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Did Freud really wish he had studied the occult instead of psychoanalysis?

Many authors quote Freud as saying “If I had my life to live over again I should devote myself to psychical research rather than to psychoanalysis.” However, Freud did not exactly say this, and was not as ardent a supporter of the occult as some would like to believe. And do we really need him to be? Do we even want colonial, materialist science to incorporate the occult?

Psychoanalysis, Magic, & the Occult: An Uneasy Shared History

Psychoanalysis emerged during a high tide of interest among scientists and laypeople alike in psychical research and spiritualism. Freud and subsequent psychoanalysts held conflicting, ambivalent attitudes toward the occult. In this post, I explore some of the historical attitudes held toward the occult and divination within the field of psychoanalysis.