Conscious Femininity

Robert B. MacIntyre is the Head of the Psychoeducational Clinic at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

This collection of interviews, which appeared in a variety of magazines
between 1985 and 1992, reveals both Marion Woodman’s growth and her
consistency. A trained and highly productive Jungian analyst, she
continually returns to dreams and symbols in her discussions (the U.S.
Vietnam Memorial and the Black Madonna are recurring examples of the
latter). Through these, she illustrates individual psychological
problems and societal concerns. Particularly intriguing is her
developing notion of an evolution of consciousness. She sees mater
(i.e., the body or mother) moving toward consciousness and the release
of light from density; this recognition of energy and wisdom in matter
is reflected in dreams and sometimes, in art and quantum physics.

The various interviewers also return to issues and themes raised in
Woodman’s previous books. It is interesting to watch the developments,
over the years, in her views of eating disorders and other topics.
Woodman herself contributes an introduction and two previously
unpublished articles based on presentations she made in 1988. Both
exemplify, in a way that the constraints of the interview format do not
allow, her breadth of interests and depth of scholarship.

It is perhaps inevitable in a compilation of this kind that material is
repeated, and that much of the discussion remains at a general level.
Thus, this collection might serve as an introduction to Woodman’s
thinking, but it does not do justice to the insight and richness evident
in her other published work.