This book explores the experience of time in psychoanalysis and Andean shamanism. It plots ways to work through unresolved trauma by expanding how we conceptualize both implicit and nonverbal atemporal experience, drawing from the rituals, narratives, and medicine of Andean shamans and quantum theory.
Shifting between subjective states in time is fundamental in trauma work and psychoanalysis. Integrating traumatic experiences that have become split off and held in “timeless” unconscious states of implicit memory is an essential aspect of psychic healing. Becoming familiar with the Andean shamans’ understanding of atemporal experience, as well as learning about their ways of “grounding” the experience consciously, can offer a route through which psychoanalysis and therapy may deepen the therapeutic process and open new states of consciousness. Theories developed in quantum physics are included to parallel the shamans’ experience and for describing the analytic process.
Written by a noted expert in this field, this insightful volume will interest trainee and practitioner analytical psychologists, as well as any professional interested in the resolution of trauma within a psychotherapeutic setting.
Table of Contents
Introduction PART I: OVERVIEW AND ANDEAN MEDICINE 1. An Overview of the Origins of the Conceptualization of Time in Psychoanalysis and Depth Psychology 2. Temporal and Atemporal Experience in Andean Medicine 3. Power: The Capacity to Hold Energy 4. Psychic States in Andean Medicine 5. The Paqos’ Direct Experience—Shifting States of Awareness through Ritual Chapter 6. Experiencing the Energetic Realm through the Body: Temporality and Atemporality PART II: ATEMPORAL EXPERIENCE AND RE-ENTRY 7. A Personal Account of Mystical and Re-Entry Experience 8. Making Sense of the Re-Entry Experience: The Aftermath 9. Phases in the Re-Entry Experience PART III: INTEGRATING PSYCHOANALYSIS, ANDEAN MEDICINE, AND QUANTUM THEORY 10. Weaving Together Theories of Psychoanalysis, Andean Medicine, and Quantum Physics 11. Quantum Theory, Human Experience, and the Analytic Encounter 12. Navigating Temporal Reality: The Subjective Experience of Time 13. Conclusion