Development of the Masculine in Sandplay

Claudio Rise

Abstract

Men's development, as expressed in sandplay, is reported to follow a different pattern than that of women. Dr. Rise notes that men's process often begins with the figure of a wise old man, then continues with a phallic image and finally completes with a Self experience. The earth, or sand, becomes a masculine ground where the phallus can be encountered. Rise hypothesizes that the sand as prima materia has no gender, and takes on the missing aspect of the individual. Rise points out the limitations of Neumann's theory of development, and develops his own theory of how a man establishes a sense of psychic wholeness and internal groundedness.

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