Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Christmas: Origins, Motifs, and Psychological Significances

by Kendrick Lyddon Norris

Overview

By examining its history, traditions, symbols, and representation in the arts through the lens of three major schools of depth psychology, Kendrick L. Norris, a Jungian Analyst and minister, shows how better understanding of the promise of Christmas can allow us to discover what it is that we long for the most.

Why does the winter celebration of Christmas have such a deep-rooted resonance, individually and collectively? This extensively researched book clearly and engagingly articulates the soul reasons why this holiday has such a significant impact on the human psyche. The work begins with an explanation about how depth psychology can be used to understand the Christmas phenomenon, followed by an investigation into the origins and symbols of Christmas. The book closes by delving into the soul meaning of Christmas through the perspectives of Freud, Kohut, and Jung.

This thought-provoking volume will appeal to Jungian Analysts, psychoanalysts, and psychotherapists, as well as those interested in religion and its relation to depth psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040410387
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/08/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	260
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Kendrick Lyddon Norris, PhD, NCPsyA, IAAP, is a graduate of the C.G. Jung Institute of New York, past president of the New York Association for Analytical Psychology (NYAAP), and a certified Imago Relationship Therapist. Dr. Norris has worked at the Pastoral Counseling Center of St. Raphael’s Hospital and Family Counseling of Greater New Haven, and has been in private practice for more than 30 years. He has three graduate degrees in clinical psychology and pastoral psychology, 40 years of parish experience, and is Minster Emeritus of the First Congregational Church of Guilford, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Approaching Christmas from a Depth Psychology Perspective 2. Origins of the Feast of the Nativity 3. Pagan Synergy 4. The 12 Motifs of Christmas 5. Christmas and the Oedipal: Freud 6. Christmas and Mirroring: Kohut 7. Christmas and Regressive Peace/Progressing Wholeness: Jung Conclusion Appendix. The Biblical Description of Jesus as Twin Selfobject and Idealized Selfobject Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Kendrick Norris provides the first comprehensive examination of the symbols, images, texts and traditions of Christmas as seen through the lens of three psychological perspectives. The result is a compelling analysis of its enduring appeal to the human heart, soul, and mind across cultures, across times, in some cases even across religious traditions.”

Wayne G. Rollins, Ph.D., author of Soul and Psyche, Jung and the Bible, and others

“An insightful and informative interpretation of the psychological meaning of Christmas. Christmas will never be the same for anyone who reads it; its meaning will be deepened and the celebration more enthusiastic. I recommend it for everyone, especially those for whom Christmas has become a superficial ritual.”

Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., co-author with Helen LaKelly Hunt of How to Talk with Anyone About Anything, and co-founder of Imago Relationship Therapy

“Kendrick Norris retells the Christmas story with the vocabulary of some of our most thoughtful psychologists, and we find its images refreshed and re-empowered.”

James Dittes, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology and Religious Studies, Yale University

“A brilliant utilization of Kohutian and Jungian hermeneutics to adumbrate the depth of the Christmas myth that may open its meaning to our Post-Modern and Post-secular Age. I would also argue that your volume will become a companion text to Jung’s Aion in which he argues that the Christ is the symbol of the Self in the Western tradition. ”

Donald Ferrell, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst, author of Logos and Existence: The Relationship of Philosophy and Theology in the Thought of Paul Tillich

From the Publisher