13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology
Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies (JSSS)

On Nature and the Feminine:

Psychological and Cultural Reflections
June 11 - June 13, 2015

Round Table
EdS 122
Thu. June 11, 2015

Michael Lukie
An Analysis of the
Projective Dynamics
Involved in the
Conflict Between
Creationism and a
Pre-Service Physics
Teacher

Introduction
discuss a conflict a pre-service physics teacher
experienced while completing a teaching
practicum at a creationist high school
scapegoating
psychic inflation
fanaticism for the scientific method
what was constellated in the personal, familial,
and cultural unconscious

13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology

Conflict
at the end of a physics lesson I discussed
paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate
it provided a real world context about how
global warming is being studied by scientists
paleoclimatologists study Earths climate as far
back as 800,000 years by examining ice cores
obtained from Greenland and Antarctica,
(Fergusson, 2013)
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

Conflict
by determining the ratio of heavy oxygen O18 to light
oxygen O16 in ice cores, scientists can learn about
ancient climate changes (Ichoku, 2014)
less heavy oxygen in the frozen water means that
temperatures were cooler (Ichoku, 2014)
conflict occurred between the cooperating teachers
claim for a 6000 year old Earth and the 800,000 year
date I suggested to students

13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology

Complexes
superiority complex constellated
my truth claim for a 4.5 billion year old Earth was
based upon superior scientific reasoning
truth claim for a 6000 year old Earth is based upon
inferior faith based reasoning
scientific truth claims are superior (provable)
religious truths claims are inferior (not provable)

13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology

How Did I Know I Was Constellated

I was immediately agitated, distressed and
disturbed over the claim for a 6000 year old Earth
I became compulsive in my actions and thoughts
I had trouble taking in what another was saying
(Fidyk, 2014)
I was much more into my body than I was in my
conscious mind during the conflict
my heart rate and blood pressure increased
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

How Did I Know I Was Constellated

compulsively attempted to refute the young Earth
claim with scientific arguments
discovery of a 9,550 year old Norway spruce in
Dalarna, Sweden (Kullman, 2014)
based on the light year, scientists have found
objects that are more distant than 6000 light years
away from Earth

13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology

Personal & Familial Unconscious

Religion & Gender
raised in a Ukrainian Catholic household
household not very religious
traditional gendered roles were not followed
father performed traditional female roles in the household

I was an alter boy and was asked to become a priest

immediate family members were either teachers or priests
male dominated gender roles

repressed the priest role into my shadow

became a teacher

repressed male dominated gender roles into my shadow

13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

Personal & Familial Unconscious

Personal & Familial Shadow Contents
my shadow contents were constellated by the
cooperating teachers religious creationism and
male dominated gender roles at the school
projected the contents of my shadow that
repressed the priest as a career choice and
repressed male dominated gender roles
these projections constellated my complexes for
religion and gender
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

Cultural Unconscious
contemporary Canadian culture emphasizes scientism
a belief that the methods of the natural sciences should be
employed in investigating all aspects of human behaviour
and condition (Bonnett, 2013)

Canadians continue to consume and pollute the

environment since it is understood that science will solve
the problem of global warming
the contents of our cultural unconscious shadow consist
of repressed feelings that religion is capable of solving
the problem of global warming
I projected the contents of this unconscious cultural
shadow when science was challenged
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

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Scapegoating
the scapegoat, "is perceived as being
fundamentally different from the rest of the
group and must be excluded or sacrificed in order
for the group to survive and remain whole"
(Colman, 1995, p. 81)
scapegoated by students and teachers because
my scientific truth claims were perceived as
fundamentally different and challenging
students and teachers could survive and remain
whole only by rejecting me
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

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Fanaticism
Jung associates fanaticism with repressed
doubt
extreme beliefs, strongly held and defended,
characterize fanaticism (Alschuler, 2009)
the cooperating teacher and I both held
fanatical beliefs for religion and science

13th Conference of Research in Jung and

Analytical Psychology

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Psychic Inflation
we both fell victim to psychic inflation
puffing up of the ego, often resulting in the
dissociation (splitting off) and repression of any
thought that is incompatible with these beliefs
(Alschuler, 2009)
the unconscious attempts to moderate the ego's onesidedness by confronting it with an opposite image, a
doubt (disbelief) (Alschuler, 2009)

our egos both had repressed doubt

I repressed doubt about science
the cooperating teacher repressed doubt about
religion
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

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Psychic Inflation
I encountered my repressed doubts in projection
onto a science non-believer
I had to convert my cooperating teacher to
science in order to confirm the beliefs of my
scientific fanaticism
I was trapped in a vicious circle of my fanaticism
my repressed doubt was projected each time I
provided a scientific example disproving the religious
truth claim
13th Conference of Research in Jung and
Analytical Psychology

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Conclusion
accept the other person's point of view rather than attempting to
convert them
try to consciously hold both conflicting positions in your mind
look for the image or hooks that constellate conflicts with people
in my conflict the hook was truth

to depotentiate future conflicts

attend to the hooks and images that constellate the unconscious
shadow
be more cognisant of these images when they arise
be able to recognize when you have been constellated and mediate
your reaction

by examining such conflicts, pre-service teachers may begin to

understand how valuable a knowledge of analytical psychology is
when attending to conflicts that arise during teaching
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Analytical Psychology

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References
Alschuler, L. R. (2009). Fanaticism: A Psychopolitical analysis. The Psychology of Violence. A Journal of Archetype and
Culture 81, pp. 59-83.
Bonnett, M. (2013). Normalizing catastrophe: sustainability and scientism. Environmental Education Research,
19(2), 187-197.
Colman, A. D. (1995). Up from scapegoating: Awakening consciousness in groups. Wilmette, IL: Chiron Books.
Ferguson, W. (2013,05,01). Ice Core Data Help Solve a Global Warming Mystery. Scientific American. Retrieved from:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ice-core-data- help-solve/

Fidyk, A. (2014). Complexes and the Research Process. EDSE 501 class handout.
Ichoku, C. (2014,03,29). Paleoclimatology: the oxygen balance. NASA Earth Observatory (EOS). Retrieved from:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Paleoclimatology_OxygenBalance/
Kullman, L. (2014,04,26). World's Oldest Living Tree -9550 years old -Discovered In Sweden. Science Daily. Retrieved
from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416104320.htm

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Analytical Psychology

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