Eros Rising in the Outskirts: Anadyomene of the Feminine in Mormon Culture

Abstract

This alchemical hermeneutic inquiry was conducted to explore the anadyomene motif, an image and gesture of rising from submersion toward renewal and transformation. The aim of this study was to pursue the role the female body may play in the psychological phenomenon of rebirth through the consideration of language, dreams, imagination, and various forms of art like paintings, sculpture, film, and music. Anadyomene was explored in two aspects: (a) rebirth as the brilliant celebration of arrival, and (b) the hard won, but weary emerging from the trials of initiation. This study addressed the research question within the context of patriarchal cultures and, specifically, in Mormon culture. Based on the premise that patriarchy is damaging to both women and men, this dissertation was shaped by depth psychology, panpsychism, and feminine ways of knowing such as analogical thinking and awareness through body, relationship, intuition, nature, mystery, and self-knowledge. Findings included the idea that the female body holds specific gifts for renewal and transformation and shares these with psyche through tacit knowledge and holistic perception. Change requires the erotic merits of connection and relationship between the One and the Many. The female body plays an essential role in renewal and transformation because it is intrinsically erotic.