Carl Jung’s Red Book: Healing the Chaos

In 1913 Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung embarked on a remarkable inner journey.  Devotedly attending to his dreams and fantasies, for the next fifteen years Jung exquisitely calligraphed and painted the emotions and images he found within.  This record of his venture was published in 2009 in his superbly illustrated Red Book.

As he focused inside, Jung was immediately inundated with inward scenes of global catastrophe—at a time when Europe spoke only of peace and prosperity.  In less than a year, beginning in 1914, the First World War ravaged his continent with a bloodthirst unknown to history.  Observing his heart of hearts, Jung found vivid symbolic experiences that not only personified his personal psychology, but also revealed the devastating war’s underlying dynamics.

The world now stands dangerously close to annihilating chaos, both on the domestic and international stage.  In Friday’s lecture and Saturday’s workshop, we will explore what Jung’s descent taught him about the turmoil orchestrating his epoch’s horror.  Despite the passing of a century, the clarity of those lessons will guide us through precious insight into the seething cauldron of our own era.

This will be a multimedia presentation with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.  The presentation does not assume prior familiarity with Jung’s Red Book.