Robin Robertson

Image and Imagination

I mages were always central in Jung’s exploration of the unconscious. In 1912, he published his first great book, Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido, which carefully examined “the fantasy material of an unknown young American woman, pseudonymously known as Frank Miller,” which had been published by his “respected and fatherly friend . . . Théodore Flournoy, in the Archives de psychologie.” Where Freud “reduced” fantasy and dream images to a single mythological reference (the Oedipus complex), Jung “amplified” the images in her fantasies by showing parallels throughout the varied mythologies of many cultures and ages. How could the images in a modern woman’s fantasies repeat themes from myths thousands of years old, myths that the woman had never read? It’s hard to explain how this could occur unless there is a collective underpinning to the psyche that supplies the images of myths, dreams, and fantasies. This possibility was too much for Freud, and he soon broke off relations with Jung. This break with Freud led Jung to his own personal exploration of the images of the psyche. Where before he had often interposed Freudian theory between himself and the figures that appeared in his dreams, now he let himself sink deeply into dreams and visions, a technique he came to call “active imagination,” which in its intensity was much like inducing a psychosis. Beginning in 1913, Jung lived in this symbolic world, the world of the imagination. In a lecture in 1925, Jung said that “when one writes such a book

The evolution of jung's archetypal reality

Abstract The archetype itself is empty and purely formal, nothing but a facultas praeformandi, a possibility of representation which is given a priori. The representations themselves are not inherited, only the forms. C. G. Jung, CW, Vol. 9.1

Gödel and jung: The twilight of rational consciousness?

Abstract Is it possible that even logic is not logical? Is it possible that our current belief in a rational and material world is no less a subjective point of view than any other mystical faith? Kurt Godel in mathematics and Carl Jung in psychology independently established the limits of rationalism half a century ago. Yet the profound implications of their work for our own currently changing world view are not well understood. In this essay, Robertson introduces us to some of the basic themes that underlie the life works of both Godel and Jung. These themes lead us to a new and startling comprehension of the paradox of self-reference and the limits of rationalism that are inherent in the way we construct our conceptions of reality.

The mote in your eye in praise of projection

Abstract Projection is always an indirect process, of becoming conscious–indirect because of the check exercised by the conscious mind, by the pressure of traditional or conventional ideas which take the place of real experience and prevent it from happening.

Inner Voices: The Shadow and Other Inner Personalities

This article develops the concept that we each possess personified emotional components within. It presents a variety of examples in order to illustrate the complexity of the issue. It begins with the authors personal experiences working with multiple personality patients, then goes back to the late nineteenth century to bring up ideas of Théodore Flournoy and Frederick Myers, that influenced Jung. The most significant was that the unconscious is dynamically at work even while we are dealing consciously with something else. The article then turns to the authors personal experiences with channels, one of whom purported to be channeling Jung! Ira Progroffs study of famed psychic Eileen Garretts channels yielded the seminal insight that the figures she channeled might best be considered as personifications of levels of the psyche rather than actual persons or inner personalities. The process of active imagination is presented at some length, giving both a history of how it developed and a description of the two main methods: visual and oral. It stresses how closely active imagination approximates the idea of theurgy, the ritual taking on of the character of the gods, which reached its peak with the 5th-century Neoplatonist, Proclus. The article concludes that these inner figures might best be considered as possibilities for change, wherever they appear. And we must retain our own responsibility in dealing with them, and not automatically defer to their judgment.

Seven Paths of the Hero in Lord of the Rings: The Path of the Wizard

The test for a wizard, already the wisest of the wise, is to resist arrogance and serve those less wise. If he passes this test, a time will come when he must willingly accept his own death in order to be transformed into something still greater. In Tolkiens great story, Lord of the Rings, the wizard Saruman fails his tests, while Gandalf passes with flying colors. Where once Saruman was the stronger of the two, now Gandalf easily surpasses Sarumans powers. Gandalf the Grey becomes Gandalf the White, taking on Sarumans mantle. When the dwarf Gimli comments that Gandalf is dressed all in white now, Gandalf replies “Yes, I am white now. Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say. Saruman as he should have been.”

Scintillae of Light: Chaos and Emergence

Two models of physical transformation, one ancient—alchemy—and one current—chaos theory—present amazingly similar descriptions of the key factors in all transformation, including the emergence of consciousness. This paper concentrates on four stages in this process: (1) a series of steps in which the results of each step are “fed back” into the next step; (2) a descent into chaos; (3) the appearance of sparks of light in the chaos; and (4) a full emergence of consciousness. Short histories of both alchemy and chaos theory are also presented, as well as the path that led from alchemy to chaos theory.

Seven Paths of the Hero in Lord of the Rings Introduction

This article is the first installment of the serialization of Frodos Quest, a book that describes seven paths of the hero in J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings as models of the path of individuation. In this introductory chapter, the history and significance of The Lord of the Rings are summarized, and the seven paths are briefly introduced: (1) the Path of Curiosity (Merry and Pippin); (2) the Path of Opposites (Gimli and Legolas); (3) the Path of the Wizard (Gandalf); (4) the Path of the King (Aragorn); (5) the Path of Failed Individuation (Gollum); (6) the Path of Love (Sam); and (7) the Path of Transcendence (Frodo). The second installment of this book follows in this issue.

A Review of: “A Guide to the Books of James Hollis”

psychology at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zürich. A poet, fiction writer, and literary critic, he is Professor Emeritus of English at Bowling Green State University. His work has appeared in The Nation, The Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, The Sun, The Black Warrior Review, and many other magazines. His book of prose and poetry, Murder in the Family, published by Bottom Dog Press, was awarded the 1996 Nancy Dasher award by the College English Association of Ohio.

A Unitary World: The Place of the Brain in Jung's Psychoid Reality

Abstract The common background of microphysics and depth-psychology is as much physical as psychic and therefore neither, but rather a third thing, a neutral nature which can at most be grasped in hints since its essence is transcendental. The background of our empirical world thus appears to be in fact a unus mundus. This is at least a probable hypothesis which satisfies the basic tenet of scientific theory: “Explanatory principles are not to be multiplied beyond the necessary.” –Jung, CW 14, pp. 768-769