A theory which has nothing to do with the symbolism of the alchemical sublimatio. According to Hinsie and Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary, the term “sublimation” as used in psychoanalysis is defined as, “the process of modifying an instinctual impulse in such a way as to conform to the demands of society. Sublimation is a substitute activity which gives some measure of gratification to the infantile impulse which has been repudiated in its original form.Unlike the usual defenses, in sublimation the ego is not acting in opposition to the id; on the contrary, it is helping the id to gain external expression. Sublimation, in other words, does not involve repression” ( Psychiatric Dictionary, pp. 699f. )