![]() ![]() “But when I began to understand alchemy I realised that it represented the historical link with Gnosticism, and that a continuity therefore existed between past and present. Jung eventually found the missing link, as he writes: He called this the method of amplification, which allows one to “turn up the volume” of the unconscious material, by using alchemical, mythological, religious, and cultural parallels. Now, his focus was to reinforce his ideas that the collective unconscious is a reality (which he observed in many of his patients) and that the Self develops through individuation, and he became interested in finding other sources as comparative material to his psychology. In his 50s, Jung had developed most of what he is known for as founder of analytical psychology: psychological types, complexes, archetypes, synchronicity, the collective unconscious, the Self, individuation, and much more, which he had been studying and developing since his break with Freud. ![]() “he rediscovery of the principles of alchemy came to be an important part of my work as a pioneer of psychology.” Jung’s primary focus, however, was not as a historian, but rather viewing alchemy from a psychological perspective. One such person is the Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade, who has written about this in his book, The Forge and the Crucible. The historians of religion, on the other hand, focus on the historical rights, the myths and symbols connected with the alchemical works. ![]() With their experiments, the alchemists created chemically pure substances to make glass, perfumes, paint, gunpowder, and more, as well as inventing the distillation of alcohol. The focus here is on the chemical operations, discoveries and equipment. Chemistry is the de-sacralisation of alchemy, and alchemy is the shadow of modern science. In fact, the name chemistry derives from alchemy (“al-chemistry”). The historians of science see it as the predecessor of chemistry, and strip off all the symbolic and mythical aspects. 12: Psychology and AlchemyĪlchemy can be approached in different ways. “Everything that the modern mind cannot define it regards as insane.”Ĭarl Jung, C.W. Thinking that alchemy is a pseudoscience is an anachronism, attributing modern ideas to older periods in history. The alchemists sought to understand the nature of reality by using theories, experiments, and equipment. However, alchemy was anything but pseudoscience. In his mid-50s, Jung discovered alchemy and devoted the remaining 30 years of his life to studying it, which he practically dug up from the dunghill of the past, for it was considered pseudoscience, a forgotten relic of history and despised field of investigation which he had suddenly revived. “The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our ego-consciousness extends.”Ĭarl Jung, C.W. ![]() We can then inform our conscious and rational life, by creating a dialogue with the unconscious, through dreams, myths, symbols and rituals. This does not mean that we must go back to a primitive way of life, but rather to acknowledge the one-sidedness of our modern rational mind, which only looks externally. It was Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung who recognised that in our increasingly rational and materialistic world, we were depriving ourselves from our inner world, the unconscious (which is the root of our being). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |