Translate This Darkness: The Life of Christiana Morgan

As Carl Jung's patient in Zurich in 1926-27, American psychologist Christiana Morgan (1897-1967) made paintings of her trance-induced visions of an assertive woman's heroic quest. But Jung, according to this poignant biography, instructed Morgan to devote herself as subordinate and muse to her married lover, the psychologist Henry Murray. Neglecting her husband Will, Morgan worked unobtrusively alongside Murray at Harvard, coauthoring the Thematic Apperception Test and making unacknowledged contributions to his groundbreaking work on personality theory. Though she glamorized her role as mistress in a private mythology complete with carved icons and invented gods, the relationship, observes psychoanalyst Douglas, ``was one more triangle that primarily served the interests of a man,'' contributing to Morgan's alcoholism and suicide by drowning. Douglas portrays an independent-minded woman who rebelled against her Boston Brahmin mother, had passionate friendships with Lewis Mumford and Alfred North Whitehead, but who ultimately betrayed herself by sacrificing her own creativity. Photos. (Aug.)