Individuation (19)
As a coach/guide who is in the process of integrating (as and when appropriate) evolutionary astrology into working with people through their Saturn and Uranus-oriented life transitions, a recent awakening of my own occurred on holiday. I was at sea, relaxing with the gentle rocking of the Mediterranean ocean as the ship swayed and dipped with the waves. I thought this a timely metaphor of the nature of individual Souls as part of the vast sea of the collective, out of which we all emerge, yet a
It is often a great relief in the midst of our busy lives to create some ceremony and space for the larger and sometimes unseen questions we otherwise ignore, forget or stuff down into the unconscious. Ahh, at last, here is an hour, a day, a weekend to strip myself of the daily accumulation of demands, directions, distractions and disassociations, to allow the bare elements of meaning and value in my life to take center stage! Oh and look, right outside my door here as I step through the thresho
‘The Impossible Mountain Climb’ Dream: My wife and I were to climb or walk up this very steep mountain, using ropes which were provided. We had trouble, so we left and were to try another time.
We arrived back at the hotel/resort type place and parked, walking to the building that was on the edge of a deep ravine. There was a little gully, with a yellow rope that might help us get up onto the deck. I tried the rope and could not lift myself up to get up onto the deck, so I tried to climb the fenc
“A wise man will know it is the part of prudence to face every claimant and pay
every just demand on your time, your talents, or your heart. Always pay.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson[1]
by Lawrence H. Staples
The Jungian model for psychological growth and development is called individuation. It is the process by which we achieve our unique potential as an individual. All psychological growth is difficult and often painful. The Jungian way, however, is especially so because it requires us to sin and bear gui
In 1965, Jolande Jacobi, Jung’s colleague, wrote The Way of Individuation, now a classic. We can use it as a source for delving into questions that speak to us a half-century later. During that half-century the blooming of modernism, post-modernism, and post-post-modern thought raised questions and nuances that color and complicate our images of individuation as presented by Jacobi.
Jung saw himself as a scientific observer of human behavior, not a philosopher who speculated
For Stanton Marlan, a Jungian analyst author of the iconic tome, The Black Sun: The Alchemy Art of Darkness, his interest in alchemy may be traced in some part to his childhood stone collection. As a child, Marlan used to use his stones to “write” in wonderful colors, delighted in the way each had a certain capacity to express themselves in a unique way without crumbling in the process.
The stones, which he kept in front of his grandmother’s house where he lived, became a very early “image” for M
Ever since I met Dr. Glen Slater in 2008, I have known him to be a particularly passionate and knowledgeable advocate of film. I often see his film reviews in Jungian and depth publications, and his background in clinical psychology and religious studies—along with his interest in technology and culture—make his commentary especially valuable.
In a recent interview, Glen and I sat down together for an intriguing depth discussion on Jung, individuation, and film, the topic of Glen’s FREE upcoming
In the world of dreams, one’s friends live forever, for they can be present at any time. In this way, I have expected the eventual visits of my close friend, who passed away this fall, in my dreams and in the recollections of him that occur to me.
With the alchemical signature of wholeness [1] of three and one, I present three dreams and a song from my content, culminating in a rejuvenation dream at the beginning of the year. In hopes of processing grief in a healthy way, I wanted to look at thes
Dear members,
Please share with me a favourite piece of poetry or prose that you feel describes the process of individuation.
Recently I discovered this poem and felt an instant YES!
Warmly,
Esther
I Am Like A Rose by DH Lawrence
I am myself at last; now I achieve
My very self, I, with the wonder mellow,
Full of fine warmth, I issue forth in clear
And single me, perfected from my fellow.
Here I am all myself. No rose-bush heaving
Its limpid sap to culmination has brought
Itself more sheer and naked out of
In his fascinating book, Coming to our Senses, historian and social critic Morris Berman introduces the terms alienation or confiscation as a “rupture in the continuum of life.” Alienation is experienced as the feeling of an abyss where a sense of self or self-identity is missing or where the self does not feel safe. Many psychologists have speculated that this abyss or gap in the experience of the self may be increased or intensified by a lack of positive mirroring in the infancy stage.
Mirrorin
A few weeks ago, I Woke-up with words in my head: “As long as you have self-knowledge, you don’t need much else.”
Later that morning, while going through some of my old journals, I opened one at random to an entry having to do with Pramila Jayapal’s story about the matrilineal village in India where she was born titled A Pilgrimage to India: A Woman Revisits Her Homeland. Jayapal writes about her birth village as having good drinking water, higher wages, good education and how all these contribut
Interviewed on his 90th birthday, Nelson Mandela, the South African political leader who led the fight against apartheid, was asked if he regretted not having spent more time with his family during his lifetime. He thought for a while and replied, “No, I had to do what was necessary for my soul.” (Interview, British Broadcasting Corporation, June, 2008.)
C.G. Jung was clear about the fact that he was proposing individuation from the standpoint of a Western European c
Ancient Egypt taps into the power of the mind’s eye. With its soaring pyramids, sacred tombs, complex hieroglyphs, ancient temple walls, legends of exotic pharaohs, and colorful pantheon of gods, it is easy to be captivated by the landscape of a culture that fills the imagination with its richness and depth.
Though C.G. Jung traveled extensively in Egypt, he never published a condensed work on his experience and analysis of the culture. However, it seems clear that the breadth and depth of one of
In his recently released Red Book, a body of work Carl Jung immersed himself in for nearly 17 years, Jung
reveals the deep introspective nature of what he ultimately considered an
archetypal “descent.” He documented this journey to the Underworld in
tremendous detail and accompanied many of the entries and topics with
beautifully detailed drawings. If you haven’t had a chance to view the Red
Book, I highly
Oct 1, 2010
With great pleasure, Fisher King Press is pleased to announce the publication of
By Deldon Anne McNeely
ISBN 9781926715124, 230pp, Index, Biblio, (Oct 2010)
Download a free PDF sampler of Becoming
Becoming: An Introduction to Jung’s Concept of Individuation 
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