Axiom of Maria

The possibility of transformation lies waiting in us all. This hermeneutic study weaves together an alchemical axiom with Jungian and psychoanalytic concepts in order to find a more complete picture of how the transference relationship might embody a transformation process. The Axiom of Maria ("One becomes two, two become three, and out of the third comes the One as the fourth") is a cryptic, alchemical dictum that describes a fourfold process of transformation. The stages of this axiom resemble states found in the individuation process - undifferentiated oneness, initial differentiation, synthesis, and the encounter with one's shadowy, unintegrated aspects. By holding the alchemical and psychological perspectives in tandem, a new mutually informed perspective was derived. Of special interest in this research were the third and fourth aspects of change. Whereas the depth psychological field is currently investigating various aspects of the third, as evidenced by Jung's "third party in the (therapeutic) alliance," Winnicott's "potential space," Schwartz-Salant's "interactive field" and Ogden's "analytic third," Maria's axiom introduces a fourth, transformative stage. This fourth stage has two aspects-content and process. Since "there is no light without shadow" (Jung, 1944/1993, p. 159) the "new view" of the third stage acts to constellate its opposite identified as the old, least developed, or unintegrated aspects of consciousness. In Jung's typology theory, the fourth function is inferior and described as archaic and unrecognized. Likewise, Hillman speaks of the inferiores, Bion of "negative capability," and Grotstein of the "transcendent position." Each of these point to the inherent vulnerabilities that are contained in the psyche and recognize that it is in the process of accepting these and including them in everyday life that the stage is set for transformation.