The Mystical Vision of Saint Barbara: Seeing Through the Myth of Separation

Abstract

This alchemical hermeneutic study examines the problem of the myth of separation between spirit and matter that lies at the wounded heart of the Western psyche. The myth of separation is conceptualized as a traumatic, intergenerational attachment wound that creates the perception of dissociation of the divine spirit from the material world. Diverse problems confronting Western civilization are considered as sharing a common root in the myth of separation. The Legend of Saint Barbara serves as a lens through which to examine the myth of separation as well as exploring her transformative vision beyond separation to communion in love. Saint Barbara’s imprisonment, torture, and decapitation symbolize the collective trauma of the myth of separation. Her mystical vision, symbolized by her third tower window, saw through the illusion of separation to an illumination of the divine spirit in matter. Catholic mystical perspectives that are not based in separation are explored and compared with Jung and other depth psychological interpretations of Christian symbols and dogma. Narratives of separation based on Jung’s quaternarian model of the psyche are examined in light of traditional and modern interpretations of the Trinity and the number three. Results suggest that a third state of awareness beyond the binary of conscious/unconscious is required to see beyond separation and opposition. Love as a state of Being brings the three and the four into dynamic relationship where opposition does not exist. Implications for a relational psychology are considered.