Nina Lois Turtledove

Queen Maeve of Ireland

I would like to write a bit more about Jungian analyst Joe MecNair’s presentation on Queen Maeve at Denver’s First Divine Science Church with the Jung Society.

Queen Maeve- She is relevant today in world where the archetypal feminine has been “disenfranchised.” A shadow issue is the violence in the collective unconscious, as exhibited by the explosions in Irish towns: discord between the north and the south manifest. Also it is notable that wonen’s rights is the issue of our times. In the nineteenth century it was slavery, in the twentieth, totalitarian regimes, in the 21st, it is injustice against women. Look at the crimes that are happening in other countries towards women. (It is just inconscionable, what goes on…) In countries where there are no women’s rights, there is great poverty, and then also “fundamentalist chaos.”

Queen Maeve then, stands for intoxication (mead was the drink of choice of the Celts, as it existed before wine was introduced by the Romans.) Mead is a fermented honey drink, which made by bees: a symbol of fertility. In the Celtic culture, which was strongly matriarchic, women have the prerogative to assert passion. Queen Maeve would choose the king by having sex with her chosen. She would choose who would be right for the people, she could also change her lover whenever she wanted.

“When the king and the land (a feminine principle) are one, the people are happy.” In Jungian terms: if the masculine and feminine parts are in union, the psyche is happy.

As a side– there are always two aspects of archetypes- a positive and a negative. The shadow side of masculine sexuality [libido] is domination, of feminine sexuality- possessiveness.

There was a conflict between Queen Maeve and King Ailill, of Connacht. The were comparing their respective riches, and Ailill had a majestic brown bull. Her messenger told her that there was a white bull, twice as great, in Ulster. She arranged with its owner that she would borrow it in exchange for some cows and its return at the end of the year. However, one of Maeve’s men boasted that if she had not been lent the bull, she would have taken it by force. Well if that’s the case, let her take it by force, then! Was the reply. And that is how the great Cattle Raid of Cooley took place, claims the website where I found the legend McNair spoke of.

McNair spoke less on the meaning of this myth than I would have wanted, but he did mention that the bull (and animals in general, in dreams) symbolizes libido. The bigger the libido, the bigger the animal. I see shadow forces in this legend such as myth, domination, and possessiveness. Also, the struggle between opposing forces: masculine and feminine, north and south, light and dark (symbolized by the white bull and the brown, or dark colored bull).

Another point made: When it comes to passion (the Celts emphasized passion, where the Romans emphasized reason) it is helpful to not dominate it, but the bridal and harness the energy.

I loved how McNair did not give an academic presentation. He brought to life his experience in Ireland studying the legend of Queen Maeve and distilling meaning from it using Jungian concepts. A theory is that some things about us and our being are best told through story and metaphor. The other side of this is academic style, which is a rigid linear structure with the clear logic of thesis, claims, warrants, and proofs, points A, B, C, and D, and their various sub-points. This is exactly not as his presentation went. He would begin with a story, follow a tangent, wind up somewhere off from where he left, and continue with the next thing that came to mind. A slide show, which his wife independently was perusing, provided something to reference in his loose, conversational style. It was an adjustment, but what rang for me is how appropriate this was.

The moral of the story seemed to be: “Let your imagination go, and watch it grow.”

Psychology | 14.09.2009 12:44 | 1 Comment