Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

allowed was JB to clarify her understanding of the vital place of spirituality as recognition
of the psyche engaged with other, the ‘third’, whilst avoiding fundamentalism of any kind –
religious, psychoanalytic or political – and being able to do this in the presence of someone
who has made a similar spiritual journey (Ross 1997, 2008). The interview ended abruptly
as JB saw the time and needed to get her car out of the garage, yet she clearly wanted the
interview to continue - what follows was not recorded.
JB asked me to accompany her to the underground garage and in the lift said that she had
experienced in me ‘a quality of light’ that she thought was indicative of spiritual presence.
Even in this transcript the unconscious intrudes as a ‘slip of the keyboard’ I wrote ‘life’ not
‘lift’. As soon as she had opened the door she sensed something about me that enabled her
to trust the interview process and for her to feel she could say what she wanted. JB felt this
interview ‘was meant to happen’. I felt profoundly touched by such a response that was
very affirming of my spirit/psyche at a deep level that I cannot quite put words to – as is
commonly the case with intersubjective/mystical experiences.
I was left feeling elated and wistful as JB drove off in her Volvo station-wagon. It felt we
had just started to meet and this had been a rich experience. I left thinking life is for
enjoyment, growth and a fulfilling of potential with the capacity to give and receive love –
which to me speaks of a sacred encounter.
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