Christmas as a symbolic re-enactment of giving birth

In his 1944 article "On Christmas" (Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Vol. XIII), Richard Sterba noted the similarities between the celebration of Christmas and the act of giving birth to a baby:

Merry Christmas!

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 25, 2024
Category: Christmas | Pregnancy

Comments

Am I the only one who has sometimes thought that psychoanalysts were the crazy ones?
I thought Christmas was just Christmas.
I thought a chimney was a way for smoke to escape a fire.
I thought Santa Claus was a tribute to St. Nicholaus of Myra.
But, since I am not a psychoanalyst, what do I know?

Posted by Patrick on 12/26/24 at 07:57 AM

@Patrick: you know that these days, psychiatrists and psychotherapists do not take Freud seriously any more. And can we amateurs/patients please not do so either? His influence is, and I mean this genuinely, actively damaging to our mental health. Let's just ditch him.

Posted by Richard Bos on 12/28/24 at 05:19 PM