Morphic Echoes: Dream Telepathy in Psychoanalysis. An Explanatory Hypothesis

Authors

  • Anna Aragno

Keywords:

interpenetrative world view, biosemiotic hierarchy of interactive modes, emotional resonance, pattern-matching, morphic sentience

Abstract

Emerging out of an era in which the ‘paranormal’ was viewed with skepticism by most and asquackery by the scientific community, Freud steered psycho-analysis clear of any association with telepathy or thought transference - phenomena which, however, were reported with some frequency within its domain of inquiry.Although he began by rejecting the whole subject, over the years and through personal experiences, he wrote several papers advocating that psychoanalysts embark on a serious inquiry of this phenomenon, approaching it as a normal rather than paranormal aspect of unconscious functioning.Yet despite the legitimization of psi phenomena through government sponsored research and the Princeton (PEAR) studies, psychoanalysis remained at odds with a phenomenon that appears most commonly and quite dramatically in Dreams. Insecurities about the “scientific” merits of our ‘talking cure’ pushed the subject underground, with only occasional papers emerging every few years which present evidence of telepathic material, but without offering major new theoretical insights.This paper, instigated by personal experience in my practice, searches for the operative roots of dream telepathy as a normal, deeply non-conscious resonance phenomenon, through broad interdisciplinary readings in quantum physics; the Holographic Paradigm; current neuroscience and paleoneurology; Prehistoric Art; developmental studies; psychoanalytic dream theory and group processes; literature on psi from the early 20’s, and our own psychoanalytic literature. From within the framework of a revision of Freud’s first topographical model viewed as a continuum from biological to semiotically mediated organizations of experience and modes of communication (Aragno 1997, 2008), the inquiry takes us to our distant evolutionary past when evidence of ‘representation’ first appeared, leaving traces of early hominid mental capacities. With support from contemporary neurobiology and a broad interdisciplinary base, relevant data is selected and synthesized, like pieces of a puzzle, drawing from this a comprehensive hypothesis for the roots of dream telepathy. The subject is approached from the perspective of a biosemiotic model of human interactions (Aragno, 2008) in which all unconscious communicative processes are viewed as natural rather than supernatural phenomena.

References

Anani, Emmanuel (2002a) La Struttura Elementare dell’Arte. Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici; Vol

, Edizione del Centro. Valcamonica. IT.

------------------ (2002b) Lo Stile come Fattore Diagnostico nell’Arte Preistorica. Studi Camuni. Vol.23

Edizione del Centro. Valcamonica, IT

Aragno, A (1997) Symbolization: Proposing a Developmental Paradigm for a New Psychoanalytic

Theory of Mind. Madison: CT, International Universities Press

--------------(2008) The Language of Empathy: An Analysis of its Constitution, Development, and Role in

Psychoanalytic Listening. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association Vol.56 (3) pp 713-740

------------ (2008), Forms of Knowledge: A Psychoanalytic Study of Human Communication.

Baltimore:MD PublishAmerica Press.

----------- (2009) Meaning’s Vessel: A Metapsychological Understanding of Metaphor. Psychoanalytic

Inquiry, Vol.29 (1):30-47

Balint, M (1955) Notes on parapsychology and parapsychological healing. Int. J. Psycho-Anal.36:31-35

Barbieri, M (2008) Bioesemiotics: a new understanding of life. Naturwissenschaften, DOI

1007/s0014-008-0368-x

Bohm, D.J (1980) Wholeness and the Implicate Order. London: Routledge.

-------------(1986), A New Theory of the Relationship of Matter and Mind. The Journal of the American

Society for Psychical Research.Vol.80 (2):113-13521

Bower,B (1997) Minds Meet in the Social Whirl Science News (supplement) V.151,#9 pp129-136

Braud, W (2003) Distant Mental Influence: Its Contributions to Science, Healing, and Human

Interactions Hampton Roads Publishing Co, Inc.

Cambray, J (2002) Synchronicity and Emergence. American Imago Vol. 59 (4) pp 409-434.

Capra, F (1988) The Role f Physics in the Current Change of Paradigm. in, The World View of

Contemporary Physics, Ed. Richard. F Kitchener. Albany: State University of New York, pp144-155

Bohr, N (1958) Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge New York: John Wiley& Sons

Damasio, A (1994) Descarte’s Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York; Putnam

------------ (1999), The Feeling of What Happens San Diego, New York, London; Harcourt, Inc

Deacon, T.W (1997) The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain. New York,

London, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.

Deutsch, H (1926/1970), Occult Processes Occurring During Psychoanalysis in Psychoanalysis and the

Occult. G. Devereux. Ed. 135-146

Devereux, G (1970) Extrasensory Perception and Psychoanalytic Epistemology. in Psychoanalysis and

the Occult. G. Devereux, Ed. New York: International Universities Press.16-46

---------------(1970) A Summary of Istvan Holos’Theories in Psychoanalysis and the Occult, G, Devereux

Ed, IUP,199-203

Dunne, B.J, (2003) Information and Uncertainty in Remote Perception Research Journal of Scientific

Exploration, Vol.17 No. (2) pp 207-241

Ehrenwald, H.J (1942) Telepathy in Dreams. Brit. J. Med. Psychol. 19: 313-23

_________( 1944) Telepathy in the psychoanalytic situation. Brit. J. Psychiatry.20: 51-62

_________ (1956) Telepathy: Concepts, criteria and consequences. Psychoanal. Q. 30:424-44

------------- (1971) Mother-child symbiosis: Cradle of ESP.Psycoanal.Rev.58:455-66

Eisenbud, J (1946)Telepathy and problems of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Q15:32-87

------------ (1947/1970) The Dream of two Patients in Analysis as a Telepathic Reve-a`-deux. in

Psychoanalysis and the Occult, G. Devereux ed. IUP, 262-276

Eshel, O (2006) Where are You, My Beloved? : On Absence, Loss, and the Enigma of Telepathic

Dreams. The International J. of Psychoanalysis, 87:1603-1627

Ferguson, M (1982) Karl Pribram’s Changing Reality. in The Holographic Paradigm and Other

Paradoxes. Shambala, Boulder and London pp15- 26

Freud, S. (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams. Standard Edition, 4&5. London, Hogarth Press, 1953 22

------------ (1915) The Unconscious. Standard Edition 14:161-215. London: Hogarth Press, 1957

-----------( 1912-1913) Recommendations to Physicians Practicing Psycho Analysis, Standard

Edition,Vol.12, London, Hogarth Press, 1958.pp 111-144

--------- (1921) Psychoanalysis and Telepathy. Standard Edition 18: 175-194 London: Hogarth Press,

---------- (1922) Dreams and Telepathy. Standard Edition 18: 195-220. London: Hogarth Press, 1955

---------- (1925) Some Additional notes upon dream-interpretation as a whole Standard Edition 19: 127-

London: Hogarth Press, 1961.

---------- (1933) Dreams and Occultism New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis Standard Edition

:31-56. London: Hogarth Press 1964

--------- (1937) Analysis Terminable and Interminable Standard Edition 23: 216-253 London: Hogarth

Press, 1964

Fodor, N (1947/1970) Telepathy in Analysis. in Psychoanalysis and the Occult. G. Devereux ,ed.283-296

Gallese, V (2001) The “shared manifold” hypothesis: From mirror neurons to empathy. Journal of

Consciousness Studies 8 (5-7): 33-50

---------- (2003) The Roots of Empathy: The Shared Manifold Hypothesis and the Neural Basis of

Intersubjectivity. Psychopathology: 36: 171-180

------------(2007) Intentional Attunement: The Mirror Neuron System and its role in Interpersonal

Relations. (Unpublished Paper) Meeting of the Philochtetes Society, NYC. Winter,2007.

Gillespie, W.H (1948/1970) Extrasensory Elements in Dream Interpretation. in Psychoanalysis and the

Occult. G. Devereux, ed. pp 373-382

Hatfield E, Cacioppo J,T, Rapson R,L,(1977) Emotional Contagion; Studies in Emotion and Social

Interaction. Cambridge University Press: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris

Hollòs, I (1933) Psychopathologie alltäglicher telepathischer Erscheininungen. Imago, 19: 529-546

Hitschmann, E.(1924) Telepathy and Psycho-Analysis. Int. J. Psycho-Analysis 5: 425-436.

----------------(1933/1970) Telepathy during Psychoanalysis. in Psychoanalysis and the Occult, G.

Devereux ed. IUP. pp 128-132

Jahn, R.G. and Dunne, J.B.(2005) The PEAR PROPOSITION Journal of Scientific Exploration Vol.19

No (2) pp195-245

Jung, C.G. (1971) The Portable Jung. Ed. J. Campbell. New York: Viking Press

Langan,R (2002) Portals. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Vol.38(3);447-48423

Lazar,S.G( 2001) Knowing, Influencing, and Healing: Paranormal Phenomena and Implications for

Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Vol. 21(1) pp113-131.

Major,R. and Miller, P(1984), Empathy, Antipathy, and Telepathy in the Analytic Process. in Empathy,

Volume II. Eds. J.Lichtenberg, M.Bornstein, D.Silver. The Analytic Pres, Hillsdale, NJ. 1984 pp 227-248

Marshack. A (1972) The Roots of Civilization. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mayer,E.L(1996), Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity of Clinical Facts. International Journal of PsychAnalysis, 77: 709-737

----------- (2001) On “Telepathic Dreams?” An Unpublished Paper by Robert.J.Stoller. JAPA, 49(2) 629-

---------- (2002a) Freud and Jung: the boundaried mind and the radically connected mind. Journal of

Analytical Psychology, 47:91-99

---------- (2002b) “How the Unconscious continues to Surprise Us.” December 9th, San Francisco

Psychoanalytic Institute, Scientific Lecture (unpublished paper)

Meissner,W.W (2010) Some Notes on the Epistemology of Empathy. Psych.Analytic Quarterly, LXXIX

(2), 421-469

Murphy, G (1948/2001) Introduction in, Mind to Mind; Studies in Consciousness. R.Targ,Edition.

Hamptons Roads Publishing Co. p xxxi-xIii

Nadeau, R &Kafatos M (1999) The Non-Local Universe: The New Physics and Matters of Mind. New

York: Oxford University Press

Pagels, H.R (1983) The Cosmic Code: Quantum Physics as the Language of Nature. New York. Toronto.

London: Bantam Books

Penfield,W (1975) The Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain.

Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press

Peterson A. (1963) “The Philosophy of Niels Bohr” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 1963, p

Piaget, J & Inhelder,B (1969) The Psychology of the Child New York, Basic Books

Polkinghorne, J (2002) Quantum Theory. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press

Pribram, K.( 1982) What’s all the Fuss About. in, The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes.

Shambala, Boulder and London, pp 27- 34

Radin, D (1997) The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. New York:

HarperCollins24

---------- (2006) Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality. New York, London,

Toronto, Sydney: Paraview Pocket Books.

Read, H (1955) Image and Idea: The Function of Art in the Development of Human Consciousness.

Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press

Rizzolati,G,Fogassi,L,Gallese,V(2001) Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the understanding

and imitation of action. Nature Neuroscience Reviews,2, 661-670

Róheim, G (1932/1970)Telepathy in a Dream. in Psychoanalysis and the Occult, G. Devereux ed. IUP,

pp147-157

Reik, T (1948) Listening with the Third Ear. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition

Servadio, E (1935/1970),Psychoanalysis and Telepathy. in Psychoanalysis and the Occult. G. Devereux,

Ed IUP, 210-220

Sinclair, U (1930/2001) Mental Radio. Classics in Consciousness, R.Targ Edition Hampton Roads

Publishing Co. 2001

Schlachet, P.J (1989) The Metabolization of Primary Process in Groups. GROUP, Vol.13: No. 3&4: 217-

-------------- (1992) The Dream in Group Therapy: A Reappraisal of Unconscious Processes in Groups.

GROUP, Vol. 16 (4): 195-209.

--------------- (2002) Sharing Dreams in Group Therapy. In, Dreams in Group Psychotherapy: Theory and

Technique. Eds.C.Neri, M.Pines, and R. Friedman .p.79-97

Sheldrake, R. (1981) A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. New Edition.

London: Blond and Briggs, 1985

----------------(1988)The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature, London:

Collins

----------------- (1991) The Rebirth of Nature. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

Silberer, H( 1914) Probleme der Mystik und ihrer. Symbolik

Targ,R & Katra,J(1948/2001) Interpretive Introduction. In, Mind to Mind; Studies in Consciousness.

R.Targ, Edition. Hamptons Roads Publishing Co. p.xvii-xxii

C.Tart,H.E.Puhtoff, R.Targ, Eds( 1979/2002) Mind at Large: IEEE Symposia on the Nature of

Extrasensory Perception . Charlotsville, VA, Hamptons Roads Publishing Co.

Ullman,M. Krippner,S.with Vaughan,A.(1973/2001) Dream Telepathy Experiments in Nocturnal

Extrasensory Perception; Studies in Consciousness. R.Targ Edition. Hampton Roads Publishing Co.

Verene, D.P (2002) Coincidence, historical repetition, and self-knowledge: Jung, Vico, and Joyce. Journal

of Analytical Psychology, 47: 459-478.

Von Luadou, W (1991) The Model of Pragmatic Information. European Journal of Parapsychology. 11:

-75

Warcollier,R (1948/2001) Mind to Mind. Studies in Consciousness. R.Targ Edition. Hamptons Roads

Publishing Co. 2001

Weber, R.(1982) Field Consciousness and Field Ethics. The Holographic Paradigm and Other

Paradoxes. Shambala, Boulder and London, pp 35-43

Wilbur, K. (1982) A New perspective on Reality. Special Updated Issue of the Brain/Mind Bulletin. in,

The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes. Shambala, Boulder and London, pp 1-4

Wilson, E.O (1998) Conslience: The Unity of Knowledge. New York, Vintage Books, Random House

White R, (2003) Prehistoric Art: the symbolic journey of humankind. New York: Published by

Harry.N.Abrams, Inc.

Wiederman,L (2003) Mirror Neurons. ERCM NEWS, No.55, October 2003

Worringer,W (1908/48) Abstraction and Empathy. Elephant Paperbacks, 1997edition. Ivan R. Dee,

Publisher, Chicago

Downloads

Published

2013-06-17