Dear Readers,
A quick note: For Reading & the Good Life this month, we’re exploring Owning Your Own Shadow (1994) by the American author and Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson (1921—2018). Join us on Fridays at noon EST (register here) to connect with a few fellow travelers and have casual conversations on the art of living.
Until then, be wise and be well,
J.W.
Reading & the Good Life
Join the conversation! Every Friday at Noon EST, Perennial Meditations readers are welcome to gather for Reading & the Good Life (Register here), a casual space for connection, contemplation, and conversations on the art of living!
Carl Jung: An Introduction
Carl Jung (1875—1961) was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of the extroverted and introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has influenced psychiatry, the study of religion, literature, and related fields. …
Jung devoted his adult life to developing ideas on the relationship between psychology and religion. In Jung’s view, obscure and often neglected texts from the past shed unexpected light not only on Jung’s own dreams and fantasies but also on those of his patients; he thought it necessary for the successful practice of their art that psychotherapists become familiar with the writings of the old masters. …
His work aided him in pioneering the psychotherapy of the middle-aged and elderly, especially those who felt their lives had lost meaning. For Jung, most of these patients had lost their religious beliefs; Jung found that if they could discover their own myth as expressed in dreams and imagination, they would become more complete personalities. He called this process individuation.
In later years, Jung became a professor of psychology at the Federal Polytechnical University in Zürich and a professor of medical psychology at the University of Basel. […]
Source: Brittanica
Selected Passages
This week’s passages from Owning Your Own Shadow by Robert A. Johnson (1921—2018) will guide this Friday’s meetup (Register here). As you read the passages below, consider reflecting on these questions:
(1) How can you begin to embody these lessons in daily life?
(2) What might stand in the way of implementing these ideas?
(3) How can the following insights help you to live the good life?
