Tag - dreams

Alchemical Active Imagination

In her book Alchemical Active Imagination, Marie Louise von Franz explores the work of Gerhard Dorn who was a doctor, natural philosopher, and alchemist. Dorn was a true alchemist in that he never allowed himself to get away from the fact of the real concrete body, he did not buy into the idea of a metaphysical or astral body but the real body. When the real body is treated properly, he believed that it would form the basis for the medicine...

The rainmaker and the dream of drought

Jung was fond of telling a story of a drought being broken in a village in China by a Taoist rainmaker.[1] I share the story and some further thoughts on it in the light of the current drought and impending day zero in the Cape. There was a great drought where [Richard] Wilhelm lived; for months there had not been a drop of rain and the situation became catastrophic. The Catholics made processions, the Protestants made prayers, and the Chinese...

Memories, Dreams, Reflections – C.G. Jung

In the spring of 1957, at the age of eighty-four, the Swiss psychologist and founder of analytical psychology (also known as Jungian psychology), Carl Gustav Jung, set out to tell his life’s story, embarking upon a series of conversations with his colleague and friend Aniela Jaffe, which he used as the basis for his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (MDR). Jung described his life as being ordinary for his time and place; he was schooled, forged a career, married, had children...

Inner Work (book review): Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth

Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth, by Robert A. Johnson Book review by Tasha Tollman Judging by the plethora of books on dream interpretation that can be found in most book shops, we all want to know what our dreams mean and pioneering Jungian Analyst, Robert Johnson explores avenues into the unconscious as they pertain to reading the symbolic language of dreams, engaging in Active Imagination and the use of ceremony and fantasy. In Inner Work, Johnson provides...