The Jungian Application of Therapeutic Folk Imagery With Frontline Workers in China During the Pandemic

Abstract

After the sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China in 2020, the viral disease broke out in most countries around the world, becoming a worldwide health emergency. Throughout the pandemic, people have been compelled to simultaneously grapple with its external challenges as well as the psycho-spiritual consequences. This article focuses on a folk image “Sea-Stabilizing Secret Weapon¹” and its clinical application to the frontline workers during the pandemic from Jungian perspective. “Sea-Stabilizing Secret Weapon” is a magical weapon used by the character Monkey King who wields it to subdue demons in his quest to retrieve and protect sacred Buddhist scriptures in the Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West. In this article, we analyze the psychological significance of the image of Sea-Stabilizing Secret Weapon as a psychic portal through which to bring contents of the unconscious into consciousness, and a medium to achieve balance between the I (consciousness) and the psychic world within (the unconscious). We posit that the Sea-Stabilizing Secret Weapon corresponds with Edinger’s ego-Self axis and can be used to unveil the unconscious. The process through which this magical weapon is discovered and used by Monkey King is analogous to the dynamic linking of the ego (the center of consciousness) to the Self (the center of the psyche). Two cases during the pandemic are used to illustrate the application of the image as a therapeutic intervention with the frontline medical staff at the individual and group levels.