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Carl Jung

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  • September 16, 2015 at 6:46 pm #83477
    jock
    Participant

    I’ve become quite interested in this guy recently. I think he was able to think outside the square which annoyed some of his more strictly logical and scientific contemporaries.
    Science and evidence based thinking doesn’t provide all the answers, certainly not to the meaning of our lives. Jung was interested in dream interpretation and symbolism. In particular the symbolism and mystery of religions. Not only did he contribute to personality classification such as introvert but also “the shadow” and individuation. I mean the shadow is a fascinating concept. Think we all have our shadow. Maybe I cast my shadow here online sometimes. We are all just as potentially evil as potentially good. No need to feel superior to those in prison.
    Also I find fascinating is the individuation process. From what I gather, this is a process where we gradually become our authentic self and not someone living up to the “shoulds” of society, family or ourselves. it happens usually later in life, when we start to question the meaning of our life. Do I want to live such a robotic materialistic life? In my case, no. Not anymore. Time for me to wake up.
    It makes me think, I’d like to undergo Jungian analysis or even study how to help others.

    September 16, 2015 at 8:49 pm #83479
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Jack:

    Lots and lots of great stuff Carl Jung said. I want to come back to this thread tomorrow.
    anita

    September 16, 2015 at 9:07 pm #83482
    jock
    Participant

    I remember trying to read a book on Jung about 10 years ago and could not understand anything much except the personality types. The religious symbolism I found challenging.

    September 16, 2015 at 10:15 pm #83483
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Try watching “A dangerous Method”. Have you read “Dreams” by Carl Jung?

    September 17, 2015 at 1:19 am #83493
    jock
    Participant

    Moongal
    No I haven’t read it.
    OK I’ll look up the doco you mentioned.

    September 17, 2015 at 4:04 am #83494
    Inky
    Participant

    Jung was great! Also read The Hero’s Journey, or anything for that matter, by Campbell. He gets into archetypes and how our stories/myths are reflections on our lives. C.S. Lewis is another one. “May you be old enough to enjoy fairy tales again.” 🙂

    September 17, 2015 at 8:37 am #83495
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Jack:

    My problem with reading anything, even by a professional as great as Carl Jung was and as influencial as his writings are in the current Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) currently practiced- is that a good amount of what he wrote is incorrect. In the past I didn’t understand this point: I’d read a book, read amazing things that made sense to me and were correct and then I assumed everything this person wrote must be correct. I didn’t challenge anything and that ended with my confusion and it hindered my healing as things read didn’t fit with the truth and I didn’t get it. As a result I read way less and I focus on concepts and not on who originated the concept.

    For example you wrote that individuation happens usually later in life. Did Carl Jung wrote that? It could be that in his time such was the case. Looking around me- looking at people in my life, throughout my life, I do not see a correlation between age and individuation. None at all.

    I wonder what you mean by having your shadow (I looked up the shadow concept by Jung and it was too complicated- which to me means it may be unecessarily complicated)? And what do you think of the concept of individuation in your person/ life?

    anita

    September 17, 2015 at 11:23 am #83503
    jock
    Participant

    Hey Anita I could be wrong about individuation coming in later life. I also researched some stuff by James Hollis, a Jungian Analyst who wrote about mid -life crisis “The Middle Passage”.
    So I’m no expert. Maybe someone else can clarify for us.
    To simplify “the shadow” concept, isn’t the story about Dr Jekyl and Mr.Hyde the best example?

    September 17, 2015 at 11:54 am #83505
    jock
    Participant

    Individuation[edit]

    • Jung considered individuation, a psychological process of integrating the opposites including the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining their relative autonomy, necessary for a person to become whole.[38]

Individuation is a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious is brought into consciousness (by means of dreams, active imagination or free association to take some examples) to be assimilated into the whole personality. It is a completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche to take place.[39

      ]

      Besides achieving physical and mental health,[39] people who have advanced towards individuation tend to be harmonious, mature and responsible. They embody humane values such as freedom and justice and have a good understanding about the workings of human nature and the universe.[38]

  • from Wikipedia re definition of individuation

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by jock.
September 17, 2015 at 12:02 pm #83507
jock
Participant

re movie “a dangerous method”.
I think I would prefer a documentary that focussed on Jung’s life. This is more about his affair with one particular patient, isn’t it?
Possibly Jung learns to embrace his dark side, by relinquishing monogamy. I’m kind of disappointed he had to do this almost for the sake of research (it seems like an excuse though for infidelity)

September 17, 2015 at 1:53 pm #83519
jock
Participant

Oh god this thread is starting to confuse me now. Anita, I have to stop pretending I understand Jung, don't I.

  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by jock.
September 17, 2015 at 2:03 pm #83525
jock
Participant

Inky
Have read some C S Lewis. Being an ex elem. school teacher I did L. W. and Wardrobe. Also read Mere Christianity for older readers.
Campbell is one guy I’ve baulked at so far for some reason. His voice on Youtube sounds kind of haughty. (that was on Zen Buddhism). But I admit his stuff on myths must be important reading.

September 17, 2015 at 4:45 pm #83560
Anonymous
Guest

Dear Junged-out Jack:

If something is too difficult for me to understand and I believe it could have been stated in a simple way- then I don’t bother. I no longer bother. I like simple.

anita

September 17, 2015 at 10:52 pm #83576
jock
Participant

`

    Junged out Jack
    Yeah that’s closer to the truth than Llama Jack.
    That’s very humble of you Anita.

    I see Jung as a challenge though. For me personally I’m attracted to something I don’t quite understand.
    I hope you’re wrong about him. I really do.

  • This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by jock.
September 18, 2015 at 12:45 am #83587
Anonymous
Inactive

Dear Jack,

Do try the movie once you watch a documentary – it delves into Jung’s friendship with Freud, his marriage with Emma Jung and the kind of restrictions he felt in his life that also framed his thinking process. He had further affairs after this. The book i mentioned goes into his childhood as well. Sometimes in order to understand someone’s ideas, we have to understand the context in which they operated.

Regards,
Moon

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