CARL GUSTAV JUNG (1875-1961) was a Swiss-German psychiatrist whose theories are the first real explanation of what the psyche is at the deepest level of our existence. He was a true pioneer of the human being's development and psychology. In his autobiography co-written with Anielle Jaffe, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, he said, “My life is a story of the self-realization of the unconscious. Everything in the unconscious seeks outword manifestation, and the personality too desires to evolve out of its unconscious conditions and to experience itself as a whole.”

 

Jung’s work was mainly inner work. He worked with his thoughts, visions and dreams. He sought to understand himself and his place in the cosmos. He studied alchemy and mythology extensively and understood and used astrology. His books reveal his broad understanding of many religions especially Taoism, Buddhism, Kabbala and Gnosticism. He was a veritable storehouse of knowledge, and one has only to attempt to read one of his books to be in awe of his superior insight.

 

He was born July 26 1875 at 7:20 p.m. in Basel, Switzerland, to a Protestant minister named Paul Jung, who came from a long line of clergymen. His mother’s name was Emille Jung. He experienced a lonely childhood where he spent many hours by himself with his fantasies and thoughts. He also loved nature — stones, trees, animals and water. He said that he couldn't imagine living anywhere if he couldn't be close to water. He had significant dreams even in childhood and remembered them. These dreams were important in his understanding of himself later in his life. He loved to paint and read, and he carved a little mannequin out of wood and painted a stone for it that he kept in a secret place up in the forbidden attic of his home. When he was 12, he faked a fainting spell because a classmate had hit him and he wanted his assailant to go away and leave him alone. Carl found that this was a convenient escape mechanism and continued to use these unconscious fainting spells so that he wouldn't have to study or go to school. They became a part of his everyday life. Six months later he overheard his father talking with a friend. His father was expressing his concern that his son, Carl, would not be able to overcome these unconscious fainting spells, and therefore not be able to take care of himself. His father was worried about this for financial reasons of his own. Carl realized that he had created the whole affair himself. This was his first insight into a "neurosis.” So Jung began early on to understand himself by taking responsibility for his life.

 

He studied with Sigmund Freud, and when they first met they talked for 13 hours straight, so they were instrumental in each others fate. Eventually Jung had to go his own way as he did not agree with Freuds limited understanding of the unconscious. Although he felt he had learned a great deal from Freud, he knew there was more. He was the founder of a school in Zurich for the study of analytical psychology. He proceeded to develop his own theory of the unconscious contents, including the concept of the autonomous (and unconscious) complex and the techniques of active imagination and word association. His concepts of the shadow, the anima and the animus are extremely helpful for those with a sincere desire to know themselves and improve their relationships with others.

 

In his lifetime, Jung acquired a vast knowledge of mythology, alchemy, religion and philosophy which gave him his understanding of the importance of symbolism, images and dreams. He developed a personality theory of introversion and extroversion, as well as thinking, sensation, intuition and feeling, which are the same descriptions as the astrological elements of earth, air, fire and water. Through astrology (the signs of the Zodiac) he learned about the archetypes inherent in mankind a priori (which means it came before, so we all come into this life with these patterns or predispositions in our psyche which are hereditary). He learned about projection from his alchemical studies, and his understanding of synchronicity came from working with the I-Ching, an oriental divination oracle. He also coined the term "synchronicity." He said, "Synchronicity means the simultaneous occurrence of a certain psychic state with one or more external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state.” He believed that an understanding of the occult and parapsychology (what is hidden) was essential to any attempt at the psychology of the psyche and he was amazed that his fellow students were so afraid to learn about the paranormal and in denial as to it's meaning. He felt that anything in the psyche was worth understanding and delving into.

 

And through all his inner work, he came to know that within the psyche of every man is the collective unconscious (the storehouse of all knowledge of everything that has come before us), and that we are all in a process of what he called INDIVIDUATION, which is coming to know ourselves, the God within or Imago Dei. Metaphysically we call this the Christ consciousness or the higher Self. He felt that this is our life’s work. This inner work of truly being who we are and knowing our connection to spirit is what gives our lives meaning, and he felt that this is what man had been lacking from religion: the ability to reunite us with ourselves. He calls this uniting archetype the Self. He said that the Self was both the center and the circumference of the psyche and the urge toward wholeness came from this center within us all.

 

For an in depth biography of Dr. Carl G. Jung visit the C.G. Jung website and read An Introduction to Jung's Psychology by Frieda Fordham

 

Jung on Himself: A Biographical Sketch

 

 

Books by Jung:

 

Memories, Dreams, Reflections [MDR], Jung (ed. Jaffé) I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book! (This book was the first to introduce me to the FACT that there are people inside of us that we do not know and then as I was willing, I proved it to myself that he was right. It takes a lot of courage to see ourselves this way. But the good news is we discover our own unconscious!)

 

My Favorites:

MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS

Modern Man in Search of a Soul

The Undiscovered Self

The Tavistock Lectures

Two Essays on Analytical Psychology
AION, the Phenomenology of the Self

Alchemical Studies

Psychology & Alchemy

Mysterium Coniunctionis

 

Collected Works [CW] (1953-78: 20 volumes)

Vol. 1: Psychiatric Studies

Vol.2: Experimental Researches
Vol. 3:  The Psychogenesis of Mental Disease
Vol. 4: Freud and Psychoanalysis 

Vol. 5: Symbols of Transformation

Vol. 6: Psychological Types

Vol. 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology
Vol. 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche

Vol. 9i: Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious

Vol. 9ii: Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self
Vol. 10: Civilization in Transition
Vol. 11: Psychology and Religion West and East
Vol. 12: Psychology and Alchemy

Vol. 13: Alchemical Studies

Vol. 14: Mysterium Coniunctionis
Vol 15: The Spirit in Man, Art and Literature
Vol. 16: The Practice of Psychotherapy

Vol. 17: The Development of the Personality
Vol. 18: The Symbolic Life

Vol. 19: Bibiliography

Dreams

The Practice of Analytical Psychology: The Tavistock Lectures

Answer to Job

Synchronicity

Psychology and the Occult

The Psychology of the Transference

Flying Saucers

Mandala Symbolism

THE RED BOOK

 

Other Books about Jung and his works:

Mystery of the Coniunctio by Edward Edinger

Man and His Symbols, eds. Jung & Jacobi

The Psychology of C. G. Jung, Jacobi

The Way of Individuation, Jacobi

The Portable Jung, ed. Joseph Campbell

Psychological Reflections, A New Anthology of

his Writings 1905-1901 - edited by Jacobi and R.F.C. Hull

Jung, A Biography, Gerhard Wehr

The Symbolic Quest, Edward Edinger

C.G. Jung, Elie Humbert

An Introduction to Jung's Psychology, Frieda Fordham

Jung on Evil, Edited by Murray Stein

Inner Work, Robert Johnson

Anatomy of the Psyche, Edward F. Edinger

Jung & Reich: The Body as Shadow - John P. Conger