Synopsis: When trying to determine why Starfleet has lost contact with Federation scientists, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy beam down to a planet, are captured, and find themselves on display in a zoo.
This episode is a physical manifestation of what happens to the conscious ego when it finds out that it is not the greatest power in the psyche. That there are entities, such as the unconscious, that are more powerful than it, and how it is then forced to come to an understanding of its relative position in the psyche.
When Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. Leonard (Bones) McCoy initially beam down to the planet, Lactra VII, they are immediately confronted by larger, more aggressive species. This is their first clue that they are not the most powerful beings on the planet. They then are captured by Lactrans, who are much larger than crew members and with an intellect they cannot even fathom, as the speed of the minds of the aliens work so much faster than those of humans, and they communicate via telepathy.
This reflects what happens when the conscious ego is first made aware of unconscious content through a complex. There is a gentle nudge that the ego needs to make room for more content in the consciousness of an individual. If this does not happen, eventually there is a flood of unconscious content, more than it can possibly imagine.
After learning more about the humans and their capacity to develop, the Lactrans release them from the zoo, and tell them that they will be welcome back in 20 or 30 centuries; when the human race will have advanced enough to communicate with them. This is much like an element of the unconscious responds if not acknowledged and integrated appropriately. It will wait and make contact at a later date. At such time when the rational ego may be able to comprehend it better.
Original post created 21 April 2021
mydailysoultrek 