Jungs Heart: The Red Book in Perspective

David M. McDowell, MD
Stephen Martin
Sonu Shamdasani
The Jung Family
Finally Published
Started in 1913 Published in October 2009 9 1/2 pounds Surprisingly brisk seller
Sources
Black books 2-5 (11/13-4/14) Handwritten draft (1914-15) Typed draft (1915) Corr
ected draft (1915-20) Caligraphic Volume (191530, 1959) Cary Baynes transcription
(1924-25) Yale Manuscript Copy Edited Liber Primus (late 1950s)
Carl Jung
Founder of Psychoanalysis Physician Respectable Family Man World renowned psychi
atrist
Carl Jung
Agent 488 Flying Saucers Personality Tests Eastern Philosophy proponent Integ
to the founding of AA Womanizer Guru Media darling
Who is Carl Jung?
Family Background--Father
Grandfather, Carl Gustav Jung was a respected physician Grandfather was a Grandm
aster of the Freemasons Rumored (likely not true) to be the illegitimate son of
Goethe Carls Father was a clergyman
Family Background--Mother (Preiswerk)
A long established Basil family Contained many clergy Grandfather was an early a
dvocate of Zionism, with a strong interest in the occult Until her marriage, Emi
lie was obligated to stand behind her father as he wrote his sermons (to block t
he devil)
Other Childhood influences
Mother had a breakdown when Carl was three years old Father lost his faith, but
lacking other professional skills, continued on with his profession The atmosphe
re at home was unbreathable
 The combination of medicine, theology, occultism influenced him for his entire l
ife Only child until 9 Solitary and introspective (an outcast)
Childhood
He was an unpopular, aloof child While he was bright, he was suspect. Famous inc
ident of the accusation of plagiarism
Fantasy Life
 Am I the boy on the stone, or am I the stone itself that the boy is sitting on?
Another recurrent dream involved a castle
Childhood
Isolated Found comfort in books and thinkers Influenced by (among others) Heracl
itis, Kant, Shopenhauer, and Goethe
Personality #1
Dutiful The child of his parents The outward person who went to school, and coped
with life
Personality #2
Older Remote from the mundane world Close to nature, dreams, and to God Direct a
ccess to the mind of God (unlike his father
Crucial Dream
He is walking in a dense fog at night. He is holding a small flickering flame wh
ich he is protecting against the elements, and is being followed by a dark and d
angerous character. When I awoke he says, I realized at once that the figure was a
spectre of the Brocken, my own shadow of the swirling mists, brought into being b
y the little light I was carrying. I knew too, that this little light was my con
sciousness, the only light I have. My own understanding is the sole treasure I p
ossess, and the greatest.
Death of his father
Age 54 Jung was 21 He died in time for you His mother commented Darkly
Jung the traditional man
He married Emma Rauchenbach
Jung the traditional man
They lived in a handsome house
Jung the Family Man
Had five children
Jung the Family Man
Choice of Psychiatry
After dipping into Kraft-Ebbings Textbook of Psychiatry In a flash of illuminatio
n Alone the two currents of my interest could flow together and in a united stream
dig their own bed. Here was the empirical field common to biological and spirit
ual facts, which I had everywhere sought and nowhere found. Here at last was the
place where the collision of nature and spirit became reality.
Apprenticeships and early work
The Burgholzli Mental Hospital Eugen Bleuler Word association In The Psychology
of Dementia Praecox (1907) he argues that although Schizophrenia is associated w
ith a biological toxin, it can be understood as an inversion of the libido and p
syche into the world of myth creation and fantasy.
Relationship with Freud
Freud was 50, Jung 32 when they met Intellectually infatuated with one another Le
t me enjoy your friendship not as one between equals, but as that of father and
son First president of the International Psychoanalytic Association and Chief Edi
tor of the first Psychoanalytic journal , the Jahrbuch
Break with Freud
Break with Freud Inevitable, but deeply painful (for both) Based upon (at least
on the surface) the growing independence of Jungs thoughts, and Freuds intolerance
of dissent The Gesture of Kreuzlingen was the final spark that lit the powder-keg
1913 the annus horribilus
Break with Freud
1913 the annus horribilus
Deep conflict with Emma over the role of Antonia Wolff Tony
1913 the annus horribilus
Tensions which would lead to World War I
In October [1913], while I was alone on a journey, I was suddenly seized by an o
verpowering vision: I saw a monstrous flood covering all the northern and lowlyi
ng lands between the North Sea and the Alps. When it came up to Switzerland I sa
w that the mountains grew higher and higher to protect our country. I realized t
hat a frightful catastrophe was in progress. I saw the mighty yellow waves, the
floating rubble of civilization, and the drowned bodies of uncounted thousands.
Then the whole sea turned to blood. This vision last about one hour. I was perpl
exed and nauseated, and ashamed of my weakness.
The Crisis
The edge of madness He played in his garden like a child Head voices in his head
Held conversations with imaginary figures Believed his house to be filled with
the spirits of the dead
Methods to deal with his psychological State
Like Osysseus, Heracles, and Orpheus Jung embraced the darkness He explored, and
embraced the characters he found within his imagination
 When I parted from Freud, I knew that I was plunging into the unknow. Beyond Freu
d, after all, I knew nothing; but I had taken the steps into darkness. When that
happens, and then such dream comes, one feels it is an act of grace. It all bega
n then; the later details are only supplements and clarifications of the materia
l that burst forth from the unconscious, and at first swamped me. It was the pri
ma materia for a lifetimes work.
The Red Book
Jounal Journey Heroic Tale Myth Dialogue Illustrated
The Red Book--highlights
Travels to the land of the dead Falls in love with a woman who later turns out t
o be his sister Gets squeezed by a giant serpent Eats the liver of a small child
Is criticized by the devil as being hateful
The Red Book
Liber Primus Liber Secundus Scrutinies
Liber Primus
It begins with Isaiah The voice changes over time--and includes the protagonist
and his soul. The soul--his soul-takes him on a journey
Adventures
The Desert Descent into Hell in the Future climb down into your depths The splitin
g of the spirit The murder of the hero The conception of God
Mysterium. Encounter
Elijah (the first old man) His daughter Salome Encounters with Peter with the tr
iple Key--The Pope, Buddha, and a many armed bloody goddess The black worm, serp
ent, snake etc. make appearances
Liber Primus
The Mystery showed me in images what I should afterward live. I did not possess a
ny of those boons that the mystery showed me, for I still had to earn all of the
m.
Liber Secundus
The second, and bulk of the action of the Red Book, comprising an elaborate myth
ical and fraught journey.
Liber Secundus
Begins with an encounter with The Red One He then encounters a woman She is beautif
ul. A deep purity rests in her look. After that he encounters One of the lowly Afte
r that an Anchorite (Ammonius)
Liber Secundus
The remains of earlier temples. Incantations The opening of the egg Hell is intr
oduced
Nox Secunda
Many dialogues I accepted the chaos, and on the following night, my soul approach
ed me Followed by nox tertia and nox quarta Elijah and other characters appear
The Magician
Is first encountered in a small house in the forest. He is old, but content He i
s wise. His name is Philemon
Philemon
The wise protector, and adviser Roots in greek mythology Goethe Winged
Scrutinies
Begins with an amusing dialogue between the author and himself. Philemon continu
es to give advice, and make observations. Elijah returns
Scrutinies
Through all of these journeys there is struggle, and acceptance, and reemergence
. It is a journey through life.
Scrutinies
The Blue Shade appears I find you in the garden, beloved. The sins of the world h
ave conferred beauty upon your countenance
Epilogue
I worked on this book for 16 years. My acquaintance with alchemy in 1930 took me
away from it. The beginning of the end came in 1928 when Wilhelm sent me the tex
t of The Golden FlowerTo the superficial observer, it will appear like madnessIt wou
ld also have developed into one, had I not been able to absorb the overpowering
force of the original experiencesI knew nothing but to write them down in a precio
us and to paint the images that emerged through reliving it all
The Red Book as Jungs Heart
The germ of many of his contributions. He in many ways became Philemon, and all
the characters A living embodiment of the adventures of the Red Book. A towering
character, and individual, who made one of the most lasting contributions of th
e twentieth century.