Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche - Hardcover

Von Franz, Marie-Louise

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1570621330 ISBN 13: 9781570621338

Publisher: Shambhala, 1997

Synopsis

In the view of Jungian psychology, we are living today through a crucial transition: a period of reaction against cultural and religious forms that have become rigid and cut off from the creative wellspring of the collective unconscious. The hidden significance of this "psychic emergency" is that it spurs the development of human consciousness on toward a spiritual rebirth.

In this book—the fourth and final volume in a series of collected essays—the eminent Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz uses her vast knowledge of myths, fairy tales, dreams, and visions to show how the collective psyche itself has pointed to ways of resolving the modern predicament. She discusses Mercurius, the darkly paradoxical figure from medieval alchemy; the visions of the Swiss mystic Niklaus von Flue; the "unknown visitor" motif in fairy tales; the Cosmic Man as image of the goal of human development; and many archetypal dreams of contemporary people. All of these can be seen as expressions of a collective urge in the West to reintegrate nature and the body, matter and spirit—and, ultimately, to help us find our way, individually and collectively, to a renewed unity of being and culture.

About this title

About the Author

Marie-Louise von Franz (1915–1998) was the foremost student of C. G. Jung, with whom she worked closely from 1934 until his death in 1961. A founder of the C. G. Jung Institute of Zurich, she published widely on subjects including alchemy, dreams, fairy tales, personality types, and psychotherapy.

Reviews

Von Franz worked closely with Carl Jung from 1930 to his death in 1961, assisting and supporting in his life work, particularly in the exploration of alchemy, dreams, and fairy tales. In dozens of books and articles, she has elaborated and amplified her mentor's groundbreaking discoveries. She has a remarkable gift for interpreting and demystifying the difficult symbolism of religious visions, ancient myths, and fairy tales of the common folk. This volume of essays continues to plumb the depths of archetypal realities on such topics as Merlin, the Antichrist, the Goddess, the Black Madonna, and the Age of Aquarius. Whether explaining the psychic complexities of gender or racial conflict, or the survival value of our connection to other animals, von Franz is perhaps unsurpassed as the archetypal Jungian. For all public and academic collections.?Terry McMaster, Onondaga Cty. Mental Health Svcs., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1570621330
• ISBN 13: 9781570621338
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 405