Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/30

 284 MICHAEL JOSEPH EISLER

circumstance by itself indicates that there are powerful common in- fluences at work. More important still do I find the second fact, which may, I suppose, be observed in every case of unconscious passive homosexuality. In such there are as a rule no indications of any psychical reaction against the threatened castration, and one gets the impression that they easily adapt themselves to the possibility of a loss of penis. This result is again to be ascribed to the undue power of the anal-erotic tendency, which seems to seize upon an experience with traumatic effect on the child's mind, and work it up in such a direction. It follows that in general the business of auto-erotism in childhood is not only preparatory, but constructive in its widest sense.

I would not conclude discussion of the anal-erotic symptom- complex without noting the patient's typical dreams, which pro- vided sometimes difficult, but always valuable matter for analytic efforts. Like the other symptoms, they made their appearance as expressions of an almost inaccessible layer of the unconscious, and their interpretation, where indeed this was possible, was met with violent resistances and incredulity. Moreover they were extraordin- arily polished and well proportioned, which I attributed to an innate ability in productions of phantasy. The patient's grandfather and father had been excellent raconteurs of fairy-tales, and they treas- ured and carried on to the next generation the fine Hungarian folk-lore. And this may explain why many a symbol played so active a part not only in dreams, but in other unconscious pro- ducts of this neurosis (seed and tooth symbolism, etc.). It was just by means of these dreams that I was ultimately enabled to circumvent the resistances, and to penetrate to the actual patho- logical phantasies of the neurosis. Nevertheless, I am under the impression that it was more actual experiences linked together like a chain than the power of the dream symbolism that event- ually forced the patient to insight, and to relinquishing his in- effective infantile libido-position. This is perhaps best illustrated by examples, the explanation of which is involved in the whole history of the case, but I will limit myself here to the reproduct- ion of two very fine examples of his dreams.

Dream I. He was ascending a hill, on which stood a ruin. At the top he lay down in the shade and gazed far and wide over the country, till he fell asleep from weariness. Later, he was woken by a bald old man leaning on a stick, looking at him.