ABSTRACT
The psychoanalytic reflection is well acquainted with developmental experiences whose failure of symbolisation leaves the experiencing subject exposed to the raw power of archaic objects. Same-sex desire within a heteronormative symbolic order, like other experiences against which anti-representation forces of various nature are active, may indeed prove to be one of such precipitating entry points into an archetypal level of psychic functioning. This chapter explores some effects on the individual of a mismatch between same-sex desire and symbolic order, where the author broadly refers to this situation as numinous exclusion. It considers archetypal processes activated by this tension and their function in repairing the symbolic gaps. Archetypal processes around same-sex desire in the area of Father offer a different way of relating to the symbolic order – via the paternal function rather than via socially constructed roles on the level of the Persona.
