Moisés do Êxodo: um estudo a partir da psicologia analítica

Abstract

This thesis presents a study of a biblical character from a psychological perspective. The object of the research is Moses, the main character of the biblical book of Exodus, as leader of a people in the process of liberation from slavery, based on analytical psychology. The object of the research was the character's history, according to the narratives of the book of Exodus, covering him individually, as well as his relationship with his God, Yahweh, and his relationship with the group of Israelites led by him. The study of Moses is relevant because he is a character considered the most important by biblical tradition and because it contributes to the interface between Psychology and Religion. The analysis perspective adopted is analytical psychology, founded by Carl Gustav Jung, which offers the conceptualization of the hero and the individuation process, and the psychic relationship between the ego and the Self, two archetypal figures that make up the inner world of the human psyche. The research investigates two hypotheses: Moses' trajectory corresponds to the hero's journey, according to the categories of the hero's psyche, according to Campbell, in the work The hero with a thousand faces; and, in Moses' personality, the elements of the psychological process called the individuation process, according to analytical psychology, are perceived. Three specific objectives guide this research: to study the importance of Moses in the Exodus narratives, following the narrative method of literary analysis of interpretation of the biblical text; study Moses' psychological process with the characteristics of the hero's myth and the process of individuation; show that Moses' psychological development contributed to the collective of Israelites that he led in the process of liberation from slavery. The theoretical references for the analysis in this study are: the synchronic approach to interpreting the biblical text with the narrative method that values narratives and biblical characters as literary pieces and not as historical documents; the category of the hero, according to Campbell, who analyzes the mythological hero's journey with three stages: the hero's departure, initiation and return to the society from which he left; the process of individuation, from analytical psychology, based on Jung and several Jungian authors. The research is bibliographic and the results are: the perception, based on the reading of analytical psychology, of the similarity between religious elements and the elements of the human psyche, therefore strengthening the dialogue between Psychology and Religion; the verification that the character Moses carries out the hero's adventure, according to Campbell, and returns to his people, imbued with the legislation for the new Israelite society; the verification of the elements of the individuation process of the protagonist of Exodus, both on an individual level and in his role as leader of a people in search of the land of freedom