Spring 60

The marriage rate in the United States rose to 9.1 marriages per thousand people in 1994 (according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). That is a ten percent rise since 1990 in people getting married as opposed to those staying single. What is going on? According to the contributors to this volume, Spring Journal number 60, it is the gods who are pushing marriage again, even though marriage itself is more difficult than ever and the ususual psycho- and socio-babble makes it no easier. As Ginette Paris writes: The tension between genders escalates with unceasing loading and unloading of guilt on the other.... Many psychological approaches persist in relating all problems to the family, while consciousness, that psychological magical arrow, is described in terms of personal consciousness, as if the task of becoming conscious were the sole responsibility of individuals . Paris, along with other leading archetypal psychologists such as James Hillman, Sheila Grimaldi-Craig, Rachel Pollack and others, take another look at the gods -- such as Hera -- who are behind marriage, and come up with some surprising and startling conclusions. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.