Man and His Symbols: Approaching the Unconscious
The following article is based on Carl Gustav Jung’s final contribution to the world of psychology, Man and His Symbols. While the novel is the collaborative work of several authors, I will be focusing on Jung’s paper, part one of the novel: Approaching the Unconscious. A Jungian Method of Dream Interpretation Symbols evoke those [...]
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales
This following article is an overview of Marie-Louise von Franz’s 1970 book The Interpretation of Fairy Tales. The interpretation of fairy tales is a wonderful opportunity to exercise the craft of dream interpretation, for dreams possess the quality of always producing new information unknown to both the dreamer and the analyst, such that they should [...]
Eating Disorders as an Addiction to Perfection
“The individual may strive after perfection . . . but must suffer from the opposite of his intentions for the sake of his completeness.” Jung (1951) This article is based on Marion Woodman’s Addiction to Perfection and is a continuation of my previous article on the author: Psyche, Metaphor, Soma, with a specific focus on [...]
Marion Woodman: Psyche, Metaphor, Soma
Introduction Internationally renowned Jungian analyst, mythopoetic author, and women’s movement figure Marion Woodman (1928-2018) was a pioneering analyst in the relationship between psyche and soma, crafting an embodied and feminist psycho-mythical path that sought to unify these two aspects of Self. [1] She examined the effects of patriarchal society and its repression of the feminine [...]
The Crucible of Complexes
According to Carl Gustav Jung, “The more “complexes” a man has, the more he is possessed.” We all have complexes, there is no getting away from that. A complex, you may be wondering, is a set of repeated patterns of normally highly charged emotional states associated with the past. Memories, impulses, or desires, organised around [...]
The Daimon
I recently listened to a fantastic Ted Talk by author Elizabeth Gilbert that spoke on the benefits of mystical thinking in creative work. Gilbert adopts the ancient Greek belief that creativity comes to us from a ‘daimon’, a disembodied intelligence with numinous imperative that seeks to inspire and assist us in our work. According to [...]
