Demeter on the couch

The mythical figure of Demeter, the bereaved mother, accompanies the analyst and analysand through the violence of the analysand’s suffering at the moment of separation from a daughter who has come of age. This turning point is a source of pain liable to escalate to violence. In ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries consisted of rites of passage whereby the goddess initiated each generation into the seasons of life : birth, separation, marriage, and death. The analyst’s couch becomes the setting for experiencing the Mysteries which punctuate a life cycle.