And So We Begin..."2010 The Great C.G. Jung Project"

Over the past few days I've been reading the Red Book and Jung's autobiography of sorts, Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Let's start with the Red Book. It is a large, bigger than standard coffee table tome, with copies of Jung's journal. I know that sounds pretty boring and it probably would be if it was my journal but it is not. This is the journal of the genius mind of C.G. Jung. The journal that contained his inner work at a time when he was having what I might think of as a psycho/spiritual crisis. The psychologist call it psychosis - but we'll quibble about that later (come on now, the man was a mystic). The images in this journal appear to be written in a script like an ancient manuscript. When you open it, you find it illuminated throughout with Jung's paintings or symbolic images that appear both mythic and primitive at the same time, and yet are so imaginative that you can only hope he will share the story that goes with it. When I opened it to the first page, I started screaming, "He's doing 'active imagination!' He's doing 'active imagination!'" (You can see how easy it is to excite me.)

Active imagination, for those who don't know, is a technique of Jung's where he imagines conversing with different parts of himself or archetypes. I can tell he's doing it in the first page because it's written in German but I can see it's like dialogue. Hence, my excitement.

My main criticism with the book is that it is difficult to use. The English translation is in the back and it would really be desirable to have it next to the German images so you can actually "follow" it. I'm sure someone will come up with a paperback translation of the text to use with the big Red Book. But until then, I guess I will move gently back and forth throughout the book.

That's all for tonight, except to say that I strongly recommend you read the NY Times story about the publication of the Red Book, "The Holy Grail of the Unconscious," and equally as fascinating is the YouTube video "The Making of the Red Book." Alternatively, listen to Professor Sonu Shamdasani as he Introduces The Red Book. In this video clip you are able to see many of Jung's illustrations. Happy reading!