ELIZABETH DALTON
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in the di stributi on of energy within the mind may be similar. In mani c–
dep ress ive illness, the persona lity is domin a ted for long periods by a
severe superego, whi ch prohibits instinctual expression . At the onset of
the mani c phase, the dammed-up instinctual energy associated
with repressed ideas and impul ses erupts explosively, overthrowing
the superego and p roducing a feeling o f elation and fantas ies of
omni potence.
T he persona lity of the mysti c, a t least tha t typical of the g reat
Catholic mysti cs o f Eu rope, is a lso domina ted by superego; the mystic
li ves under a severe regime of mo rtifica ti on of the fl esh , fasting, and
ch astity. But thi s in stinctua l depriva ti on is apparentl y compensa ted
by th e joy of th e mys ti cal experience, fo r whi ch deni al of the senses is
the prep ara ti on . The mys ti cal vi sion is often preceded by a terribl e
peri od of intell ectua l and sexual tempta ti on , doubts and obscene
visions, no t unlike the ordea l of Myshkin 's lon g day in Petersburg
before the fit. After endurin g thi s torment, the mys tic is rewarded by the
mysti cal revela ti on . Thi s revela ti on may include the apparition of
Ch r ist, the sa ints, o r the Virgin , o ft en described in intensely sexua l
language. O r it may be a mo re generalized experi ence- an ineffable
sense of bea titude o r a bsorpti on into the radiance of the divine being
such as Mys hkin has during the epil eptic aura. As in mania, there is an
eru p ti on of lon g repressed instin ctua l energy and the superego is
overth rown ; the ego is free to experi ence the gra tifi ca ti on of id
impul ses, a ltho ugh in a fo rm di sgui sed by and conson ant with
reIig ious beliefs.
T hu the sense of merg ing, reconcilia tion, and synthesis in
mys ti cal experi ence refers no t onl y to the feeling of oneness with the
ex tern a l wo rld, but a lso to the annihil ati on o f interna l confli ct as the
repress ive superego is o verthrown and id energy rushes into the ego,
producing the inten sely h eightened feeling of self- con sciousness and o f
" th e d irect sensa ti on of exi stence." The "extraordinary li ght" tha t
fl oods the mind and heart of Myshkin appears t'o be an image o f this
surge o f energy. T he rea lity p rincipl e is deposed by the pl easure
p rin cipl e, whi ch seeks immedia te gra tifi ca tion. Thu s the sense o f time,
a fun cti on of the ego associated with the delay of g ra tifica tion , is
sus pended durin g the mys ti cal experi ence, whi ch is a lways described as
somehow outside o f ti me. Myshkin understands during the ecs ta ti c
moment the sayin g " there sha ll be no mo re time"; it is thi s moment , he
says, "whi ch was no t lo ng enough fo r the wa ter
to
be spilt out of
Mahomet's p itcher, tho ugh the epil eptic prophet had time to gaze at all
the habita tions o f All ah ." T hu s the brilliant , unlimited, ha rmonious
vision th a t comes to Myshkin du rin g the ep il epti c aura is a regress ion
