ABSTRACT
I n Memories, Dreams, Reflections this saying is introduced to support the strange claim about Freud that "sexuality meant for h im a numinosum." Rudolf Otto, in his book on the holy (Das Heilige, 1917; translated as The Idea of the Holy, 1923), introduced numen and numinous to designate the terrifying but at the same t ime fascinating divine presence that is encountered i n many religious experiences, and Jung suggested that sexuality had for Freud a religious function. This seems whol ly implausible. What was distinctive i n Freud's attitude toward sexuality was precisely his sobriety, the lack of drama and emotion. I n this respect there was clearly a great difference between Freud and Jung, w h i c h comes out clearly in the opening words o f Jung's l ib ido book:
Anyone who can read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams without . . . moral indignation over the stark nudity [Nuditdt] of his dream interpretations . . . w i l l surely be impressed deeply . . . .
