Jungian psychology

“The many varieties of “objective reason,” for example, however brilliantly they perform in their own quarters – in mathematics and scholarship, in theoretical biology or chess matches – are often profoundly inept at dealing with life….But this much is clear, that pure theoretical reason is as intimately related to the day-to-day problems of life as good taste in wine to the task of cleaning out the cat litter.” is a somewhat humorous synopsis of the philosopher Robert Solomon thesis. (p.63 Passions) The apparent preference and predisposition of philosophers for “propositional statements” and strict rational analysis has come under recent attack. In a more serious tone, the philosopher Matthew Ratcliffe points out, “The emphasis on propositional content is associated with a rather impoverished conception of experience.” (p. 149 Rat) In normal everyday life intuition, metaphor, paradigmatic thinking, model-creation, narrative thinking as well as other nonconscious processes are used much more extensively by the human mind than strict “propositional statements.”

Nearly one hundred years ago, Hermann Hesse did an excellent job of describing the dilemma of modern society's materialist wasteland which is devoid of meaningful and spiritual life.

"This besotted humdrum age of spiritual blindness!"

In the epic novel, Steppenwolf, written by Hermann Hesse and first published in 1927, it would appear that some of the writing in the novel could, in truth, be considered properly prophetic - especially in regard to some of the psychological and spiritual aspects of our contemporary society and culture. Steppenwolf, the character and the central individual in the novel, decries the empty essence and of his society, when he proclaims, "Ah, but it is hard to find this track of the divine in the midst of this life that we lead, in this besotted humdrum age of spiritual blindness, its politics, its men! .... And in fact, if the world is right, if this music of cafes, these mass enjoyments and these Americanised men who are pleased with so little are right, then I am wrong. I am crazy. I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray who finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him." (p. 48-49)


I think Isobel Helen did a great job in outlining some of the underlying issues. 

Isobel Helen, a logotherapist, a form of psychoanalysis based on Frankl, observes that, "The lack of discussion around meaning, spirituality, fundamental questions of man are seen by Logotherapist schools as the missing element in mainstream psychological study and psychotherapy. Essential Frankl believed that there is no psychotherapy apart from the theory of man. As an existential psychologist, he inherently disagreed with the “machine model” or “rat model”, as it undermines the human quality of humans. She went on to say that as a Logotherapist, "We train people to find meaning and spirituality in their lives - [there is] endless data on the seriously transformative effects of meaning in life. Frankl reduced suicide rates in young people to zero when he opened Logotherapy clinics in Vienna."

From the beginning of recorded history, the mountain has played a prominent role in religion. The research for this book shows, for example, that many religions started on mountains. In addition, mountains were considered gods or the homes of the gods. Mountains also appear in contemporary dreams and visions. In psychology we understand numinous mountain experiences differently than they were understood in the past: We speak of projection onto mountains of contents from within the psyche. This book examines the mountain motif — how it has appeared throughout history in religion, myth, and dreams, and how our attitude towards it has changed.

It may be surprising to some - though it shouldn’t be - that Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, as well as the famous theologian Abraham Heschel, not to mention St. Gregory of Nyssa have spoken eloquently about the importance and the significance of precisely that very profound spiritual “deep sense of wonder” which has inspired not only them, but our prehistoric ancestors as well - probably since the dawning of human consciousness. It would seem crystal clear that without wonder - sometimes known more blandly as "curiosity" - "we" wouldn't be "here." Even Ronald Reagan remarked about the 'wonder of wonder' when he said, "There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."
The reputable theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel emphatically exclaims , "Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement....get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed." Albert Einstein mirrors exactly Heschel's profound spiritual beliefs when he expressed his profound spiritual beliefs in terms of a powerful drive to grasp and comprehend the truth and reality of the universe and the All in his eloquent statement that “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Furthermore he simplified that belief into the statement "He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."
Furthermore, Carl Sagan has stated, unequivocally, that "Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality!" Carl Sagan brilliantly observed, “We all have a thirst for wonder. It's a deeply human quality. Science and religion are both bound up with it. What I'm saying is, you don't have to make stories up, you don't have to exaggerate. There's wonder and awe enough in the real world. Nature's a lot better at inventing wonders than we are.” (Contact). Perhaps Carl Sagan read Socrates who long ago in the 5th century BCE, observed, "Wonder is the beginning of Wisdom"

A revitalized practice of natural philosophy can help people to live a better life and promote a flourishing ecosystem. Such a philosophy is natural in two senses. First, it is natural by seeking to understand the whole of nature, including mental phenomena, In particular, a comprehensive natural philosophy should address the phenomena of sentience by embracing first- and second-person methods of investigation. Moreover, to expand our understanding of the world, natural philosophy should embrace a full panoply of explanations, similar to Aristotle’s four causes. Second, such a philosophy is natural by being grounded in human nature, taking full account of human capacities and limitations. Future natural philosophers should also make use of all human capacities, including emotion and intuition as well as reason and perception, to investigate nature. Finally, since the majority of our brain's activities are unconscious, natural philosophy should explore the unconscious mind ...

In the past six decades since its inception, nautical archaeologists have excavated and studied the hulls, cargoes, and other remains of ancient watercraft. However, shipwrecks themselves only tell part of the story. The archaeological record is replete with examples of known shipwrecks from some cultures and periods, but, for others, no hulls exist in the known archaeological record. Vagaries of preservation generally prevent the upper parts and rigging of a vessel to survive in all but the most remarkable of cases. This paper reviews the role of iconographic representations in understanding ancient vessels and seafaring by presenting the issues, examining the limitations, proposing interpretative methods for, and finally by supplying specific examples of, ancient nautical depictions.

This book is about the Triumph of Spirit Archetype System (TOSAS). The TOSAS is a set of twenty-two archetype cards and associated commentary designed to provide individuals and cultural creatives an alternative to the racist, sexist, hetero-normative, and colonial Master Narrative (Blaut, 1993) or Master Story (Ellens, 2001) that currently dominates the consciousness of this planet.

This book is divided into two parts. Part one introduces some key terms, like master narratives, ideological institutions, archetypes, and the elite nature of this planet’s current, dominant master narrative. The goal of part one is to make you aware of the oppressive elite master narrative and its constituent archetypes. Part two introduces the Triumph of Spirit Archetype System, which is my alternative to the dominant elite master narrative. The goal of part two is to provide you with an overview of the TOSAS so you can understand the significance of the archetypes, with a view towards using them to remove the elite master narrative from your own consciousness and also to use the TOSAS to help create new narratives and stories that heal and empower others, rather than damage, enslave, and oppress, as the current elite master narrative does.

When I began preparing this chapter, I encountered a creative block. On the one hand I wanted to write about the daimonic and dramatherapy in an imaginative, inspiring way. On the other I wanted to present something that was 0 concise and comprehensible, rooted in experience and theory. Nothing seemed easy to express and I couldn't start writing. Rather than being able to synthesise these different approaches, I became frustrated and stuck. Eventually, I decided to draw on my experience as a dramatherapist. I decided to dramatise my block, as I might encourage a client to do in therapy. I began to imagine it as an encounter between two archetypal characters that were not cooperating , but involved in a fierce and exhaustive conflict. It seemed that a good way to start a paper about dramatising daimonic characters would be to begin with those that were hidden in the paper itself. I.I Introducing my Daimons By introducing these characters I can personify the ideas behind this essay, and they can act as fictional guides. At the same time, I can explore how dramatising inner conflict can help to transform a entrenched situation. So, rather than begin with a definition of the daimonic, let me begin instead by introducing the characters that I imagined when I explored my own block. One appears as an old man. He gives the impression that he has listened to innumerable hours of other people 0 talking. There is an uncanny sense that he is coated in a thin film of the dust he sits in. There is something of the priest about him, or a certain type of therapist; rigorous, methodological, detached, analytical. He has hard, bright eyes, and is still and silent. Speaking seems an effort to him, as if innumerable wheels grind through his mind before language can appear.. The other seems like a young man, who is constantly on the move. He looks around his surroundings 0 0 0 with an intense air of expectation, as if beauty and meaning could be extracted from anywhere at any moment. He cultivates the demeanour of a Romantic poet-he is passionate, committed, and his poems contain vivid and intense 0 0 emotions and images. I will leave these two for a moment, where they are, in the same fictional space as each other but not talking; I will treat them as advisers and use my writing as the middle ground between them. This provides a further link to the practice of dramatherapy, with the role as dramatherapist as a mediator between different imaginal characters as well as between the imagination and the self. In this case the writing acts as a way of creating dialogue between different perspectives. The intention here is not psychotherapy-however, like psychotherapy, paying attention to both sides within a conflict will allow new ideas and perspectives to emerge creatively. 1 I.II. The Poetic Psyche. In order to begin to think more about what theatre and the daimonic have in common we can begin in the place where 0 psychology has placed imagination-the psyche. The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following definitions of psyche psyche 1 |ˈsīkē| noun; the human soul, mind, or spirit ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: via Latin from Greek psukhē, "breath, life, soul". The Poet tells me that the ancient symbol for psyche in Greece is Morpho Eugenia-the soul as a beautiful butterfly. 0 0 For a poet, images are more important than abstract concepts, for poetry connects images rather than defining terms. Abstract terms such as psyche, soul, mind and spirit are hard to imagine and so less poetic than the image of a butterfly. In order to understand the abstract, we need images. If we imagine psyche as a butterfly, we think about butterflies poetically in order to know psyche better. So, butterflies seem fragile and colourful; they fly in eccentric patterns to avoid capture. They begin their lives as caterpillars, blindly eating whatever is in front of them, and they use this hunger as the energy to metamorphose. By imagining psyche as butterfly, we learn something about it; we have a sense of the essential resistance of psyche to being captured. We can make sense of its hunger, and understand that this hunger is fuel for a need to transform. Examining the image of the butterfly gives a deeper understanding of psyche. The dictionary definitions of psyche have a poetry of their own, particularly the ones that refer to recognisable images. Breath as an image for the psyche suggests something that is both within us, intimately contained in our 1 See for example the essay "The Transcendental Function" in Jung: 1971: p273-300. Jung suggests that creatively mediating the 0 conflict between archetypal characters allows a new way of being to emerges in the psyche in the form of a new symbol. That the psyche does this of its own accord, he decribes as "the transcendental function".

The theory of four disunited psychic functions is critiqued. In accordance with Augustine’s theory of the Trinity as the prototype for the human soul, a unitive triadic structure is proposed. Intuition is not a separate psychic function. It is a triadic synthesis that brings wholeness of self and unity of consciousness.

Keywords: triadic psychic structure, intuition, feeling, wholeness, trinity, C. G. Jung, St Augustine, Mark Solms.

We were supposed to receive the university response by the 24th of March, after a delay requested by the university and agreed by you. In accordance with your regulations, we are supposed to receive the material as you get it, in order to respond. However, it is now the 28th of March and we still have heard nothing from you.
Ofer

Hello Ofer and Anat
Thank you for your emails. I am sorry about the delay in replying and I apologise for not updating you earlier about your complaints. Unfortunately, the University has been unable to reply by the deadline and I have given another extension until the end of this week. I know that your complaints are very important to you and that the issues you have raised are complex and that there is a considerable amount of background information that we need to obtain from the University. We are also experiencing delays across the higher education sector because of the current lockdown in England and Wales. As a result of this and because you have previously had complaints with us, we are treating your cases as urgent. This means they will be allocated to one of our Adjudication Team for review much faster than other cases received at the same time, at the current time it can take up to six months for some cases to be allocated for review. So although the University is taking longer than expected to send the information we have asked for any delay will be minimal. Once I have received the information from the University I will check it and forward it to you to provide any further comments that you want to make. You will then be contacted by the Adjudicator that picks up your case for review.

Shouldn't Science be Scientific?  - at least "theoretically???

Jung's Mars Prophecy and Extreme Escapism

A journalist's question to Carl Jung: Do you think that, in twenty years, anyone will care about the spirit of symbols, fully in the era of interplanetary journeys, with the Sputniks, the Gagarins, and the Shephards? Will not the spirit come to appear passé? Dr. Jung smiles cunningly and states: “Sooner or later man will have to return to himself, even if from the stars. All this that is happening now is an extreme form of escapism, because it is easier to reach Mars than to find oneself. If man doesn’t find himself, then he faces the greatest of dangers: his own annihilation.

On February 18, 2021, five days ago, this was a highlight in international news: "The new NASA Mars rover, Perseverance, lands on the Red Planet on February 18, 2021—and we'll be following every step of the way. Adding to our rich history of working with NASA and covering their planetary exploration missions, join us online for these free events celebrating and following Perseverance's landing and work on Mars." (https://www.exploratorium.edu/)
So, here we are – exactly as Jung predicted. As I point out later, “we” have no proper categorization of types of spirituality. As I point out also is that what little research and studies have been done are kept out of the hands of mainstream psychology – which is a primary reason why a number of psychologists and neuroscientists have incredibly twisted ideas about spirituality – because they know nothing about people who have spiritual experiences. On a neuroscience FB site one neuroscientist talked about “giant Cosmic Parrots!”  So - “We” have a science of psychology that – for better row rose – has been shaped by a fallacy – literally. And there is no doubt in mind that “we” now face our “greatest of danger” - our “own annihilation.”

This paper examines the current relevance of Thus Spoke Zarathustra in terms of its potential as a counter-movement to nihilism 'now.' Nietzsche's idea of nihilism is an indispensable philosophical contribution, but one which needs to be considered critically in light of recent developments. Philosophers such as Gianni Vattimo have proposed heterodox readings of Nietzsche in order to "update" his work on nihilism, while others, such as Jean-François Lyotard, have turned away from him entirely in favour of other thinkers and writers believed to maintain more relevance for the contemporary context. What such philosophers reject as outmoded in Nietzsche's thought is the apparent attempt to replace the position vacated by God with something thought still too closely to resemble God (whether a new myth, religion, or metaphysics). If any of Nietzsche's works would seem to be so outmoded, surely it would be Zarathustra, with its evangelical style and its apparent ambition to create a new mythology. Against this tendency, this paper seeks to delineate how this great and mysterious work continues to have relevance for the problem of nihilism today. In order to explain why the apparently archaic symbolism of Zarathustra remains relevant, I draw on a speculative naturalist (as defined by Brian Leiter) interpretation of Jungian analytical psychology, according to which our drives to interpret the world as meaningful are deeply rooted, inherited traits disposed towards forms of life meaningful in hunter-gatherer societies. These drives are effectuated through symbols derived from the natural world. Nihilism on this view is not only the result of a breakdown of cultural structures of meaning with a roughly two-and-a-half-thousand year history, but of a radical disconnect between far more "primitive" drives for meaning and contemporary values and lifestyles. From this perspective, Zarathustra can be seen as engaging archetypes through the plethora of symbols it deploys, as studied by Jung in his Zarathustra seminars in the 1930s. Various recent interpreters (such as Patricia Dickson and Lucy Huskinson) have followed Jung in proposing that Nietzsche tried to overcome nihilism through a redeployment of archetypal symbols towards a holistic integration of opposites in the Self. Yet this interpretation seems to accent what remains a fundamentally religious experience, and thus what Lyotard, Vattimo and others have seen as outdated in Zarathustra. I propose an alternative inflection of the Jungian reading which follows the many interpreters who have emphasied the parodic nature of Zarathustra: while the text engages the reader at a deep, archetypal level, its parodic function works to subvert the well-worn paths of our drives to meaning towards sacred transcendence, and deflects them towards investing a Godless existence without meaning or goal. Exitless nothingness Despite several weighty academic studies, Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains the most mysterious and unsettling of Nietzsche's books. Robert B. Pippin notes that there is "nothing close to a standard reading of the work's intention, form, development, resolution, or lack of resolution,"

The psychologists, William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen, unequivocally state in their article, Spirituality, religion and health: an emerging field of research, that “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” This is a core argument of the Academic Materialist Doctrine, which I encounter quite often in posting on FB psychology, religion, and neuroscience groups. Frequently I get told I can’t talk about spirt or spirituality until I prove the existence of “spirit” or “God!”
So, the question is, “Is it possible at all, in any way, to prove “God” as Academic Materialists demand – especially in light of the fact that the Academic Materialist don’t provide a definition (since it is impossible, of course!) 

It is the Definist Fallacy that is actually the reason why all the spiritual schools of thought were sidelined and marginalized -the separation of church and state is a straw man for the academic materialists - keeping all knowledge about spirituality such as the spirituality in grieving, recovering addicts. awe-wonder, and so on etc because of separation of church and state is Horses*t.

What possible reasonable excuse is that for that??

To get my list of the categorization of types of spirituality, I had to search different schools - like the grief school of psychology, and adolescence, or recovering addicts, not to mention the spirituality of autistics - because they weren't in any "psychology of spirituality and religion books. Academic Materialism is so repressive no proper categorization of types of spirituality has been done.

Think about it! What possible reasonable "reason" could there be for restricting facts and information about the spirituality of grieving, the spirituality of recovering addicts, the spirituality involved in depression, the spirituality of adolescents, the well-proven spirituality of awe-wonder, the spirituality of nature, or the spirituality of autistics out of mainstream psychology??  That is what is happening!

I have a letter from US Senator Van Hollen which I got after warning the embassies of the allies in March 2017 that we were in a historical cycle similar to Athens after they defeated the Persians and bullied, threatened and intimidated their allies. In July 2020 the allies intelligence leaked that Trump had called Prime Minister May a "fool" and German Chancellor Merkel "stupid."  I tried to talk to Towson University chair of psychology but Munro sent me an email stating unequivocally that not one psychology professor in his entire department who would be interested in spirituality in and shape form or fashion! So, mainstream psychology teaches NOTHING about the spirituality of people - at all!

the letter from U.S Senator Van Hollen is posted on my website:  https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/

The purpose of this qualitative research is to describe how therapists are responding to ‘existential, religious and spiritual problems’ when presented in therapy. This Master’s Thesis shows the range of issues and experiences clients bring into therapy that might be described as a spiritual crisis. This research examines what factors determine the way therapists respond; Is it due to theoretical orientation, cultural influences, countertransference, personal experience, personal beliefs about the subject, religious upbringing, training or a combination of factors. It  shows the usefulness of being open to listening to and addressing existential, spiritual and religious themes in therapy and the potential of facilitating the resolution and integration of these issues.

Vá diretamente para o texto do artigo Resumo Este trabalho objetivou colocar em diálogos dois processos que têm como fonte comum o Esoterismo. O primeiro, Imaginação Ativa, foi criado por C. G. Jung no âmbito de sua abordagem científica: a psicologia analítica; e o segundo, Criação Mental, foi desenvolvido por Harvey Spencer Lewis e situa-se no âmbito dos saberes tradicionais, no caso, o Rosacrucianismo da Antiga e Mística Ordem Rosacruz (AMORC). O método escolhido para o diálogo foi a Mediação Ativa Transdisciplinar (MAT). Como resultado do processo, observou-se que existem semelhanças entre as diferentes abordagens; ambas, todavia, promovem o bem-estar pessoal. Palavras-chaves: imaginação ativa, criação mental, rosacrucianismo, psicologia analítica, transdisciplinaridade. Carl Gustav Jung's Active Imagination and H. S. Lewis's Mental Creation: A Brief Comparative Study Abstract This paper creates a dialogue between two processes that have Esoterism as their common source. The first, Active Imagination, was created by Carl Gustav Jung as part of his scientific approach to analytical psychology; and the second, Mental Creation, was developed by Harvey Spencer Lewis, and is within the scope of traditional knowledge, in this case, the Rosicrucianism of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC). The method chosen for this dialogue is Transdisciplinary Active Mediation (TAM). As a result of this process, readers will note that there are similarities between the different approaches, both of which promote personal well-being. L'imagination active de Carl Gustav Jung et la création mentale de H. S. Lewis : une brève étude comparative

"Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real,”- Niels Bohr

Spirituality, Consciousness, Perspective: Starting with the last chapter, with my warning to the FBI in 10-30-20 about the Nashville Bombing of 12-30-2020 and going backwards to the beginning of my spiritual journey and quest quest in 1981 with the notarized exceptionally detailed What a Nightmare Warning-Spiritual-Psychic Experience and Mustard Seed Revelation, I cover a range of questions and issues from the ignorance and intolerance of academic materialists and misconceptions and dumb stereotypes which abound and need to be cleared out before any serious intelligent discussion can be had, to the theory centered on the Distress Factor as one possible underlying cause of spiritual experiences, a brief sketch of some different types of spirituality with reflections relative to the types of spirituality identified by Corinthians (wisdom, knowledge, judgment, prophecy, etc), as well as a brief sum of experiences by Park and Paloutzian, and also an ultra-brief overview of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, and William James,  as well as Quantum Physics and Niels Bohr observation that "Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real,” and lastly, some of the real world limitations of precognition. 

What might surprise many, is that I, personally, do not identify with being “psychic” and though as a result of my experiences I concluded that there is a transcendental Intelligence [God] – though I believe it is presumptuous to talk about God, I also do not identify with a Transcendental or other-worldly Force – but I view spirit and spirituality as creativity, Drive & Life Force. I love artists and identify with the spirituality of artists since my writing involves, besides rational analysis a lot creativity, imagination, an innovation. Also, as a result of long years (decades actually) I do believe that the Mustard Seed spiritual-psychic experiences is an expression of the Holy Spirit and that the Holy spirit is real – and in my view integrated to some extent or another in the Collective Consciousness. Lastly when I came across Christ’s statement in John 23 “Yet a time is coming……….. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The concepts of “Spirt and truth” can embrace in one way or another just about any ideology, for the record.  I should probably begin with the most recent spiritual-psychic experience in an email sent to FBI agent McElwee

Preface: "Even a quick perusal of the psychological literature in general and research in the psychology of religion in particular demonstrates the need for comprehensive theories . Empirical studies abound, but they are widely scattered, poorly integrated, and more often than not lacking an overreaching theoretical framework (see Spence 1994). (p. 101  Crystal L. Park and Raymond F. Paloutzian, Handbook Of The Psychology Of Religion And Spirituality, Second Edition  Guilford Press 2013) From my research, it appears clear that William James, Viktor Frankl, and Carl Jung had the best assessments of spiritual and religious beliefs. Each had their own personal spiritual experiences which without doubt helped them greatly in understanding spirituality and religion.
                     
The "Supernatural Twilight Zone" stereotypes of spirituality abound in today’s society. However, when you get out - like I did, and talk with people, you find that, by far, most spiritual people are actually relatively level-headed and down to earth. For instance, when I asked people of different religions, the simple question, "How do you view spirituality?" I was very surprised to find some remarkable similarities in responses form people of different religions. That is, in many religious beliefs, including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism religious people often view the spirituality of a person as depending on a person's talents - and life circumstances. I find that the Hindu idea of "Dharma" in the context of each person having a personal and individual "cosmic destiny"  as a reflection of their personality, culture, and experiences and life circumstances very appropriate.