WHO WAS CARL GUSTAV JUNG AND WHAT IS HIS LEGACY?
José Delgado González. Psychologist and therapist of Jungian orientation.
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| Three plates from the red book |
The topic I am going to discuss today is involved in some controversy within the Jungian community. However, I consider it fundamental to bring it to this blog dedicated to Jungian Psychology. The topic is related to the revolt provoked by the book Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity, published in 2018, by the British philosopher PETER KINGSLEY. KINGSLEY is the author of six books and numerous articles in the area of ancient philosophy, including (Ancient Philosophy, Mysteries and Magic), (In the Dark Places of Knowledge) and (Reality), in addition to the one that concerns us, Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity. PETER KINGSLEY's work deals in depth with the philosophical work and historical context of two great pre-Socratic philosophers: Parmenides and Empedocles. KINGSLEY has introduced to the Jungian community an issue that is especially important to every Jungian, namely the fact that Carl Gustav Jung, in addition to being a renowned psychiatrist, was an initiate into the mysteries of nature.
Of course this matter, that is, that Jung was an initiate into the mysteries of nature or, to put it in Jungian language, an initiate into the depths of the psyche, was already addressed by me a few years earlier, when I wrote the novel AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. A story about the awakening of the soul, whose third edition is precisely entitled INITIATION. The death rattle of patriarchy. In fact, you can see the video of the presentation of the novel, which was kindly made by the painter and Jungian writer Javier de Prada, and in which we openly expressed that the novel AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL is the narration of an INITIATION to the mysteries of nature, as well as that Jung was an initiate, besides being a scientist. I leave the link to that presentation below in case you want to view it. However, it has not been until PETER KINGSLEY published the 2018 book CATAFALQUE that the Jungian community has taken this fundamental issue seriously. In fact, the vast majority of trainings of Jungian psychologists seem to forget what is nuclear in the Jungian work and, therefore, in the Jungian-oriented psychotherapeutic approach: the INITIATION. And this has become absolutely evident since the publication of Carl Gustav Jung's LIBER NOVUS or RED BOOK in 2009. This book, for those of you who don't know, is the Swiss psychiatrist's most intimate work. In fact, it is the tangible proof of his INITIATION into the mysteries of nature, of his descent into the underworld (that is, into the unconscious) and of his personal encounter with the spiritual powers or archetypes of the collective unconscious.
Having made this introduction, I wanted to talk to you about a research topic in which I have been immersed for years and which is closely related to Jungian Psychology and its way of approaching the psyche. Until now I have not wanted to talk about this subject in public because it is controversial. But the publication of KINSLEY's book, as well as the interview that the renowned Jungian analyst Murray Stein, author of the book The map of the soul according to Jung, did with him (I leave you a link to the interview) have encouraged me to express my opinion in public. What I want to talk about is the dichotomy between personality number 1, that which is turned towards the world and related to what Jung calls in his theoretical work social mask or person, and personality number 2, which is that which is turned towards the depth of man. This dichotomy is present in Jung, as well as in every person who is immersed in a process of individuation. When a descent into the unconscious is made, the principles that govern the world (the Reality behind reality) are experientially discovered and personality number 2 develops. This personality is in contact with an undercurrent that runs through the history of mankind and draws the "initiate" away from the values of the age (JUNG calls this current the spirit of the depth).
Thus, the more the initiate advances in individuation, the more his consciousness moves away from the values of the epoch and the closer he comes to universal values: the initiate discovers his spiritual filiation, a filiation that connects him, as if it were a brotherhood, with the great initiates of every epoch.
This, applied to psychiatry and psychology, is a tremendous dilemma: individuation is a matter of very few, as was authentic alchemy or astrology, and, in general, hermeticism. Jungian psychology claims to be the heir of that alchemical-hermetic tradition, and in fact it is, but then it ceases to be a scientific discipline (because it transcends all science) to become the continuator of a millenary spiritual tradition of gnostic character.
Jung tried to put on the mask of a psychiatrist and bring to the collective consciousness (science) his descent into hell (his initiation). However, that is something that had to do with his lionized personality number 1, as a psychiatrist of recognized prestige, which brought him not a few problems. To begin with, he misled or disoriented many seekers, who thought (I very early on too) that this initiation experience could be extended and that it was practically universal (at least in potential). Later, it met with tremendous criticism from true initiates, such as René Guenon, for example. Who, obviously, did not share his messianic zeal.
Thus, Jungian psychology, and its heir and continuation, transpersonal psychology, is in my opinion a modern and/or postmodern version of a gnostic-hermetic tradition. And, as alchemy and hermeticism were in their time, a matter that only concerns a few. Jung's attempt to universalize that experience was a failure, both during Jung's lifetime and after his death, and all Jungian analyst trainings are centered on personality number 1, so that the really important part of the Jungian legacy, which is initiation, the descent into the unconscious and the relationship of consciousness with the spirit of the deep is completely sidelined. Because that experience is precisely summoned by the depth and is not guaranteed by any academic training, nor by any accreditation. Jung himself favored in his theoretical work this confusion by emphasizing so much the number 1 personality, that of a recognized psychiatrist, very much in line with his leonine personality, with that eagerness to obtain prestige in the field of the scientific community. But the truth is that, if we stick to the publications of the Liber Novus or Red Book and the Black Books, we have no other choice but to surrender to the evidence: JUNG was an INITIATE. That said, the importance of the INITIATION lies in the realization of the totality of the INITIATE, that is to say, of the individuand. To be Jungian is not, therefore, the fundamental thing, but only to carry out the process of individuation by being faithful to the voice of the depth.
