Page:Psychology of the Unconscious (1916).djvu/351

 Numerous parallels to this motive are to be found among exotic myths in Frobenius, where the maternal sea monster was also fished for. The comparison of the mother libido with the elementary powers of the sea and the powerful monsters borne by the earth show how invincibly great is the power of that libido which we designate as maternal.

We have already seen that the incest prohibition prevents the son from reproducing himself through the mother. But this must be done by the god, as is shown with remarkable clearness and candor in the pious Egyptian mythology, which has preserved the most ancient and simple concepts. Thus Chnum, the "moulder," the "potter," the "architect," moulds his egg upon the potter's wheel, for he is "the immortal growth," "the reproduction of himself and his own rebirth, the creator of the egg, which emerged from the primitive waters." In the Book of the Dead it says:

"I am the sublime falcon (the Sun-god), which has come forth from his egg."

Another passage in the Book of the Dead reads:

"I am the creator of Nun, who has taken his place in the underworld. My nest is not seen and my egg is not broken."

A further passage reads:

"that great and noble god in his egg: who is his own originator of that which has arisen from him."[102]

Therefore, the god Nagaga-uer is also called the "great cackler." (Book of the Dead.) "I cackle like