Stephen Farah, Author at Applied Jung

The Creation Myth and the Structure of Desire

This essay is a reflection on a few of the primary symbols from the biblical story of the Garden of Eden as seen through an archetypal lens. I focus on four specific symbols: God the Garden of Paradise/the Wilderness the Serpent the Forbidden Fruit, for which I will offer an archetypal analysis and psychological interpretation of the way in which they structure our unconscious creation myth. With any symbol it is important to keep in mind that it has both a subjective personal dimension and...

November 8, 2023

By Stephen FarahAnima mundi, desire and drive, Symbolsarchetypes, myth, symbols25 Comments

Modern Man in Search of a Soul

THE JUNGIAN BOOK CLUB NOVEMBER 2023 BOOK REVIEW written by Byron J. Gaist Carl Gustav Jung (1933) Modern Man in Search of a Soul Translated by W.S. Dell and Cary F. Baynes Published by Routledge, 2001, London and New York Taken together with his autobiography Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962), his Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (1928), and the collective volume Man and His Symbols (1961), this book can be considered one of the seminal introductory texts on Jungian Analytical Psychology. Anyone who wants a quick,...

November 7, 2023

By Stephen FarahBook and Movie Reviews, Uncategorizedbook review, Jung4 Comments

Mercy! Possession by the Animus.

“Like the anima, the animus is a jealous lover.” G. Jung, CW7 ¶ 334 "The animus appears in many myths, not only as death, but also as a bandit and murderer, for example, as the knight Bluebeard, who murdered all his wives." - ~Marie-Louise Von Franz, Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche, Page 280 I love you But I gotta stay true My morals got me on my knees I'm begging, please, stop playing games I don't know what this is 'Cause you got me good Just like you knew you...

July 17, 2023

By Stephen FarahAnima and Animus, Jungian Themes, Marie-Louise von Franz, Shadowanimus, shadow4 Comments

Consciousness: Articulating the Archimedean Point (part 2: metaconsciousness)

This is part two of Consciousness: Articulating the Archimedean Point. Click on this link to read Part 1 It is difficult to overemphasise this polarising dynamic of consciousness. Consciousness, for Jung, means consciousness of the opposites: ‘There is no consciousness without the discrimination of opposites’.[1] Jung’s preferred image here is the Ouroboros, an image of the opposites facing each other in conscious awareness, illustrating the birth of (meta) consciousness. Against this Jung considered ‘involuntary one-sidedness, i.e., the inability to...

May 18, 2023

By Stephen FarahConsciousness, Ego6 Comments

Consciousness: Articulating the Archimedean Point (Part 1)

I do not know whether it is desirable that consciousness should alter the eternal laws; I only know that occasionally it does alter them. (Jung, 1928/1966, ¶ 389) Consciousness is central to Jungian theory and application, both academically and clinically, this being the metaphorical Archimedean Point of the Jungian psyche[1], notwithstanding Jung’s perceived focus on the unconscious and the archetypal processes invoked by Jung to expand, amplify, and generally increase the vistas of the personality. Most importantly, for Jung a...

May 15, 2023

By Stephen FarahConsciousness, Ego4 Comments

The Solution: Memories, Dreams, Synchronicities

Wealth has always been an important symbol to me. And, to be clear, by “wealth” I don’t mean some nebulous expression of “abundance” in my life. I have often find myself smiling ironically when hearing evangelical preachers telling their congregation that Jesus wants “abundance” for them. No, I don’t mean “abundance”, I mean simply, financial wealth. Like Floyd Money Mayweather, it’s the greenbacks that impress me. I’m not dissing those other good things, like health, longevity, and procreation -albeit that...

March 20, 2023

By Stephen FarahDream Work, Synchronicity, Uncategorized14 Comments

Confession Quartus: explorations of irony

Prelude This follows a tradition I started in 2018 of writing a personal confession at the end of each year. As such, and as the numerically astute may have already noticed, there is one confession missing. I confess, I neglected to do this at the end of 2021. I will attempt to remedy this somewhat by not focussing too narrowly on the past year, but rather looking back at my life over the last two-years: 2021 and 2022. This confession is done...

December 24, 2022

By Stephen FarahUncategorized21 Comments

Two Dreams: an archetypal analysis

This is an excerpt of a recent analysis and discussion Stephen Farah, HOD at the Centre, had with some of the Centre’s senior students about two dreams that were shared on Magnum Opus. The dreams are shared anonymously with the permission of the students concerned. Both dreams are remarkable examples of what we learn about dreams through an archetypal analysis.

November 24, 2022

By Stephen FarahDream Work, Subjective/Objective Reality6 Comments

Anima and Animus: Desire and Prohibition

Speaking frankly, I think it is accurate to say the Jungian discourse on the anima and animus is currently in a state of some disarray. By saying that, I am not claiming that no one has or is working on its remedy. Respected scholars in the field, and just to name a few I have some personal association with, such as Polly-Young Eisendrath, John Beebe, Susan Rowland, and Andrew Samuels, among many others, have written on it. Each in their...

October 24, 2022

By Stephen FarahAnima and Animus, desire and drive17 Comments

Drunkenness or sobriety?

And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel, And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour—well, I often wonder what the Vintners buy One half so precious as the Goods they sell… The Grape that can with Logic absolute The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute: The subtle Alchemist that in a Trice Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute. I stopped drinking – alcohol that is, in case my meaning wasn’t immediately explicit, the good stuff, here in the fairest Cape our vintners cultivate the Lord’s own grapes, about seven...

September 26, 2022

By Stephen FarahUncategorized72 Comments

Author - Stephen Farah