Synopsis: When Mr. Spock’s fiancée, T’Pring, comes to visit him aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, they inadvertently switch katras.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of James Hillman’s concept of the metaxy – that third thing between the conscious and the unconscious.
In “Spock Amok” the U.S.S. Enterprise is docked at Starbase I, where Captain Christopher Pike and Science Officer Mr. Spock are to negotiate with the representatives from the R’ongovian Protectorate, Captain Vasso L’Gaelia, and his first officer, Brax, in an attempt to convince them to become allies of the United Federation of Planets. At the same time, Spock’s fiancée, T’Pring, will be visiting him. T’Pring arrives at Spock’s quarters and he assures her that although he is heading into a meeting he will be back for dinner. While Pike and Spock are being briefed by Admiral Robert April, Vasso and Brax arrive unannounced and negotiation commence immediately. Spock is late getting back to T’Pring. To make up for this he suggests a Vulcan soul sharing ritual. However, while sharing their souls, or katras, they exchange bodies. T’Pring as Spock agrees to continue negotiations as him, while Spock, as T’Pring, will also stand in for her, in her efforts to reason with the Vulcan criminal Barjan, to urge him to return to logic. Both have difficulties. In the negotiations, Pike defends the actions of T’Pring as Spock. In Spock as T’Pring’s meeting, Barjan insults Nurse Christine Chapel, who is also present, and Spock as T’Pring hits him. Later, back on Enterprise Dr. Joseph M’Benga is able to return the katras to their original bodies and Spock and T’Pring, having a better understanding of each other’s inner thoughts, are able to move forward in their relationship.
In this episode, when Spock and T’Pring exchange katras, they become aware of each other’s unconscious feelings. As M’Benga tells Pike, the katra bridges medicine and something else. When their katras are returned back to their original bodies, Spock and T’Pring retain that something else. This can be analogized to what Hillman would call the metaxy, a third thing between the conscious and the unconscious, where healing can take place. Here, when Spock and T’Pring’s katras were returned to them, they retained the experience of what it was like to be in each other’s bodies. This knowledge, like the metaxy, will allows them to understand each other more deeply and deepen their relationships. Just as the psychic material found in metaxy between any individual’s conscious and unconscious can help the conscious ego become stronger and the psyche more whole.
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