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By C.G. Jung Published by Routledge, 2003 “The hallmarks of spirit are, firstly, the principle of spontaneous movement and activity; secondly, the spontaneous capacity to produce images independently of sense perception; and thirdly, the autonomous and sovereign manipulation of these images.” (pp. 107-108, CW9 par. 393) When Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) passed away aged 86, he left a prolific legacy of profound psychological writings which even in recent years have been gradually released to the public, such as the recent publications of his Red Book (2009) and the Black Books (2020).  ..read more

Carl Gustav Jung makes a clear distinction between a symptom and a symbol.[1] In this post I explore the distinction, how we might distinguish between symptoms and symbols, and what the implications of this are for the daily practice of individuation. I am currently leading a group of students on a one hundred day practice of the Microcosmic Orbit meditation as given in the mystical Taoist text The Secret of the Golden Flower.[2] The text, specifically the Richard Wilhelm translation, occupies an interesting and somewhat undefined status, with its convergence of Taoist alchemy and Jungian psyc ..read more

Individuation is the principle psychological and ethical imperative of Jungian psychology. In this Jungian psychology goes beyond a narrowly clinical or pathological application. Although Jung was a psychiatrist, his research and work as a physician of the soul goes well beyond the crucible of analytical practice. Concern for the soul of the subject does not stop at dealing with mental disease or facilitating normal functional adaptation of the subject to the world. Whilst addressing the pandemic of mental disease is obviously both necessary and legitimate, in some sense this latter goal of no ..read more

I want to share a story with you about The Secret of the Golden Flower.[1] How I came across it, the journey it took me on and something of what I learnt along the way. The story begins Lü Yán, also known as Lü Dongbin (796 CE-1016 CE) was a Tang Dynasty Chinese scholar and poet who has been elevated to the status of an immortal in the Chinese cultural sphere, worshipped especially by the Taoists. Lü is one of the most widely known of the group of deities known as the Eight Immortals and considered by some to be the de facto leader.[2] The legendary Taoist Master taught the Golden Elixir of Li ..read more

Reflections and confessions in the aftermath of the year 2020 This will be the third in a sequence of annual confessions I began in 2018. The motivation for these is to connect and form common cause with the students entering the Nigredo Stage of the Magnum Opus Programme that commences each year in January, to conduct my own psychic housekeeping, and to take a moment to pause and reflect on the virtue and vices of the year I have lived through. It is through the act of confession that I can retrospectively construct a meaningful and cohesive narrative of the prior year, locate myself now, and ..read more

A Summary and Review by Shane Eynon, PhD Author: Carl Gustav Jung Original title:  The Black Books 1913-1932. Notebooks of Transformation Translator: Martin Liebscher, John Peck, Sonu Shamdasani Publisher:  Philemon Foundation and W. W. Norton & Co. Publication date: 2020 Pages 1648 ISBN   9780393088649 The Black Books (Jung, 2020) have been promoted primarily as the source material for the Red Book (Jung, 2009) in the material used by the publisher (Philemon Foundation, 2020).  The text of The Red Book draws on material from The Black Books be ..read more