| The author presents a study of the meaning of "symbol" in psychoanalytic theory and practice. He derives a definition of "symbol" from numerous theorists including Freud, E. Jones, Jung, Piaget and C. S. Hall, and analyzes how one confirms that X is a symbol of Y by examination of various contexts such as myth, etymology, childhood play, customs, slang, and psychotherapy case reports. He hypothesizes equations in which the heart acts as a symbol, including heart=penis, heart=glans penis, heart=vagina, heart=breast, heart=fetus, heart=seed, heart=sun and heart=bird. These heart symbolic equations are confirmed by examination of the attributes that the heart shares with each referent; of numerous contexts in which the heart appears including Aztec, ancient Egyptian, and Dionysian myth and rites; of heart-related contemporary customs and rites; and of psychoanalytic psychotherapy case reports. A chapter is devoted to the hypothesis that the stylized heart shape began as a symbol for breast and penis, and the shape is traced to prehistoric cave art, to man's frequent use of the double crescent to depict horned animals, and to the "ivy leaf" attribute of Dionysus. Three psychoanalytic psychotherapy cases involving heart symbolism in which the author was therapist are reported: a 20 year old man with an initial complaint of test anxiety who had an overly sexualized relationship with his mother, in which a shared fantasy was that one would stab the other in the heart; a 21 year old man, with paranoid and psychotic symptoms, who experienced early trauma as a result of beatings by his father and his father's death; and an 11 year old girl, who suffered from nightmares, and whose heart shaped drawings suggested castration anxiety as a result of atypical sleeping arrangements at home and the death of both grandparents from heart attack. It is concluded that symbolism has three functions: defensive, communicative, and liberative. Numerous illustrations from prehistoric man's art to contemporary greeting cards appear as evidence. |
