The Detective Function of the Psyche

Abstract

This article is born from my interest in understanding those aspects in the psyche that activate an urge to discover the scattered and broken pieces that complete the whole. The movement toward completion does not follow a lineal or progressive drive but pertains to the archetypal movements of the psyche that procure wholeness within the mystery of the psyche’s dismembered nature. In its necessary fragmentation, there are aspects of the psyche that solar consciousness cannot realize. The detective function of the psyche is lunar because it is associated with death, darkness, and mystery. Thus, this article argues that there is a detective function intimately related to the symbolism of the moon, and through which depth psychology has illuminated the unconscious. This function works in a regressive motion and is awakened when one needs to pull together the pieces of personal stories. If a bizarre emotion is haunting one, one may feel the urge to place it somewhere, as if by doing so one would be restoring a whole. However, when one has lodged the matter in the dark—the unconscious—something comes back from there, demanding different treatment. It is as if a crime scene continues to surface through haunting details, narrating the story of a dismembered whole that calls for a specific type of attention. It is important to mention that even while there are various kinds of mysteries (hard-boiled, and soft-boiled), this article is a survey of one type of detective story.

Notes

Permission to reprint lyrics to ‘Can’t Let Go’ granted by Caught a Ghost.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diana Arias Henao

Diana Arias Henao, PhD, is a clinical psychologist based in Manizales, Colombia, where she works in her private practice and teaches courses focused on depth psychology. Diana holds a doctorate in Depth Psychology with specialization in Jungian and Archetypal Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, California. Diana’s dissertation work on lunar consciousness (https://www.proquest.com/openview/7a00399b4663300ed0f607eba8013fd3/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y), as well as some of her academic writings on resilience, active imagination, the Hero’s Journey, and the Shadow in Black Swan (https://typeindepth.org/2017/07/dancing-shadow-black-swan/) are accessible online.