271 through 273. Pictures drawn by a schizophrenic patient to illustrate his hallucinations. In 271, he represents the hallucination of being in a mine, where a man’s legs have been iliced into thin disks. Note the angle at which a miner is descending the ladder. In 272, he has the hallucination of being wheeled past the scene of a mass execution, while he hears the groans and cries of people who are being beheaded. In 273, the devil appears before him. The brass ball (center) is “the globe of the cosmos.”
275. Sketch by an hysteric to illustrate the twofold nature of his personality: (a) his basic drives; and (b) the vigilant side of his personality, which watches lest these drives have a chance to express themselves.
276. An hysteric drew this picture while in the state of hypnosis. The heads are representation’ of childhood sweethearts; the animal is a goat or satyr; and the snake is an erotic symbol.
277. An example of psychotic condensation. The sketch is supposed to depict a cellar, a tavern, a parlor, and a stable -all united into one.
278. An ink sketch by a paranoid schizophrenic. Note the repetition of designs, the absence of a general theme, and the careful attention to minute details.
279. Sketch by an art student with a manic-depressive psychosis, depressive type. His explanation of the picture: “A rolled up salamander staring at a star, which is represented by the tear-haped, sacciform organ (center) and the halo (upper left).” He adds, “I should like to turn my back to the world and to seek the Divine in my own Self.”
280. A pictorial representation of a dream by a female patient. She explains the picture as follows: “I dreamed that I examined a neglected plant to find out whether the roots had died. Innumerable earthworms crawled out of the soil in the flower pot. In the bottom of the pot was a small yellow snake, from which I shrank back in horror. It climbed out of the pot and as it came nearer to me, it grew larger and larger. The larger it grew, the less was I afraid of it. As soon as I saw that it wore a crown on its head I prostrated myself before it. The snake said to me, in a feminine voice, ‘Now I must put you to sleep.’ ... I have found that by the act of painting this picture of my dream, and in particular, by surveying the finished work, I have awakened my mind to the symbolism of the snake. It is really the symbol of healing.”
281. Another drawing by this female patient. The eagle is the symbol of the spiritual, of masculinity, and of the divine. The phallic symbol (lower center) is invested with the sublimity of lofty symbols.
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All images (minus, of course, the image which began the post) and text from Psychological Atlas with 400 Illustrations by David Katz, 1945.
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