inversion of the natural fact that the child floats in the amniotic fluid and that this is in the uterus.
This inversion brings about a great advantage for sublimation, for it creates enormous possibilities of application for the myth-weaving phantasy, that is to say, for the annexation to the sun cycle. The Sun floats over the sea like an immortal god, which every evening is immersed in the maternal water and is born again renewed in the morning. Frobenius says:
"Perhaps in connection with the blood-red sunrise, the idea
occurs that here a birth takes place, the birth of a young son; the
question then arises inevitably, whence comes the paternity? How
has the woman become pregnant? And since this woman symbolizes
the same idea as the fish, which means the sea, (because
we proceed from the assumption that the Sun descends into the
sea as well as arises from it) thus the curious primitive answer
is that this sea has previously swallowed the old Sun. Consequently
the resulting myth is, that the woman (sea) has formerly
devoured the Sun and now brings a new Sun into the world, and
thus she has become pregnant."
All these sea-going gods are sun symbols. They are
enclosed in a chest or an ark for the "night journey on
the sea" (Frobenius), often together with a woman
(again an inversion of the actual situation, but in support
of the motive of continuous cohabitation, which we
have met above). During the night journey on the sea
the Sun-god is enclosed in the mother's womb, oftentimes
threatened by dangers of all kinds. Instead of
many individual examples, I will content myself with re-
