a portable coral altar dated to the middle of the 17th century, a gift from Maria Josepha, the wife of King Augustus III. It has a golden frame and is embellished with enamel and coral. Its centre features the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary standing on a crescent, in a radiant coral glory, surrounded by Marian symbols. It is an apotheosis of the Blessed Virgin Mary based on a fragment of the Apocalypse of St John. The figure of Mary is presented with her cosmic attributes: twelve stars around her head; she is clothed with a radiant glory; and she has a crescent under her feet. Around her seven symbolic biblical signs are presented, ones connected in the exegetic tradition with her being the mother of the Messiah. The term Cedrus exaltata—is perceived as the symbol of majesty, sublimity, loftiness, paradisaical beauty, safety. Fons signatus is a sealed spring, an enclosed one, accessible only to the Mother of God’s Son, chosen by God. Hortus conclusus is the symbol of St Mary’s virginity. Oliva speciosa points to St Mary’s charity, her extraordinary fertility, inner peace, the gift of relieving sufferings. Rosa plantata is a metaphor of wisdom, love, medicine for sinners. Puteus aquarum viventium, a well of living waters, indicates St Mary’s mediation for people redeemed by Jesus. Turris eburnea—the ivory tower is another feature of the Virgin Mary’s beauty, of her immaculate body and fortitude.