INNER CITY BOOKS was founded in 1980 to promote the understanding and practical application of the work of C.G. Jung

Summer/Fall 2003Inner City Books, Box 1271, Station Q, Toronto, ON M4T 2P4, CanadaNumber 39

JUNG at HEART

Perhaps the most important developmentin psychology and psychiatry during thepast couple of decades has been the intro-duction of neo-Darwinian evolutionarythinking. This has revolutionized how welook at human nature. It is a revolution thatJung would have welcomed, but which hisfollowers, for the most part, seem not tohave noticed. The explanatory power ofDarwinism is enormous: it shoots a sharpbeam of light through the chaotic com-plexity of contemporary psychological andpsychiatric theorizing, and its conse-quences for Jungian psychology are bothprofound and far-reaching.

The findings of the two new disci-plines, evolutionary psychology and evo-lutionary psychiatry, in no way contradictor supersede Jung’s original insights intothe nature and influence of the archetypeswhich make up the human collective un-conscious. On the contrary, they corrobo-

rate and amplify them. They confirm thathuman experience and human behaviorare complex products of environmentaland hereditary forces. The environmentactivates the archetype which mediatesexperience and behavior. Archetypes areintermediate between genes and experi-ence: they are the organizing schemata bywhich the innate becomes personal.

For most of the twentieth century it wasfashionable to focus on environmental in-fluences and to ignore the hereditary ones.This is one reason why Jung’s theory ofarchetypes, which postulated innate struc-tures, was ignored or rejected. Now thathereditary forces are receiving as muchattention as environmental factors, evi-dence is accumulating that Jung was right.This is of great significance for the sur-vival of analytical psychology as a spe-cialist therapeutic discipline, for it comesat a time when all forms of psychody-namic therapy are under attack and theirtheoretical credentials are being criticallyscrutinized.

What evolutionary psychology is study-ing is the psychic unity of humankind.This is not, as some critics have suggested,a reductive universalism but an attempt toestablish those psychic structures and func-tions, those strategies and goals, which weall have in common by virtue of our hu-manity. Far from diminishing our unique-ness as individuals and rendering us pris-oners of our genes, this perspective en-ables us to celebrate with deeper apprecia-tion the ways in which people living in

Excerpt from the new book by Anthony Stevens (title 105, 416pp, $30)

ARCHETYPE REVISITED:An Updated Natural History of the Self

— INSIDE —Excerpt from the other new title

The Parental Image (Harding) 2

Reviews & FeaturesThe works of James Hollis 3The Inner Journey (Hannah) 4Who Am I, Really? (Sharp) 5Chicken Little (Sharp) 5The Complex (Shalit) 6Animal Guides (Russack) 7Ego and Self (Edinger) 8Circle of Care (Steinberg) 8

To Order Books 8

Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts

widely differing environmental circum-stances work out variations of great com-plexity on similar sets of archetypal themes.Just as the genius of Mozart or Beethovenis most apparent when they take a musicalfigure and develop it in miraculously in-novative ways, so the innate creativity ofthe human psyche stands revealed whenwe perceive what it can do with the basicarchetypes with which it is endowed.

Archetypal theory is important not onlyfor the practice of analytic therapy but alsofor an understanding of what is happeningto our culture. In the last few decades wehave turned our society into an anarchiclaboratory, where the archetypal struc-tures involved in pair-bonding, child-care,and social regulation are being tested totheir breaking point. Our civilization iscontravening archetypal imperatives onan unprecedented scale. To anyone whotakes a long-term transpersonal view, thedisturbing question arises as to how far wemay continue on this course without in-curring disastrous penalties at both thepersonal and collective levels. In the pres-ence of such pervasive cultural uncer-tainty, it becomes a matter of urgency tounderstand the basic archetypal needs andresources of humankind. ✪

page 2 JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

From the introduction to THE PARENTAL IMAGE: Its Injuryand Reconstruction by M. Esther Harding (title 106, 160pp, $16)

Separating from the parents

The image of the archetypal parents and of thehome is inherent in every individual, havingbeen laid down in the unconscious through theexperience of generation after generation. Butin addition, as we know full well, these imagesare modified by the personal experience eachone has had of the personal home and parents.The normal archetypal image gives the pictureof parental love and care, and of the home as aplace of safety and a refuge in time of danger.That is, it may be called normal for one to havean experience of the positive aspect of theparental image. But there is also a negativeaspect of this same image that may at timespredominate. The nurturing mother may bereplaced by her devouring aspect; the kindlyand just father may appear as tyrannical andvengeful.

Fortunately, the positive image is the nor-mal and prevailing one. If it had not been so, thespecies would undoubtedly have died out. Moreinfants would have been devoured than suc-cored, more sons killed than initiated, and sothe human race would have perished.

However, in individual cases the influenceof the personal parents may be such that theimage of the archetypal parents is disturbed.What happens to the picture of the home as aplace of safety, and of the parents as defendersand sustainers if the human parents do not wantthe bother of a child, or are so deeply involvedin a desire for their own comfort and conve-nience that they neglect and exploit the child?They may be so undisciplined that the child’smemory of them is linked with fear or anxiety,and associated with anger and violence. Whatif the child comes home from school to find thedoor locked, with nowhere to go but the street,regardless of the weather?

For such a child the archetypal image ofparent and home will be distorted. Experiencesof this kind inevitably have a negative effect onthe archetypal image, a disturbance or mutila-tion of the inner picture of Mother in one’spsyche that might be called a pathologicalinjury. Such injuries are at the root of muchsocial unrest and the disturbed behavior, notonly of adolescents but also naturally of theadults these disturbed or delinquent childrengrow up to become.

The community searches for means to con-

trol or cure this condition when it leads toantisocial behavior. But there are many lesssevere cases where the moral fiber of the indi-vidual is such that one is able to live an out-wardly adapted life—one does not get intotrouble with the law, and emotional distur-bances show themselves rather in inner con-flict, difficulties in relationships or in the symp-toms of neurosis. These people make up aconsiderable proportion of those who seek psy-chological help from analysts.

We may ask whether there is any real curefor such unfortunate childhood experiences.Must these people be considered hopelesslyinjured? From my own experience I should saythat while there may be some amelioration ofthe consequences of the injury through con-scious understanding and reeducation, there isno chance of a real cure unless the injuredarchetypal image can itself be reconstructed.The injury represents a serious pathologicalsituation, one that is very different from the“normal” injury to the archetypal mother-childbond that occurs when the child, having out-grown its first infantile dependence, rebelsagainst the mother-rule and sets out on thejourney of life. Young adults thus gain theirfreedom by an act or series of acts that injurethe fundamental relationship to the parent. Thisis a normal occurrence, not pathological.

Having gained a measure of freedom, theindividual must then achieve an adaptation tolife that is more satisfying than the childishdependence that was renounced. The interestof the adventure and the rewards gained by this

effort usually prove fulfilling during the firsthalf of life. But when conscious powers havebeen fully explored and begin to wane, then itoften happens that one becomes increasinglyaware of sterility and loneliness. So it thenbecomes necessary to return to the “motherdepths” for renewal. If the archetypal image ofMother, injured by the previous rebellion, canbe restored, the individual finds new life. It is asif one were born again. The circle is joined oncemore and the image of the home is reconsti-tuted. This is symbolized by the image of theuroboros, the mythical tail-eating serpent thatencloses the world.

The uroboros represents the continuity oflife, the community of the group and above allthe wholeness of the individual. It is, in fact, avery widespread symbol representing the oneand the all, the Alpha and Omega. It is the self-contained primal source of psychic life, reallythe collective unconscious itself. The first formin which one experiences it is in relation toone’s own parents—the maternal and the pa-ternal uroboros, terms that correspond to themother and father archetypes. These parentalimages represent the first division of the un-known beginning of things into aspects that arecapable of consciousness. Or, to put it the otherway around, we can only have any conscious-ness at all when the primal beginning is dividedinto opposites. These secondary forms are al-ways represented as male and female, for tomankind this is the most fundamental pair ofopposites.

The first step, then, in the development ofhuman consciousness and freedom involved atransgression against the law of the parents andseparation from them. Humanity gained itsfreedom, and by the same act cut itself off fromthe very source of life. From that time on it wasburdened with the necessity of making an ad-aptation in the world and subduing nature to itsown purposes.

Most people succeed in doing this, but atmidlife one is often impelled to seek againsome contact with the unfathomable source ofenergy and life that lies within the mother-depths of the unconscious. And at certain pointsof history a whole people may meet with asimilar necessity. Unless this task is accom-plished, the individual in the first case, or thesociety in the other, becomes increasingly alien-ated from the life-giving depths and will fallinto despair and decay. The task that must beundertaken by the individual is the search forwholeness, for a direct relation to the supremevalue of the inner life; for society, a renewedrelation to the values traditionally representedby religious symbols. ✪

JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003 page 3

“Perhaps an image from alchemy best describes Hollis’s work: it is a

‘circumambulation’ around the process of transformation of the soul.”

Writer, teacher, Jungian analyst and director ofthe C.G. Jung Educational Center of Houston,James Hollis has written several books explor-ing and illustrating the “individuation process,”a term coined by Jung to describe the develop-ment of consciousness and personality during aperson’s life journey. Consciousness, whole-ness and meaning are seen as the goal of indi-viduation and the fruits of the so-called exam-ined life.

Jung’s great body of work reflects upon themyriad and complex ways in which the psychereveals its workings. It does so in dreams,stories, myth and religion, historical and cul-tural movements, the daily round of ordinarylife—work, play, relationships, emotions, love,

war, family, community—and, of course, insymptoms of physical or mental disturbance.Grounded in Jung’s ideas, Hollis’s work opensup consideration of the challenges and opportu-nities of modern life, posing crucial questionsand offering perspectives that prompt reflec-tion and engagement.

Inner City has published seven books byHollis in the past decade. The theme of wound-ing and healing is consistent throughout, as heexplores the existential dilemmas of human lifeand their impact on individuals as well as oncollective and cultural phenomena. His obser-vations are informed by broad study in thehumanities, arts and sciences, by his work as aclinician of depth psychology, and by his owndeeply examined inner and outer life experi-ence. Poetry, fiction, historical and culturaldevelopments, patients’ dreams and stories,and examples from personal life amplify andrichly illustrate his writing and lectures.

He describes the challenges to our sense ofwell-being: the “triple A’s of anxiety, ambigu-ity and ambivalence” (Creating a Life: Finding

Your Individual Path; 2001), the “three D’s ofdepression, desuetude and despair” (Swamp-

lands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places;

1996), and the burden on men of the “three W’s:work, war and worry” (Under Saturn’s Shadow:

The Wounding and Healing of Men; 1994). Anhonest and unflinching assessment of the “tragicview” of human life is balanced by an equallystrong assertion of the value of living con-sciously: “Hope comes from the capacity of theindividual to take on his or her life, gain somepurchase on selfhood, and find deeper mean-ing” (Creating a Life).

The subtitles of Hollis’s books have indi-cated this sense of promise from his very first,The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning

in Midlife (1993). But perhaps an image drawnfrom alchemy best describes his work: it is a“circumambulation” around the process of trans-formation of the soul. His books serve as win-dows into the central mystery of the human

condition. A developmental perspective in The

Middle Passage reframes “midlife crisis” as anopportunity for shifting from ego identificationto a conscious relationship with the Self, theinner organizing principle of wholeness andindividuation.

In fact, developmental considerations in-form all Hollis’s work as he describes theshaping of human personality, behavior, valuesand attitudes by early childhood and adolescentexperience during the process of ego formationin the first half of life, which, he asserts, “isusually a gigantic, though unavoidable, mis-take” (Creating a Life).

In Under Saturn’s Shadow, his second book,Hollis explores the impact of cultural andsociopolitical influences, especially with re-gard to role expectations, on the lives and soulsof men in contemporary culture. He describesthe “eight secrets” common to modern men andthe “seven steps to healing” the wounds thatcome from living under Saturn’s shadow.

In his third book (Tracking the Gods: The

Place of Myth in Modern Life; 1995), he illus-trates the role of archetypal story and symbolicexperience in connecting the individual to alarger sense of reality, a participation in theuniversal and eternal dimension of meaningthat enables one “to live one’s life and serve the

mystery.” Psychological symptoms and mooddisturbances as manifestations of the psyche’surge for greater differentiation and conscious-ness are explored in his fourth book, Swamp-

lands of the Soul.

In The Eden Project: In Search of the Magi-

cal Other (1998), Hollis develops the Jungianconcepts of projection and relationship withthe mysterious Other in outer and inner experi-ence. The paradox of connection and separa-tion, of love and the inevitable grief attendingthe loss of love’s object, are considered in thecontext of human relationships, the inner mar-riage with one’s contrasexual side (anima/ani-mus), and the longed-for union with the tran-scendent Divine.

In Creating a Life, Hollis synthesizes allthese themes, wrapping together observationsfrom clinical experience, personal work andthe wisdom of a lifetime devoted to psyche,thus providing a kind of map or guidebook forindividuation. His work does not promise hap-piness or a cure for neurosis, but rather holds upthe value of living in the tension of the oppo-sites until, in his words, “through risk andsuffering we may at last come upon thosevalues which resonate deep within. Thus wehave created a life worthy of soul.”

This summary does not do justice to the artand insight of James Hollis’s writings. Hisbooks are simply wonderful. Read him foryourself and feel enriched. ✪

— The latest Hollis title —

ON THIS JOURNEY WECALL OUR LIFE:

Living the Questions(Spring 2003; title 103, 160pp, $16)

This article by Ruthann Duncan originally appeared

in the Eugene Weekly, Oregon, April 2002

The works of James Hollis

(All books, $16 each)

page 4 JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

C.G. Jung’s charismatic personality attractedan inordinate number of brilliant women asacolytes. One is reminded of the myth ofDionysus and his followers, who were mainlywomen, the maenads, and who broke the rulesof the kingdom. Jung, as prince apparent ofpsychology in the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries, discovered a unique theorywhich challenged the old monarch, Freud. LikeDionysus, Jung was viewed as a disruptivemystic and subsequently discounted by Freudand his followers.

The female apostates were brilliant schol-ars who spread the message of a new way toperceive psychology, the nature of man andestablished world beliefs. Among them wereMarie-Louise von Franz, M. Esther Harding,Irene Claremont de Castillejo, Emma Jung andBarbara Hannah. Their influence in the field ofanalytical psychology is inestimable. The In-ner Journey presents six fascinating lectures/essays by one of these women, Barbara Hannah,who was a student of Jung’s from 1929 to the1960s, and a formidable analyst in her ownright. She died in 1986 at the age of 95.

In some ways, this book is a tribute to herinfluence as a teacher. It ranges from reminis-cences of her first student lecture on the com-plexities of active imagination to her own teach-ings on the process of individuation, ego andshadow, anima and animus, and the Self asarchetype. She covers all this with clarity andverve in the space of some 140 pages.

Hannah recalls a lecture given to trainees onactive imagination, a means of getting into theunconscious, and one of the ways to achieveknowledge of the Self. However, any journeyinto the unknown has its dangers, and Hannahstrongly cautions the reader that delving intothe unconscious is no harmless pastime. On theother hand, it can be an enormous help in theanalytic process, especially for those who can-not recall dreams.

Delving into the unconscious is a means ofconnecting consciousness and the unconscious.Hannah declares it to be“the hardest work Iknow.” To help in this task she offers andcomments on five techniques for successfulactive imagination. Hannah describes how Jung

emphasizes the importance of timing. Hestressed that before starting, detailed instruc-tions should be given to the analysand aboutwhat may occur.

Continuing the search for understanding thecomplexities of the psyche, we come to anunpublished essay given to “George,” a one-time analysand. The analysis deals with middle-age angst, looking to find a meaning to life andpreparing to meet death. The case in point dealtwith a clergyman. As the analysis works to-ward individuation, “he encounters the animain her death aspect.” George found it almostimpossible to realize her as an inner figure.Hannah was alarmed that this inability couldwell result in actual death, and that she mayhave been remiss in not warning him. Mean-while, he went off on a holiday, after which heintended to return to analysis.

He died while on holiday. Hannah trulybelieved that his last dream was a harbinger ofdeath, and that he had come to the time in hislife to put aside his religious trappings, but hecould not bring himself to make the break.

The last three lectures deal with aspects ofego and shadow, and especially the animus inthe psychology of women. The first of them,“Ego and Shadow,” refers to the difficulty inavoiding individualism while at the same timebeing required to discuss concepts dealing withthe individual. It is rather like a fish in a bowl

“C.G. Jung’s charismatic personality attracted an inordinate number ofbrilliant women as acolytes. Among them were Marie-Louise von Franz, M.

Esther Harding, Irene Claremont de Castillejo and Barbara Hannah.”

trying to observe itself. “Know thyself” turnsout to be a complex piece of business and, insome regards, impossible. The example givenis like a telephone operator dealing with con-necting wires. The task of the analyst is toestablish these connections, one of which is thepersona. Constantly formed through contactwith the environment, the persona is the publicface we present to the world. The individualcan, however, make choices between the twoentities of environment and self.

The shadow relates to the hidden or uncon-scious aspects of oneself, both good and bad,

including Helen Luke, Morton Kelsey andJoseph L. Henderson—express their feelingsfor the remarkable Ms. Hannah.

The Inner Journey is aimed at those who areseriously interested in the concepts of Jungianpsychology, as well as those who are merelycurious. Reading these articles allows us notonly to learn something of the complex worldof Jungian psychology, but also something oftheir author. The depth of Barbara Hannah’sknowledge, her sense of humor and her skill inclarifying difficult material, all make this abook to be highly recommended. ✪

Six essays on the inner lifeTHE INNER JOURNEY: Lectures and Essays on Jungian Psychology by

Barbara Hannah (title 88, 160pp, $16), reviewed by Lila Stonehewer in C.G.Jung Society of Montreal Newsletter, April 2000

which the ego has either repressed or neverrecognized. The interesting thing about theshadow is that it tends to be projected; that is,we project our unknown qualities onto some-one else. Hannah gives an example of the twosides of the ego at work, positive and negative,in Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The fifth lecture is called “The ReligiousFunction of the Animus in the Book of Tobit.”The Book of Tobit is a book in the Old Testa-ment Apocrypha. Hannah approaches this little-known story as a myth or fairy tale. On one sideit describes what happens when the shadowbecomes too narrow, and on the other it tellswhat happens when the shadow is in completepossession of the ego.

The final lecture, “The Problem of ContactWith Animus,” touches on a complex area. It isa lengthy essay which all in all suggests that thebest way for a woman to begin to know theanimus is through her dreams. The animus, theinner masculine side of women, often tries totell her what she should do, replacing herfeminine instincts with opinions. These twoentities must work together if wholeness is tobe achieved.

The book opens with a heart-felt Forewordby Marion Woodman, and closes with an ap-pendix, “Some memories of Barbara Hannah.”Here half a dozen students and/or colleagues—

page 5JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

What a pleasure it is to read the work of amasterful storyteller, as Daryl Sharp undoubt-edly is. Before I knew it, I found myself luredinto the depths of Who Am I, Really?, eager toknow more, and wondering why the book wasso very readable.

The enticement is important because thesubject matter, making sense of Jung’s viewson the relationship of personality, soul andindividuation, is difficult reading—difficultbut rewarding. Sharp’s overall structure andhis inimitable storytelling style give the mate-rial a memorable quality and clarity whichenables readers readily to grasp the teaching of

Jung’s ideas as they are laid out here.The main core of the book consists of a

series of cleverly cast dialogues between Sharpas the narrator and Professor Adam Brillig, awise old man character upon whom Sharpfreely admits he has “a perfectly workableprojection.” A holiday get-together onManitoulin Island in northern Ontario providesthe relaxed but animated setting for their dis-cussions and interactions with other guests andhis lady dog companion, Sunny.

A clue to the identities of these interactingfigures can be found early on in Sharp’s andBrillig’s discussions concerning soul. Sharp

reminds us that Jung used “soul” in a psycho-logical rather than a theological sense, and thenBrillig furthers the matter: “Nor did Jung equatesoul with psyche. He used the term psyche toinclude all psychic processes, conscious aswell as unconscious. Soul he defines as person-ality, forged over time by an ongoing dialoguebetween the ego and the unconscious.”

Two points of interest here. Soul is definedin a way accessible to readers, and the clue to asoul-forged personality occurs through exten-sive intrapsychic dialogue. In a cleverly cre-ative way Sharp has shaped a dialogue withina dialogue—a place where multiple layers ofmeaning can operate simultaneously. But notonly is Sharp telling us that intrapsychic dia-logue is a method whereby the soulful person-ality is forged, he is actually demonstrating thatreality in the conversations between the vari-ous figures that people his text.

Adam Brillig, to name the primary ex-ample, is representative of the ongoing dia-logue Sharp is having with his own uncon-scious under the guise of the wise old man.Indeed, I suspect that all these characters areimages not only of Sharp’s personal uncon-scious, but also of the collective unconscious.As he reminds us, “Jung identified three levelsof the psyche: consciousness, the personal un-conscious, and the archetypal or collectiveunconscious—the objective psyche.”

By creatively personifying these interwo-ven levels in a storytelling mode, Sharp givessubstance to what might otherwise remain in-tellectually abstract concepts. This ability, alongwith the sparkling wit which marks the interac-tions of guests and plot, make Who Am I,Really? a pleasure to read. I found myself notonly gripped but delighted with the inventive-ness of the plot and hungry for more.

Only after I’d finished the book did I dis-cover that I’d read the second installment ofThe Brillig Trilogy, the first and third titlesbeing Chicken Little: The Inside Story andLiving Jung: The Good and the Better, respec-tively. I can’t wait to sample their fare, andhope that others will also enjoy and learn fromSharp’s immensely gifted teaching style. ✪

WHO AM I, REALLY? Personality, Soul and Individuation by Daryl Sharp (title 67, 144pp,

$16), reviewed by Sharon Dawn Johnson in Jung Society of Ottawa Newsletter, April 2000

Knowing who you are, more or less . . .

I’ve never particularly cared for the story ofChicken Little. I’ve read it to my childrenbecause I thought it revealed the ridiculous inhumans, and I knew they would be exposed toquite a lot of that. But a Jungian analysis of thetale? Frankly, I was frightened. What followed,however, was one of the most delightful read-ing romps I have ever taken. I imagine ChickenLittle could be analyzed right down to thecommas and periods; but I preferred to relishthe sheer joy of discovering myself in its amaz-ingly understated question marks.

The protagonist of the piece is the authorhimself. After a short and wonderfully whim-sical scholarly paper—“Chicken Little: Messi-ah, Meshuggeneh or Metaphor?”—the plotquickens. Sharp receives a letter from the em-inent Professor Adam Brillig, Chickle Schtickscholar and Jungian analyst, who turns out tobe part Sherlock Holmes, part Professor Mori-arty, part Dr. Who. He claims to know where tofind the stone tablets on which, according toSharp’s paper, Chicken Little’s story is record-ed in hieroglyphics. He begs Sharp to help intheir recovery. Thus the adventure begins.

Brillig shows up on Sharp’s doorstep withhis assistant Norman and several suitcases fullof alchemical magic. (Norman just happens to

CHICKEN LITTLE: The Inside Story by DarylSharp (title 61, 128pp, $16), reviewed by SusanPayton in Friend’s Review, Fall 1993

Nobody here but us chickens

be the former analysand of Sharp’s who wasthe antihero of The Survival Papers.) There isa love interest (or anima), Rachel, although thetrue muse of the book is Ms. Little herself.There is Sharp’s friend (or shadow), Arnold.And don’t forget Sunny, the dog (Greek cho-rus?), who has the table-turning last word.

Over the ensuing weekend, Professor Bril-lig takes Sharp, Arnold, Rachel and the readeron a numinous journey of Self-discovery—viaChicken Little and Jungian psychology. And itall takes place in Sharp’s house. Well, until“Rachel” lends her basement for an intriguingexperiment in holography, which leads to asurprising but entirely credible denouement.

Are these characters real people? Aspectsof the author? Is the story fact or fiction? Isuspect a bit of both. But the not knowing, thegood-natured down-home mystery of it all ispart of the charm of this tale within a tale.

Aptly described as “a Jungian romance,”Chicken Little is remarkably humorous, beau-tifully written, tantalizingly irreducible, andfull of the magic and simplicity of being hu-man. At times it left me breathless. In short, Iloved it and I bet you will too. ✪

page 6 JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

THE COMPLEX: Path of Transformation from Archetype to Ego by Erel

Shalit (title 98, 128pp, $16), reviewed by Jason Piercy in C.G. Jung Society ofMontreal Newsletter, May 2002

On the essence of complexes

Erel Shalit, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst inRa’anana, Israel, and a training analystwith the Israel Society of Analytical Psy-chology. The purpose of Shalit’s book is toexplain the essence of complexes, fromtheir purposeful and helpful aspects to themore destructive aspects of the “autono-mous” complex.

If one is new to the Jungian idea of thecomplex, then this book is an excellentchoice. It is short and precise in its treat-ment of the material and easy to compre-hend. Although it does not cover any newground, still it would serve a person wellversed in this aspect of Jungian psychol-ogy as a good review.

The Complex starts with the develop-ment of the ideas leading up to Jung’sformulation of the complex in psychoana-lytic history, and then goes on to outlinesome of the complexes in Jung’s own life.Shalit then moves into a detailed explana-tion of complex psychology. One of themajor differences between Jung and Freudis that Freud felt there was one core com-plex (the Oedipal complex), while Jung

recognized that many complexes existedwithin a person’s psyche.

Jung believed that man possessed acollective unconscious from primevaltimes; within this unconscious were theinstinctual models of behavior, which hecalled archetypes. He felt that the arche-types and our responses to them, the com-plexes, were the determinants of one’slife. The complexes link the archetypes tothe ego, allowing for the transformation ofone type of “memory” into the expres-sions of life. Thus, the complex is thepathway for the expression of instinctualdrives into the personal here and now. Thedriving force of the complex can then beidentified as death-anxiety, which, with an

adequate ego-integrated complex, bringsnew energy to one’s life.

The complex’s purpose is to be inte-grated into consciousness in a way thatexpands the ego and creates more flexibleboundaries, allowing for the growth of theindividual. The center of the complex isthe archetypal image surrounded by a clus-ter of images, experiences and beliefs thatcome from an individual’s personal expe-riences. These images create an emotionaltone, which becomes the binding forcethat holds the complex in a charged emo-tional state.

The personality is made up of a multi-tude of complexes which function as path-ways of transformation, allowing the flowof psychic energy from the archetypallevel of the psyche to the ego. The com-plex in a healthy state has an ongoingenergy flow between the archetypal andthe personal (universal and personal).

We most often think of the pathologicalaspect of the complex. It is the “autono-mous” complex which is created when theindividual is unable to integrate the com-

plex into his or her life. In psychoses, thearchetypal world is too powerful and theego too weak. The psychic flow is de-stroyed. In delusional (paranoid) disor-ders the complex is split, with one partprojecting outward into the external orpersecutory object and the other part pos-sessing the ego, incapacitating its judg-ment and discrimination.

Repetition-compulsion is a factor inthe autonomous complex. Since the psy-chic flow is broken, the individual doesnot learn from experience, but projects hisor her beliefs onto personal experiences. Apowerful autonomous complex can thenbecome life-thwarting and limiting in itsnature, trapping the individual in a per-

sonal and all-too-real hell.Shalit uses the Oedipal myth to explain

and illustrate not only the drive of thecomplex but the complex’s path from thearchetypal to the ego. It is here that the ideaof the hero and the complex is explored.He writes:

The image of the hero represents the psy-chological capacity to respond to a call, togo forth from the conventions of the egoand redeem a treasure that lies dormant,hidden in the unconscious. The hero, then,brings the treasure home into his ownindividual consciousness or the conscious-ness of the collective, thereby stimulatingsocial and individual renewal.

It is through facing our own autono-mous complexes that we as individualsbecome heroes in the real-world sense.Here the keys to healing are the feelings ofdiscomfort which inform the person that adifferent route is needed in order to de-velop.

In today’s world, one of the great prob-lems is the tendency to medicate feelingsof depression, anxiety and aloneness thatare often a call to engage in the process ofdevelopment (i.e., positive complex for-mation). Unfortunately, efforts to treatthese feelings with medication most oftendisengage this process and lead to thereinforcement of the emotionally chargedautonomous complex.

Shalit uses myths, fairy tales and per-sonal experiences to underline and accentthe conceptual framework which he ex-plores. His efforts to explain the Jungianperspective are easily understood. His de-scriptions are pithy and concise. Overall,The Complex is challenging in that it canlead us to examine our own complexes andthus provide the basis for one aspect ofpersonal growth. ✪

“The complex’s purpose is to be integrated into consciousness in a

way that expands the ego and creates more flexible boundaries,

allowing for the growth of the individual.”

page 7JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

The archetypal truth behind animal crackers

ANIMAL GUIDES in Life, Myth and Dreams: An Analyst’s Notebook by Neil Russack (title 97,

224pp, $20), reviewed by Paula Smith-Marder in Journal of Analytical Psychology, no. 47 (2002)

This book is a real find for anyone wholoves animals and is interested in why theyappear in our dreams. Neil Russack, aJungian analyst in San Francisco, engagesus in his passion for creatures of water,land and air through excursions into art,science, mythology and dreams.

In an autobiographical chapter, Russackrecounts his failed early attempts to con-nect to animal life. Much later, as an over-extended psychiatrist, he withdrew to livealone in Inverness, California. In time, thehealing of nature allowed him to return toan active life. He writes:

I had drawn energy for the red fox lyingin the sun, the waterbird taking off intothe sky. Now this energy flowed into mywork with patients’ dreams . . . I re-turned to the office, but with the listen-ing ears of a knowing animal (p. 30).

Thus Russack lived the stages of initia-tion described by Arnold van Gennep inhis Rites of Passage—namely, separation,transformation and return to the commu-nity. Russack’s transformation occurredin the process of his being educated in theways of animals. Animal Guides is hisoffering to the wider community.

The book itself is built around patternsof initiation, with specific animal life rep-resenting each one. Chapters include“Through the gate of the snake”; “Initia-tion by water,” with attention to octopus,waterbirds, frog, dolphins and whales; “Ini-tiation by earth,” with its elephant, deer,boar and horse; and “Initiation by fire,”with the fire dragon, unicorn and phoenix.Each animal springs from a matrix of fairytale, myth, artistic images and richly am-plified dreams.

Of particular value to clinicians is theabundance of case material linking animaldreams to psychological development.Vivid clinical vignettes describe individu-als for whom animal dream images offerrelease and a return to the flow of life. Forinstance, Russack writes of a man whoknew nothing of his origins because hewas adopted as an infant. He appeared

lifeless, detached from his instinctual na-ture. This man dreamed of an elk:

It spoke to every cord in his body. Hetook in every detail like a starving man,like a man who for the first time in hislife had seen something he had to have.The elk became the most important im-age he had ever seen Everything he saidabout the elk was what he needed toexperience in himself . . . . Then he couldbe real, he could have his life (p. 126).

Russack frequently uses animal imag-ery to describe the clinical condition andprognosis. A woman dreamed of “an el-ephant that is really lonely.” Russack com-ments:

Her problem was that she didn’t knowhow to attend to this inner animal on herown. She attended well to work, but sheseemed incapable of caring for herself.(p. 114)

A depressed woman dreams of an owl thatlands on her arm. Russack says:

The owl brings the woman gifts of thenight and thus becomes the bird con-necting her back to the creative life . . . .As this woman learns to trust the whitenight bird, her dark depression will lift(pp. 188-189).

In another account, Russack finds a fore-shadowing of death reflected in a woman’sdreams of dying and absent animals (p.146).

Russack’s frank appraisal of his ana-lytic work is refreshing. While some clini-cal examples show movement and resolu-tion, others reveal the analyst’s doubts.For instance,

We charted an uncertain course. As heranalyst, the most I could do was help hertrust in the zig-zag course of her ownwaterbird way (p. 93).

Ever careful of intrusion, Russack foundhimself too involved in one woman’sdreams of horses:

My countertransference threatened toget the better of me . . . So I graduallygave up my horses for hers (p. 140).

A male patient dreamed of snails. Russackresearched the mollusk and its spiral shapebut kept it to himself.

The patient himself became intriguedwith the spiral image. I didn’t say a wordabout it. I just listened as he followed theimage with thoughtful interest (p. 70).

For his readers, however, Russack tracesthe spiral image to fertility rituals fromEast Africa, Oceania and the Ancient NearEast, and finally relates it to “the genera-tive function of the Great Mother and tothe death and rebirth mythology of theplanting culture” (p. 71).

From creature to creature, Russack’sresearch is a wealth of amplification. Onecan dip into any of the animal sections andbe rewarded with absorbing research andserious regard for the particular animalunder consideration.

Personally, I found the initial autobio-graphical chapter interesting but less com-pelling than the rest of the book, althoughI must admit that it did inspire me toconsider my own relationship to nature.Overall, one can use Animal Guides as areference, meditate on one section at atime, or enjoy it from cover to cover. It isa darn good read. ✪

Cover: “Herons,” woodcut by Vicki Cowan

page 8 JUNG at HEART, No. 39, Summer/Fall 2003

Ego and Self is a diamond in the form of a smallbook that brings clarity to a vital area of Jun-gian psychology: the ego-Self relationship. TheSelf is that part of the personality that is muchlarger and wiser than our everyday ego con-sciousness; it is fathomlessly deep, connectinginto the collective unconscious. The develop-ing ego-Self relationship is central to the pro-cess of individuation, and the ego’s ability todevelop a relationship with the Self is at theheart of Jungian analysis.

The relationship between the ego and Self iscomplex and difficult to understand. Once again,

however, in his inimitable and succinct style,Dr. Edinger brings insight and clarity to thisintricate topic, making this book a treasure.

Ego and Self is based on a lecture seriesgiven by Dr. Edinger at the Jung Institute ofLos Angeles in the early 1990s. It continueshis earlier work, The Bible and the Psyche(1986), where Edinger relates cosmic God toindividual man by introducing the concept thata symbolic interpretation of the Old Testamentreveals the nature and function of the ego-Selfrelationship. As Edinger puts it, the books ofthe Old Testament “can be perceived as a

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EGO AND SELF: The Old Testament Prophets by Edward F. Edinger (title 90,

160pp, $16), reviewed by Ann Walker in Psychological Perspectives, no. 43 (2002)

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Exploring the ego-Self relationship

record of . . . a dialogue between the Self andthe developing ego” (pp. 13-14), or alterna-tively, “as a record of a collective historicalindividuation process” (p. 79).

Edinger explores the stories of the OldTestament prophets, from Isaiah to Malachi, toelucidate the cycles in the development of theego-Self relationship and those factors thatenhance and impede that development. Heshows how the ego-Self relationship is a recip-rocal one; for example, if the ego is in distress,the Self sends images of support. He alsoelaborates his concept that the primordial psychecan be humanized if consciously and deliber-ately assimilated through the willing sacrificeof the ego. In all this, Edinger repeatedly docu-ments how his insights come from his symbolicamplification of the Old Testament.

Edinger also amplifies the archetypal mean-ing of the prophet, the shepherd, jealousy, griefand revenge; of incest, the wilderness, themeaning of destiny or fate and flight from one’sdestiny. In one section, he amplifies Jung’sdescription of the structure and dynamics of theSelf (in Aion, pars. 347-421), where the Self isdepicted as consisting of four interconnected,three-dimensional tetrahedrons. I felt particu-larly grateful for the remarkable incisivenessEdinger brought to this important area.

The ego-Self relationship fascinated Edingerthroughout his life; he lectured and wrote manybooks on the subject, and remains the master ofthis material. Though a short volume, Ego andSelf is a dense work. Edinger himself warns usto subject his explication to slow, reiterativerumination—excellent advice for digesting hisseminal work on this challenging topic. ✪

This book explores the quality of care that oneought to experience in therapy. According tothis author, the best care heals by providing asafe container or “magic circle,” within whichthe analyst strives to empathize accurately withthe patient’s psychological state.

Circle of Care consists of seven essays ontransference-countertransference phenomena,masculine identity conflicts and depression.Steinberg presents his material with clarity andprovides useful clinical vignettes that reveal theessence of his ideas in a very feeling way.

The opening essay, “Jung’s Ideas on Trans-ference,” traces Jung’s deepening perspective

CIRCLE OF CARE: Clinical Issues in JungianTherapy by Warren Steinberg (title 46, 160pp,$16), reviewed by Stanley Perelman in Journalof Analytical Psychology, July 1993

Clinical issues in therapy

on this subject over time. In “The TherapeuticUtilization of Countertransference,” Steinbergdistinguishes between three kinds of counter-transference: useful, neurotic and archetypal.The third essay, “The Erotic and AggressiveCountertransferences,” illustrates such power-ful affects in the therapist.

The fourth essay, “The Fear of TherapeuticProgress,” discusses resistances within the pa-tient that impede development, showing howseparation anxiety and envy may contribute toone’s unconscious resistance to change. Thefifth essay, on “Idealization,” is concernedwith the practical uses of transference andcountertransference for the therapist.

The last two essays, “Masculine IdentityConflicts,” and “Depression,” are well thoughtout and orderly. The first discusses men’s strug-gles with issues such as separation from themother, competition with the father, and ho-moerotic anxiety. The final essay elaboratesJung’s views on depression as an opportunityfor psychological transformation.

Altogether, the author’s broad knowledgeand communicative style make Circle of Carea valuable contribution to the field of analyticthought and practice. ✪