In my previous post, I referred to what I called the Judas Defence, that propensity amongst many Christian thinkers to argue Judas’ case. Why are so many compelled to make this case? What underlies this impulse? I undertake this study on Judas to further explore these questions using a Jungian approach.
In the Biblical text, Judas Iscariot is one of the twelve disciples, the carrier of the money bag. He is ultimately the betrayer of Jesus, whom he gives up for thirty pieces of silver…
Read MoreActive Imagination is a technique that was developed by Carl Jung to access the unconscious in waking life. When we consider engaging the unconscious, most of us think exclusively of dream analysis - the process of taking our dreams and uncovering what they’re trying to teach us, ideally with the assistance of a trained analyst. Jung believed our dreams consisted of the stuff of our unconscious.
You can think of it like this. Your unconscious is like a separate autonomous person who resides within you, who is always listening and observing everything you do and say…
Read MoreMy thoughts return time and again to Carl Jung’s 1936 paper ‘Wotan’. This paper stands out to me as being perhaps his most controversial, given its subject matter, the rise of the Third Reich. Jung’s approach towards the Third Reich is critical, to our contemporary sensibilities however it reads as not being nearly critical enough. Much has been written on Jung’s complex relationship to the Third Reich, a relationship I will not dwell on here.
My interest relates to what the paper elucidates concerning the collective unconscious…
Read MoreThe path that runs behind the Publix Supermarket in South End, Charlotte, is ridiculous. For the past few weeks, I’ve been with my wife in Charlotte, North Carolina, scouting out where we plan to move to in the near future. We’re now back in England, and I have had a little time to reflect on the trip. In circumstances I assume common to most, for the past couple of years I have been living a somewhat monastic life of solitary contemplation, until this trip, which has been an explosive return to the real world, complete with actual human interaction, new senses, new tastes, and new places. A plethora of experience. My head, now thoroughly filled with all things Charlotte, has to get something down on paper. So, let’s begin with South End.
Read MoreThe central and most important aspect of Carl Jung’s psychology is his concept of the collective unconscious. Everything else is essentially an outworking or a consequence of that most central idea. So, what is the collective unconscious? It is the deepest-most part of our psyches. Our psyche can be divided up into three parts: first, our conscious, which is exactly that - everything we are conscious of in any given moment. So now, for instance, you are conscious of me, this space we’re in, and whatever other thoughts happen to be occupying you, perhaps what you’re having for dinner tonight. Then secondly, there’s your personal unconscious, which is everything in your head that was put there by you, by way of your own experiences, which you’re not conscious of at this very moment…
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