Synopsis: Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock agree to go on a secret mission to recover a religious relic.
This episode from 1974 bears a title “The Jihad,” which has gained much emotional resonance in a post 9/11 world.
When Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock are summoned by the Vedala, the oldest space voyaging race in the galaxy, they join with other alien races to recover a relic, in the hopes of avoiding a holy war in the galaxy. That in the end, the relic was actually stolen by one of the members of the rescue team, shows what can happen when aggressive urges are bottled up.
The relic comes from a warrior race, the Skorr, who have been at peace, as has the galaxy for a while now, and as such they have relinquished their cultural purpose in life, to make war. It is an instinctual drive. In a way to release this unconscious drive, Tchar, the Hereditary Prince of the Skorr, steals the “Soul of the Skorr,” the icon which represented to the Skorr the containment of this aggressive urge. The icon is recovered and restored to its rightful place. Tchar “will be healed of his madness” and it is said that he will return to being “sane and whole again.” But this is the sane and wholeness perceived by the rational ego. In reality, for Tchar to really be sane and whole, from a depth psychological perspective, he needs to deal with the aggressive instincts and incorporate them into his psyche. As do we all.
Original post created 22 April 2021
mydailysoultrek 