Where others had been too timid to travel, where many had been too short sighted to envision, where few had been resourcefulness to return: Jung was there. His impulse to discovery lead him to territories of taboo that where and have been too extreme for a great deal of our mainstream psychologists. He was interested in Tarot, astrology, physics, magic, the occult, UFOs, alchemy, mysticism, dreams, spirituality, channeling, ghosts, and mythology. However, he also had a keen understanding of our more down to earth problems such as relationships, substance abuse, and mental illness.
After breaking free from Freud and his ridged dogmatic vision of psychology Carl Jung set off on his own. What he developed in those crucial years was to become vastly important for the study and aid of the human race. With a new lexicon of words and phrases he provided us with a set of tools to help nurture the development and healing of the psyche of modern man. Jung helped create and advance the meaning of terms such as Anima, Animus, Shadow, Individuation, Persona, Projection, Transference, and the Collective Unconscious. His investigations into the psyche led him out of his homeland of northern Europe to America, Africa, and Asia where he studied the minds of people from a vast array of ethnicities, social status, and religions.
His efforts and findings propelled him to the publication of a library of books and essays. A group of likeminded psychologists followed in his work and helped further his efforts. In time the Jung Institute was founded in Zurich and since then other such institutes and universities have arisen all over the globe. Recently with the publication of the Red Book we have been given an intimate perspective of Jung’s own struggles and experiences. The writing enclosed in its pages are thought provoking and intense. While its impact may be lost on a great many because of its esoteric and advanced character the art work stands triumphantly all on its own. One could show his paintings to any gallery and they would be quick to ask who this wonderful artist must be. With all of Jung’s interests and talents it could be easy to forget that he was also a psychologist and helped people through their lives and aided them in discovering their true authentic selves.
We have much to owe from the work and scholarship of Carl Gustav Jung. Once described as “a man who had gone insane and cured himself” he helped contribute great advancements to the knowledge and understanding of the workings of the inner world. He constructed a framework for us to encounter and decode the symbols of our unconscious and discover the meaning of our lives. Some of those riches are deep down within our own darkness and others stand right before us, seemly transparent. While he dedicated his life and the focus of his energies to the study of the mind and the human condition, which contributed vast amounts of wealth to the collected wisdom of mankind, he merely scratched the surface on the vast treasure that still lays hidden. C.G. Jung passed away in 1961, his work having only just begun…
