ABSTRACT
Myths originating in oral form have been passed down from antiquity in the forms of drama and poetry and continue to survive in multiple forms today, not least because they contain human truths concerning passionate forces and powerful drives, complex relationships and existential dilemmas. This chapter asks what we might learn from psychoanalysis, in particular from the work of Wilfred Bion, on the container and the contained, and from the plethora of myths available that contain aspects of the human condition – both conscious and unconscious. It provides examples showing what an application of myth in practice can add to an existential approach, given the significance of adopting a phenomenological attitude towards experiencing and understanding existence and our place in it. The chapter considers how we might begin to understand and address this omission in a counter-traditional existential approach.
