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PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
It cannot be denied that ascetic practices have often taken
grotesque and extreme forms that point to the existence of very
unhealthy tendencies. Kretschmer describes the ascetic as a
person who indulges himself by acting in opposition to his own
desires. A natural urge has undergone a morbid change of
direction, becoming a perversion. Similar changes occur in some forms
of schizophrenic states, Kretschmer points out. He considers
that asceticism is a symptom of some constitutional disorder.
The Norwegian theologian, Kristian Schelderup,! examining
the problem of asceticism from a psycho-analytical point of
view, expresses the opinion that the basis of asceticism is a
dualistic conception of personality. It is always grounded in a
value distinction between the ‘natural’ and the ‘spiritual’ life,
to the disadvantage of the former, which is degraded with the
` intention of exalting the other. Its origin is a conflict between
the so-called ‘lower’ or animal nature and the ‘higher’
spiritual aim. There is active repression of physical desires,
usually in the realm of sex.
Schelderup is principally concerned with the morbid forms
of asceticism, and it is not surprising that he finds in them
evidence of sadistic and masochistic tendencies. The masochist
finds sexual gratification in humiliation, craving to be tyrannised
and maltreated. The sadist is sexually stimulated when he
inflicts pain or ill-treatment on others. These forms of
perversion cannot be overlooked when the grosser self-disciplines
of ascetics are under discussion.
It has been pointed out that a marked craving for unpleasant
experiences is characteristic of many ascetics. Madame de
Guyon, for example, was especially fond of eating the vomit of
diseased people who were in her care. Here the repressed
forces are converted into positive incentives, which can become
intense, driving the victim to engage in wholly unnatural
practices for which he finds religious justification by insisting
upon the necessity of ‘mortifying the flesh’.
Negative and Positive Asceticism
It would be a mistake to assume that the whole story of
asceticism has been told when the fact is admitted that some
1 Die Askese, Leipzig, 1928.
104
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