Violent Devotion and Depth Psychology

The purpose of this article is to test how far the concepts of depth psychology can be used to further understanding of religiously motivated acts of violence that occurred in another age and another cultural environment. The particular behaviour studied is the violence exhibited in the lives of the Tamil Saiva saints of Southern India who lived in the sixth to eighth centuries CE. The relevant historical evidence is the account of their lives recorded in the hagiographical epic known as the Periya Purānam of Cēkkilār (fl. 1133-1150 CE). The term “depth psychology” is here taken to denote both the psycho-analytic theories of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein and their successors, and the analytical psychology of the Jungian school. It will be shown that in spite of the methodological difficulties, psychological concepts drawn from these sources can be used to throw light on the religiously motivated behaviour here considered

Analytical psychology · Art · Cultural psychology · Depth psychology · EPIC · Literature · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Tamil · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

• Psychology of religion

  David M Wulff•Psychology of religion•1991

  Incluir item

• Beyond the pleasure principle.

  Sigmund Freud, Ernest Jones et al.•1922

  Incluir item

• Jung and the Post-Jungians

  Andrew Samuels•Jung and the Post-Jungians•2003

  Incluir item

• Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality

  W R D Fairbairn, William Fairbairn•Psychoanalytic Studies of the…•2013

  Incluir item

• The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence

  Robert R Sears•Psychological Bulletin•1938

  Incluir item

• Literary Theory and Moral Vision in Tamil Buddhist Literature

  Open Access•Anne E Monius•Journal of Indian Philosophy•2000

  Incluir item

• The Theban Plays

  Sophocles Sophocles, Peter J Ahrensdorf et al.•The Theban plays•2009

  Incluir item

• Poems to Siva

  Indira Viswanathan Peterson•Poems to Siva•1989

  Incluir item

• The Hungry God

  Paula Richman, David Shulman•Journal of the American Oriental…•1994

  Incluir item

• Can Jungian psychology be used to interpret Indian devotional poetry

  Open Access•Harold Coward, Harold G Coward•Studies in Religion/Sciences…•1979

  Incluir item