A Jungian morning

Emma Jung at 29

Most discoveries are far from earth-shattering. This morning, I became aware of (and rectified) the fact that I have never created a Google News Alert for "Carl Jung". That he died in 1961 is no excuse, although some psychology students might think so as a number of university programs try to make a virtue out of necessity by labelling his work "historical". While wading through a news search I came across a press release about a recent biography of Jung's wife, Emma: Love and Sacrifice: The Life of Emma Jung, and added it to my "must buy" list. Emma was both wife and colleague to Carl Jung, a sort of relationship I had shared with my own wife. She was also interested in the Celts, mainly through later legends and The Grail Legend was the fruit of that research. Her husband avoided the subject of the grail and the Celts in general in deference to his wife's interest, even though he found it all fascinating. I often wonder what he might have made of Jacobsthal's corpus of Early Celtic Art and I often write of Celtic design from a Jungian viewpoint.

As I was unfamiliar with the publisher of the biography (Chiron Publications), I clicked on the "about" link and was pleasantly surprised to read:

"Chiron Publications was founded in 1983. Our initial publications were in “The Chiron Clinical Series,” originating in seminars given at the “Ghost Ranch Conference” in New Mexico. These focused upon the intersection of Jungian and other psychoanalytic approaches to clinical practice. This link between different ways of viewing psychic life — hence the name “Chiron, the centaur who bridges different orders of existence — was extended to our ongoing series of books that emphasize Jungian approaches to mythology, literature, clinical practice, religion, feminism, literature, fairy tales, and gender issues."

So for about thirty years this company has been able to survive selling works about a psychological subject that many gullible students are being taught is only of historical interest. If something is too difficult, or unsuitable for younger university subjects, one business-solution would be to say that it is irrelevant.

I added another title to my "must buy" list: Jung and the Outside World, and I suspect that list will get longer today.

Finally, I found a poem on the site: Confessions of a Reluctant Jungian, an adaption by Len Cruz of the work of another poet about a different subject altogether, and which really struck a chord with me.

Even the most mundane discovery should lead to further questions. This time, there was just one. Where am I going to put all of these books? My current book shelves are overflowing with books piled on their side on top of properly shelved books, a few piles on the floor of my bedroom and virtually no space for more bookcases unless I find somewhere else for a large painting or the dog's dishes.