One of C. G. Jung's most poignant biographical recollections was when he asked his Minister father to explain the Christian Trinity to him. As his father, with admirable candour, replied that he couldn't, we can assume that by the time of Jung's youth one of the central tenets of Christianity had become nonsense. The house of cards was about to be blown away. Does this help explain the 20th century fascination with science fiction? Let's take a look at the 'Star Trek' phenomenon, and its creator Gene Roddenberry.

If one takes the trio of Kirk, Spock¹ and McCoy as the personification of Roddenberry's tripartite psyche, a pattern emerges: James Tiberius Kirk as Ego; Mr Spock as auxiliary Ego, and Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy as auxiliary inferior function.

Second-in-command Spock's legendary logic (Air) contrasts with best buddy Captain Kirk's creative Fire (Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner both have Aries Sun and were born four days apart). The intuitive, emotional Bones is constantly at odds with Spock, and he seems tinged with the dark feminine and Water: in the photo² behind he's obligingly shaded. His name is a bit of a give-away, in that it includes the Gaelic for 'son', emphasising his status. And what, as Maria would have it, of the fourth part? Who represents the missing Earth element needed to square the circle... Scotty? Sulu? Chekov? McCoy's character points to it being feminine and an anima figure: it must be Uhura³.

Using this analysis provides a description of the male psyche, which along with the complementary female psyche, is experienced in a zillion dreams every night. Is this the reason for the enduring popularity of the 'Star Trek' series? Having eschewed religion, do people equate the 'Enterprise' crew boldly going into the unknown with their own private struggle for psychological integration?

1. Gene Roddenberry wanted the Spock character to be female and played by his wife Majel Barrett (common Hollywood practice); the studio execs over-ruled him, and Majel went on to play Nurse Chapel; she later became Dr. Chapel, Deanna Troi's mother in the 'Next Generation', and countless computer voices.
2. From 'Star Trek - The Motion Picture' (1979).
3. When Kirk kissed Uhura, it was one of the first inter-racial smooches on US tv: it must have been a veritable enantiodromia.