XPost: uk.philosophy.humanism, alt.psychology.jung, alt.psychology
XPost: alt.psychology.psychoanalysis, talk.politics

The puer aeternus (Peter Pan) syndrome denotes a form of mother complex.
Daryl Sharp says:

"The puer typically leads a provisional life, due to the fear of being
caught in a situation from which it might not be possible to escape. His
lot is seldom what he really wants and one day he will do something
about it--but not just yet. Plans for the future slip away in fantasies
of what will be, what could be, while no decisive action is taken to
change. He covets independence and freedom, chafes at boundaries and
limits, and tends to find any restriction intolerable [...] Common
symptoms of puer psychology are dreams of imprisonment and similar
imagery: chains, bars, cages, entrapment, bondage. Life itself,
existential reality, is experienced as a prison. The bars are
unconscious ties to the unfettered world of early life." (Sharp, "Jung Lexicon")

Of course, this feeling of being fettered is what characterizes today's ideological mindset. Leftists, feminists, and black "liberation" groups
claim that they are circumscribed by the structures of society, created
by the oppressing White Patriarcate (symbolic of the demanding
father-figure). The demands of adult life can indeed be hard to endure, especially in times of economical hardship. But if an ideology is
created out of this youthful concept, then society is bound to churn out
a multitude of alienated people each year. It is imperative that this
ongoing epidemic is better understood. I recommend M-L von Franz "The
Problem of the Puer Aeternus" (2000).

Mats Winther
http://mlwi.magix.net/puer.htm

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)