ABSTRACT

The extra-sensory connection between mother and baby gradually begins to break during the weeks and months after birth, as the infant develops autonomy. In one of his letters to Freud, the historian Romain Rolland describes having “several brief and staggering” mystical experiences that caused him to feel as though he had merged into the natural environment. The relationship between Freud and Rolland was long and complicated; they corresponded for many years, from 1923 to 1936, always in warm and cordial tones, although Freud disagreed with Rolland about mystical experience. The relationship between Freud and Jung has been much discussed, especially in relation to the unconscious, which is one of the important areas in which their work diverged. The participation mystique is similar to thought-transference in that it breaks down the social and cultural structures that separate us in waking consciousness.