Kelly Cari

Introduction

Carl Gustav Jung

Carl Gustav Jung, the father of analytical psychology, is one of the most important historical figures in psychology. To this day he is positioned among Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Wilhelm Wundt and even Albert Einstein. Jung was a complex and controversial man for his time. He usually wrote with ambiguity, so as to not show that he had the answer to everything. Jung would give his say and yet it always seemed as if he were not closing himself off to the possibilities of change.

An exemplary example of this has to do with Jung’s writings and his avoidance to writing of the occult. Even though Jung could not find scientific evidence to many of the occult phenomena, he would not write it off. An example of this is shown when he wrote about archetypes and spirits: he would not go into deep details.  This was most likely due to the fact that he was a “man of science” and there were no ways for him to be able to validate the concepts.

However, this did not stop him from studying parapsychology and the occult. This even brought him close to one of the leading men in parapsychology, Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, the cofounder of the first laboratory of parapsychology to be exact. His interest in the occult never wavered and persisted throughout his life, up until the day he died.

Jung’s Developing Interest in Parapsychology and the Occult

Jung gained interest in parapsychology while he was studying at the University of Basel. Even though his interest was deepened here, he had had prior experiences with the paranormal. His parents were quite the influence on this aspect of Jung’s life. His father, Johannes Jung, was a very religious man, being a pastor, and his mother, Emilie Preiswerk, always seemed to be surrounded by the spirituality of the occult. On Jung’s father’s side of the family, they all came from a religious background, even his uncles were ministers. One specific experience he had was when he was younger with his aunt, Helene Preiswerk. He had conducted spiritualistic experiments with her and was present to various spiritual séances.

Family Influence: These familiar influences had a major influence on his upbringing. However he also became interested in the occult due to his own experiences related to this topic, as well as discussed the influence of his mother’s side of the family. His grandparents and mother practiced spiritualism. There is a rumor in which his last secretary Aniela Jaffe said that Jung’s mother had special qualities and demonstrated great interest for the supernatural (Las Heras, 1983). It is also said that Jung’s maternal grandmother, Augusta Preiswerk, had the ability of clairvoyance. Another paranormal occurrence in Jung’s family happened when Augusta Preiswerk was 18 years of age and got extremely sick after taking care of a brother of hers who was infected by scarlet fever and was dead for 36 hours. However, her mother (Jung’s great-grandmother) did not believe that her daughter was dead, so she placed an iron on her head. This had somehow miraculously brought her back to life. Going back to Carl Jung, it can be said that perhaps he inherited a certain sensitivity or ability towards the paranormal. This being because of all of the various “visions” Jung himself experienced and wrote about.

Jung himself affirmed that there were two things in his life that kept him near the study of the paranormal. The first one being a psychokinetic experience in which greatly influenced his life, and secondly, the fact that his mother attributed a great significance that transcended incidences of this nature. Basically, Jung was not only inclined to the unknown for his own scientific curiosity, but he was also inclined due to his own personal experiences in the field.

The Later Years: In Jung’s later years, he became absorbed with the ancient cosmologies and spent a considerable amount of time analyzing Gnostic, alchemical, and mystical systems of thought (Drury, 1992). According to the Dictionary of Mysticism and the Esoteric Traditions, Gnostic, signifies those who believe in a “higher spiritual knowledge”.

While Jung was still a student, he read various works on occultism and attended Spiritualist séances. The paper that formed the basis for Jung’s doctoral thesis was written in 1902: Zur Psychologie und Pathologie sogenannter occulter Phänomene (On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena). This was basically based on his experiences with his aunt Helene.

Before a deeper discussion on Jung’s point of view on parapsychology, paranormal phenomena, and the occult is brought into light, there must be a clear concept of what in fact is considered to be part of and fall under the parapsychological criteria.

Parapsychology

What is Parapsychology?

According to the Dictionary of Mysticism and the Esoteric Traditions, parapsychology is the scientific study of paranormal phenomena. This includes mental telepathy, precognition, extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, and the out-of-body experience (Drury, 1992).

Telepathy: Telepathy has to do with the art of communication that is communicated from one mind to another, by extrasensory means. Mind reading is just another way of naming telepathy, though telepathy also implies sending ones thoughts into “another persons head”.

Precognition: This term is utilized to define the knowledge of what will happen beforehand. In other words, a certain individual or groups of people can foresee an event that is about to happen before it does. This can be conveyed in visions or in dreams.

An example of this is a book called the “Futility” written by Morgan Robertson. This book is about a sailor who works as a lookout on a ship called the “Titan.” This fictional ship strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks with a high toll of lost lives. What is strange about this little tale is the amazing similarities between the real “Titanic” and the fictional “Titan”. The book was written 14 years before the actual sinking of the non-fictional Titanic.

ESP: Short for extrasensory perception was coined by Dr. J.B. Rhine. This is a global term of all that falls under perception (as in telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition) which involves awareness of information of all events external to the self. This cannot be gained through the senses and cannot be deductible from previous experience.

Psychokinesis: Deals with the movement of physical objects made by the mind, this cannot include the use of physical movements. In other words, the object must be moved by an individual or group of people’s minds.

Clairvoyance: Has to do with the power and facility to discern objects that are not present to the 5 senses, the range of ordinary perception.

Dr. Joseph B. Rhine

Father of Modern Parapsycholgy

Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine is considered the father of modern parapsychology. Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine was born on September 29, 1895 and he passed away on February 20, 1980. He was a botanist who later developed an interest in parapsychology and psychology, which then in turn made him an American psychical researcher. Dr. Rhine co-founded the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in 1935 with Dr. William McDougall. Both Dr. Rhine and Dr. McDougall contributed by being the first to utilize the word, parapsychology. Also, as stated above, Dr. Rhine was the first to Coin the term ESP- Extras Sensory Perception. In addition to the coining of terms, Dr. Rhine founded the Journal of Parapsychology.

Through the parapsychology lab at Duke Dr. Rhine lectured on mainstream psychological topics. The phenomena Dr. Rhine investigated were interesting to him because they seemed to fall outside the usual framework of physics. Dr. Rhine said that the phenomena of parapsychology did not follow the laws of classical (Newtonian) physics. Whereas when it came to Quantum mechanics, which was scarcely known by anyone outside theoretical physics back in the day, seems to hold the answers to the inexplicable; which is why nowadays Quantum physics might appear to require that parapsychological phenomena exist.

Dr. Rhine had worked on his acclaimed ESP experiments in the parapsychological lab at Duke, which Carl Jung comments on in a few of his works, such as Jung’s Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, where he states that Rhine’s ESP work is important to him. Eventually he and Carl Jung were actually introduced, which then sparked an academic relationship between the two, trying to find answers by communicating with one another and offering insight from each other’s point of views.

Jung and Rhine

Carl Jung and Dr. Rhine both attended a lunch party in New York in October, 1937 that they were invited to. Both had the same publisher, John Farrar, who had arranged the meeting. They conversed for two hours, and exchanged ideas, one of which will be expressed later on.

According to a helping hand at the parapsychology lab, Rhea White, who was an assistant had expressed that Rhine had said that when it came to parapsychology, Jung “was not very helpful”.  The reason for this is because Jung had a different approach to the situation. He was more theoretical, whereas Rhine was more focused on completing actual lab experiments.

Afterward they met they exchanged letters which continued their exchange of academic information and points of views. These letters turned into a sensation afterwards, being published in two volumes of Jung’s and some are still in Rhine’s archives. In some of those letters Rhine was asking Jung about his theory of synchronicity. Rhine was dumbfounded on this theory, since it was hard for him to understand the concept and idea of acausal connections. More of this will be explained when Jung’s synchronicity is discussed.

William Sloane: Both Jung and Rhine also had a mutual editor, William Sloane, who also attended this lunch party and wrote a letter to his father describing the events that followed. Within the letter he explained that Jung had brought up the topic of Rhine’s account of his ESP work on prophecy.

Rhine and Jung had once had a discussion where Jung would question futurity, this being presented by Rhine’s account of his ESP work on prophecy.  This brings Jung’s own metaphysics which states that “There is a Common Unconsciousness, which in each of us is concentrated into our individual unconsciousness.” (Sloane, 1975). “Jung went on to talk about the ability of the Unconscious to telescope time and space under certain liberating conditions, thus making possible the phenomena of telekinesis, psycho-kinesis, or call it what you will.” (Sloane, 1975). However Jung clarified to Rhine and to the rest of the guests of that lunch party that perhaps for example, a prophetic dream is real, however it is most likely not for the here or now, or this time and place. So it is basically evident that Rhine and Jung had profound educational discussions focusing on the paranormal and scientific study of such alternative theories.

William Sloane also stated that Jung was quite intrigued with not only astrology, but the Chinese method of divination that he termed “rune sticks”. According William Sloane (1975), Jung held both methods to have something in common, this being that they both represented another sort of science. These both fall into the division of “the Chinese fortune-telling sticks and the arbitrary star descriptions and locations of the astrologers are a method of fixing an event in time and holding its pattern for examination.” (Sloane, 1975).

Jung believed that this science was not about how something happened, if not the significance of that something that happened. This also counted with its relation to the future which cannot be causal either. This crosses into one of Jung’s most debated theories: Synchronicity.

Synchronicity

Synchronicity denotes a seemingly significant coincidence in time of two or more events that are related but not casually connected. Such as dreams that correspond to an external event, friends or relatives with similar thoughts, dreams, or experiences at the same time. Synchronicity, as an explicative theory, applies to phenomena from the area of parapsychology, prevision and premonition, to the I Ching (specific method of consulting the Oracle of Changes), to astrology and many other borderline fields.

This concept was inspired to Jung by a patient’s case. One night, this particular patient dreamt about a golden scarab – cetonia aurata. The next day, during the psychotherapy session, a real golden scarab was hitting Jung’s cabinet window. This was a very rare event, especially in the weather that they were in. It was all about the coincidence in which this case was between the scarab dreamt by the patient and its appearance in reality, in the psychotherapy cabinet; however this coincidence is not senseless (which for it to be synchronicity it can never be senseless).

Synchronicity’s Pertinence in Parapsychology: Lately there is debate on whether synchronicity should not pertain to the field of parapsychology. On contraire to many Jungian followers, there are three researchers who believe that synchronicity does not in fact pertain to parapsychological phenomena. These researchers include Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall, who defend the distinction between parapsychological phenomena and Jung’s synchronicity.

Jung’s synchronicity denoted that no causal connections existed between the inner psychological states and the outer material events: no inner states cause the outer events, or vice versa. There seems to be no “causal agents” in synchronicity, which implies that there cannot be any casual links of any kind, if there is then the event was not synchronistic.

Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall let us know that parapsychological phenomena commonly accompany synchronicity phenomena; however on the contrary, there are many synchronicity experiences without parapsychoogical phenomena.

“Both Rhine and Jung were united by their strong interest in the psyche’s ability to transcend the usual boundaries of time and space, although these two independent thinkers arrived at this common area of interest from different routes and perspectives” (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather & Hall, 1998). Even so, Rhine did not fully understand Jung’s concept of synchronicity.

Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall state that even though parapsychological phenomena and synchronicity fall under acausal connections, synchronicity only falls within meaningful connections. Also within acausal connections, parapsychological phenomena and quantum phenomena fall under constant and reproducible, whereas meaningful connections of synchronicity fall under sporadic creation.

Synchronicity is a creative, spontaneous, and acausal expression of meaning by the unitary ground underlying matter and psyche and not “produced by subject” (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall, 1998). Even though Jung’s categorizes parapsychological phenomena as synchronistic, this does not fully consistent with his own definition of synchronicity as acasual connection through meaning; where meaning is an expression for the self in individuation (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall, 1998). This is especially since he somewhat includes psycho kinesis and ESP into the area of synchronicity.

There was some doubt when Jung classified synchronicity as a type of parapsychological phenomena because of the lack of archetypal meaning in laboratory parapsychology. Jung also points out that synchronistic and parapsychological phenomena both have an impossibility about them, which makes them similar. However, he says they are different because synchronicity is based on an archetypal foundation whereas Rhine’s experiments had no evidence of the usage of archetypes. Hence, Jung had a different approach to parapsychology.

To summarize Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall’s point of view, they wanted to state that synchronicity is more sporadic, making it less reliable and regular then the study of standardized lab tested parapsychological phenomena.

Jung and the Occult

Jung also consulted the Chinese oracle the I Ching, especially the translation made by Richard Wilhelm. “The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to discard anything, Jung wrote, “Even when it goes against all our theories (so short-lived at best) or otherwise admits of no immediate explanation.” Other than the range of precognition and spirits, Jung was also interested in Alchemy and even UFOs.

Alchemy

Jung became interested in alchemy due to some dreams he had been having, in which later on he described to be a sort of interpretation of the study of alchemy. He believed that the dreams where coming from his unconscious that would reveal itself, showing its interest for the study of medieval alchemy.

In 1944 Jung published Psychology and Alchemy in which he argues that the symbolism of alchemy is directly related to the psychoanalytical process. To Jung, alchemy is a symbolic representation of the individuation process.

Alchemy is most well known as the philosophy and practice in which there is a desire to find the way to transform materials into gold or silver, the creation of the “elixir of life” to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely, and the discovery of a universal solvent. Alchemists are also known for their aim of achieving ultimate wisdom and immortality.

However, to Jung, alchemy is not the transformation of material lead into gold, if not instead the transformation of the human soul on its path to perfection. Lead is just a symbol for the impure soul and gold is a symbol for the perfected soul.

For about ten whole years, Jung decrypted many alchemic terms, such as prima materia, unus mundus, filium philosophorum,and Mercurius are just some of them. During those years of study, Jung accumulated some of the rarest and finest alchemic books in the world, to then belong to his private collection of books.

UFOs

Yes, Jung even wrote on UFO’s. Jung was studying UFOs for about 12 years before he published his book Flying Saucers in 1958. Jung’s primary question throughout this book was whether UFOs are real or if they are mere products of fantasy which are psychically projected. Although he claimed to explore the question with an open mind, he did not believe that UFO’s exist in our reality. Jung connected UFOs with archetypal imagery, concluding that they have become a “modern living myth” He leaves the impression that the UFO phenomenon exists as a projection of our collective psyche.

There is an article, titled A Visionary Rumour, Jung himself writes about UFOs. Here he states that “Ufo reports may seem to the skeptical mind to be rather like a story”. Since these are usually expressed in the form of visions, he calls this a “visionary rumour”.

Jung also reminds us that circles are traditionally utilized in human history as a symbol for gods. So basically “on the level of antiquity, therefore, the Ufos could easily be conceived as ‘gods’”.  It is fairly known that Jung liked and believed in wholes and totality. A circle is a whole. UFOs are usually viewed as cylindrical or circular; hence they are “impressive manifestations of totality whose simple, round form portrays the archetype of the self”.

Jung lets us know that this must UFOs must be treated primarily as a psychological phenomenon and that UFOs cannot be disposed of in a simple manner. This is because then he states that UFOs have not only been perceived visually, for they have also been picked up on radar screens and have been photographed. So he concludes this as nothing more than having these psychic projections throw back a radar echo, or that the appearance of real objects affords an opportunity for mythological projections. Here, Jung remarks that “even if the Ufos are physically real, the corresponding psychic projections are not actually caused, but are only occasioned, by them.”

Summarizing, Carl Jung believed that “Ufos are possibly real material phenomena of an unknown nature which have long been visible to mankind”. He also reminds us that this has no recognizable connection with the planet earth and its inhabitants.

Jung and Freud

It is widely known that Freud took in Jung as his disciple, making him his mentor. However, Jung and Freud’s relationship became strained. It is said that what helped this strain was the paranormal phenomena that occurred in the presence of Freud. These occurrences included two episodes in which Freud fainted in the presence of Jung.

Freud was not as infatuated in the occult as Jung was; hence their views differed. Jung eventually went on his own way as a result of what he regarded as Freud’s over-emphasis on sexual theories and opposition to these occult ideas. Jung’s break with Freudian theory was marked by a paper on ‘Symbols of the Libido’ in 1913.

The point is that this break-up caused a six-year mental breakdown for Carl Jung, in which he withdrew from analytical analysis. Jung recorded these years in The Red Book. Within this breakdown he had fantasies of great floods sweeping over northern Europe, which are believed to be prophetic visions of World War I.

To further understand their break up, there could have been an event in which also helped part the two intellectuals. During the spring of 1909, Jung visited Freud in Vienna and asked his opinion on precognition and parapsychology. Freud rejected these matters in a way that upset Jung, which in turn gave Jung a burning sensation in his diaphragm while Freud was leaving the room and a very loud crack came from a bookcase next to them. Jung then told Freud that this is a perfect example of paranormal phenomenon. Freud was still a skeptic, so then Jung predicted that soon there would be another loud noise. He was right; a second loud crack came from the same place. Freud freaked out and this incident raised his mistrust towards Jung.

Conclusion

Jung’s General Point of View

According to the Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, Jung made various occult ideas a valid study within the framework of psychology. Jung’s analytical psychology emphasized the importance of symbols in the spiritual journey of the individual psyche through life, and proposed a collective unconscious as well as a personal unconscious. Jung distinguished archetypal symbols which had a universal application in human experience, as well as symbols appearing in waking or dreaming life with special significance for the individual.

It seems as if Jung was very open to the fact that there is something else out there. However, when it came to actually writing about them in his theories, he seems to be hesitant because he wanted to stay within the confines of science. If he were to stray too far, he would have to find scientific proof. However, since parapsychology and the occult fell under the concepts that had yet to have a hundred percent secure scientific proof, he could not just put them out there without that concrete proof.

Personal Opinion

I also believe that for his historical time, Jung was a very open psychologist. He was still confined by science though; however, he still made an attempt to bring out the paranormal in his works and writings, perhaps trying to open up the academic world to the acceptance of these concepts. I especially find the openness when Jung came out with his published book on flying saucers. He also seemed to place his own twist in parapsychology, including his theories on archetypes, synchronicity and the individualization process.

In other words, Jung was very open minded overall. He believed in the occult and wanted to find answers but since it was hard to find these answers his point of view wasn’t very clear.  He didn’t want to get too personal either because, as mentioned, he always had this feeling of obligation to stay on the scientific side of view, so truth be told, Jung’s point of view in parapsychology can be perceived as quite fuzzy.

I also believe that there is a lot more research to be done in this specific field, especially with the new technology that we have nowadays, and perhaps Jung and Rhine’s theories will finally have an answer.

References

Colman A.M. (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University

Press.

Drury N. (1992). Dictionary of Mysticism and the Esoteric Traditions. ABC-Clio Inc.

Jung, C. (1959). A visionary rumour. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 45-19.

Las Heras, A. (1983). Estructura de la psique según Carl G. Jung. Buenos Aires, : Enrique

Santiago Rueda Editor.

Mansfield, V., Rhine-Feather, S., & Hall, J. (1998). The Rhine–Jung letters: Distinguishing

parapsychological from synchronistic events. Journal of Parapsychology, 62(1), 3-25.

Shepard, L.A. (1984). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (2^nd ed.). Vol. 2. Gale

Group, Inc.

Sloane, W. (1975). Jung and Rhine. The Journal of the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical

Psychology, 2(8), 73-75.

Jung’s synchronicity denoted that no causal connections existed between the inner psychological states and the outer material events: no inner states cause the outer events, or vice versa. There seems to be no “causal agents” in synchronicity, which implies that there cannot be any casual links of any kind, if there is then the event was not synchronistic.

Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall let us know that parapsychological phenomena commonly accompany synchronicity phenomena; however on the contrary, there are many synchronicity experiences without parapsychoogical phenomena.

“Both Rhine and Jung were united by their strong interest in the psyche’s ability to transcend the usual boundaries of time and space, although these two independent thinkers arrived at this common area of interest from different routes and perspectives” (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather & Hall, 1998)p.14. Even so, Rhine did not fully understand Jung’s concept of synchronicity.

Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall state that even though parapsychological phenomena and synchronicity fall under acausal connections, synchronicity only falls within meaningful connections. Also within acausal connections, parapsychological phenomena and quantum phenomena fall under constant and reproducible, whereas meaningful connections of synchronicity fall under sporadic creation.

Synchronicity is a creative, spontaneous, and acausal expression of meaning by the unitary ground underlying matter and psyche and not “produced by subject” (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall, 1998). Even though Jung’s categorizes parapsychological phenomena as synchronistic, this does not fully consistent with his own definition of synchronicity as acasual connection through meaning; where meaning is an expression for the self in individuation (Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall, 1998).p18. This is especially since he somewhat includes psycho kinesis and ESP into the area of synchronicity.

There was some doubt when Jung classified synchronicity as a type of parapsychological phenomena because of the lack of archetypal meaning in laboratory parapsychology. Jung also points out that synchronistic and parapsychological phenomena both have an impossibility about them, which makes them similar. However, he says they are different because synchronicity is based on an archetypal foundation whereas Rhine’s experiments had no evidence of the usage of archetypes. Hence, Jung had a different approach to parapsychology.

In conclusion, Mansfield, Rhine-Feather and Hall wanted to state that synchronicity is more sporadic, making it less reliable and regular then the study of standardized lab tested parapsychological phenomena.

Reference:

Mansfield, V., Rhine-Feather, S., Hall, J. (1998). The Rhine-Jung Letters: Distinguishing Parapsychological From Synchronistic Events. The Journal of Parapsychology. 62, 3-25.



Yup, Jung even studied flying saucers! I found this to be intriguing, since I have never heard of another imminent scholar have any points of views on anything that was out of the framework of science. Jung was studying UFOs for about 12 years before he published his book Flying Saucers in 1958. There is an article, titled A Visionary Rumour, which I found where Jung himself writes about UFOs. Here he states that “Ufo reports may seem to the skeptical mind to be rather like a story”. Since these are usually expressed in the form of visions, he calls this a “visionary rumour”. In this article Jung basically describes the origin and hype UFOs received, as well as the press and media coverage which helped this hype. He also goes on to explain the physical qualities that these so called unidentified flying objects possess, as well as their flight patterns. He also mentions the few stories regarding actual landings of these objects.

Jung basically crossed these sightings off as a case of collective “psychological projections”. However, he also states that for this, there must be a “psychic cause”. So, it can be said that the basis for this kind of rumour are that of emotional tension, which will then have its cause in a situation of collective distress or danger, or in a vital psychic need. Jung is known for calling these UFOs (because of all of the reports, sightings and legends) to have become a “living myth”.

Jung also reminds us that circles are traditionally utilized in human history as a symbol for gods. So basically “on the level of antiquity, therefore, the Ufos could easily be conceived as ‘gods’”.  It is fairly known that Jung liked and believed in wholes and totality. A circle is a whole. UFOs are usually viewed as cylindrical or circular; hence they are “impressive manifestations of totality whose simple, round form portrays the archetype of the self”.

Within the article, he also discusses a few dreams which were reported to him by various individuals which included UFOs and his analysis of these. Also, an analysis of UFOs in paintings is given. While he gives these stories, he lets us, the reader, know that the purpose of that essay was to “treat the Ufos primarily as a psychological phenomenon” and that Ufos cannot be disposed of in a simple manner. This is because then he states that Ufos have not only been perceived visually, for they have also been picked up on radar screens and have been photographed. So he concludes this as nothing more than having these psychic projections throw back a radar echo, or that the appearance of real objects affords an opportunity for mythological projections. Here, Jung remarks that “even if the Ufos are physically real, the corresponding psychic projections are not actually caused, but are only occasioned, by them.”

Summarizing, Carl Jung believed that “Ufos are possibly real material phenomena of an unknown nature which have long been visible to mankind”. He also reminds us that this has no recognizable connection with the planet earth and its inhabitants.

I believe Jung may have been speaking along the lines of the fact that UFOs are probably coming from our collective unconscious, to somewhat help humankind mark a change in history since, as mentioned above, the UFOs are all circular shaped (and these represent gods), then perhaps UFOs are way of letting us know there is something else out there. Or that is, a meaning for life.

Reference:

Jung, C. (1959). A visionary rumour. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 45-19.

Dr. Rhine

Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine was a distinguished American psychical researcher who co-founded the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in 1935. Rhine is often referred to as the father of parapsychology; he is also the one who coined the term parapsychology.

Jung had an immense interest with the paranormal, hence mixing the paranormal with parapsychology. According to the Dictionary of Mysticism and the Esoteric Traditions, parapsychology is the scientific study of paranormal phenomena. This includes mental telepathy, precognition, extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, and the out-of-body experience (Drury, 1992).

In his essay “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle” (1978), Carl Jung repeatedly mentioned Dr. Rhine’s experiments and how important they were to him. There are also letters that were written between the two scholars. not only did Rhine and lab colleagues correspond with Jung, they also did with Einstein.

I was searching for a more concrete relation between Rhine and Jung and came upon a writing in which William Sloane relates to us a dinner he had attended with both Dr. Rhine and Carl Jung. It stated that Jung was quite intrigued with not only astrology, but the Chinese method of divination that he termed “rune sticks”.

According William Sloane (1975), Jung held both methods to have something in common, this being that they both represented another sort of science. These both fall into the division of “the Chinese fortune-telling sticks and the arbitrary star descriptions and locations of the astrologers are a method of fixing an event in time and holding its pattern for examination.” (Sloane, 1975). Jung believed that this science was not about how something happened, if not the significance of that something that happened. This also counted with its relation to the future which cannot causal either.

Rhine and Jung had once had a discussion where Jung would question futurity, this being presented by Rhine’s account of his ESP work on prophecy.  This brings Jung’s own metaphysics which states that “There is a Common Unconsciousness, which in each of us is concentrated into our individual unconsciousness.” (Sloane, 1975).

“Jung went on to talk about the ability of the Unconscious to telescope time and space under certain liberating conditions, thus making possible the phenomena of telekinesis, psycho-kinesis, or call it what you will.” (Sloane, 1975).

So it is basically evident that Rhine and Jung had profound educational discussions focusing on the paranormal and scientific study of such alternative theories. I believe that there is a lot more research to be done in this specific field, especially with the new technology that we have nowadays, and perhaps Jung and Rhine’s theories will finally have an answer.

References:

Sloane, W. (1975). Jung and Rhine. Quadrant: The Journal of the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology 8( 2), 73-75.

In one of Jung’s’ writings, he has stated that “homosexuality ought not to be a concern of legal authorities” (p.66). I believe that Hopcke realized that this fragment of Jung’s writing gives a deep insight on Jung’s point of view towards homosexuality, which so far doesn’t seem negative. Also, Hopcke deduced by this statement Jung wrote that Jung believes that “homosexuality by itself does not reduce ‘the value of the individual as a member of society’” which confirms that Jung did not see homosexuals as second rate human beings. Along with the equality he is giving homosexuals among the heterosexuals, he is also stating the usefulness of the laws against homosexuality since he finds these inhuman as well. So at least, it is known that Jung showed social tolerance for homosexuality within his writings.

However, Hopcke states that “Tolerance neither approves nor condemns; it lets be” (p.67). As mentioned above, this apparently also applies to Jung since he was a scientist, and according to Hopcke, “As a scientist, Jung had no choice but to tolerate.” (p.67). Jung also found a historical and cultural basis on the issue of homosexuality. Going back to ancient Greek times, it was quite normal and homosexuality was everywhere.  This helps give homosexuality more of a view as a psychological phenomenon. Because of this view concerning historical and cultural concepts of sexuality, Jung discerned “both positive and negative ways in which homosexuality might be viewed on an individual and collective basis.” (p.67).

Though, such as with many other modern people nowadays “Jung still appears pessimistic that such positive values can be maintained by homosexuals in such relationships within society.” (p. 68). And as Hopcke states that even though pessimism is not condemnation it isn’t support either.

Another view to add to the Jungian list is that Jung also stated that there is a type of psychological immaturity which makes homosexuality be abnormal and disturbed. Hopcke then lets us know that this attitude that Jung has, explaining homosexuality as being a type of immaturity, is because being ‘childish’ is better than being ‘sick’, as being ‘sick’ is much better than being ‘criminal’. A problem with this is that then this will automatically make psychological maturity exist and implicate that the heterosexuals are the mature ones.

Also, Jung believed in distinguishing “an individual’s homosexuality from other aspects of the individual’s personality.” (p.69). This implores that there are other aspects to the individual person other than the homosexuality factor. Making homosexuality a separate factor from the individual can create problems as well. Hopcke reminds us that Jung is dedicated to his objectivity and this is why his attitudes may not come out of simple kindheartedness or denial (p.70). Thanks to this objectivity though, Jung was “able to go beyond the social and clinical prejudices of the time” and this lead him to understanding “an individual’s whole psychology.”(p.70). However, we are reminded that everyone is different, and perhaps a person’s sexuality is not the most important component of their life, versus others who have their sexuality as “a vitally important core of their being” (p.70).

Yet another view Jung has towards homosexuality is that “an individual’s homosexuality has its own meaning peculiar to the individual in question and that psychological growth consists of becoming conscious of that meaning.” (p.71). This statement lets us know that the individual will give his or her own meaning to what homosexuality means.

Jung had also come up with his own theories on homosexuality, one of which has homosexuality as “a result of a particular relationship with the feminine.” (p.72). Hopcke explains this as a way that a person has “an unresolved dependence on the personal mother” (p. 72) and this theory includes both sexes; men and women. And because of this unresolved dependence, the individual will then project their personas to others of their same sex. This unresolved dependence would include distance between women and their mothers, and “enmeshment” between men and their mothers.  Jung includes understanding that women have become masculine due to socio-economic factors and this forces them to take up the masculine social roles instead of having a problem with their masculine side, in comparison to having men have a problem with their feminine side. Basically both female and male homosexuality are explained in the same ways by Jung.

He also has a second theory, which states that “homosexuality may be acting out an incomplete detachment from the original archetype of the hermaphrodite” (p. 75). Hopcke lets us know that “the hermaphroditic archetype is a symbol of wholeness, a symbol of the self” (p. 75). Jung’s third theory includes constitutional homosexuality. This has to do with genetic and/or biological factors. As with every other argument, there is always the nature vs. nurture factor.

As Hopcke concludes, “Jung did not hold a single attitude towards homosexuality nor did he embrace a single theory.” (p. 78).  I understand that the first and fifth attitude that Jung has towards homosexuals are the more appropriate, at least in my opinion. First of all, homosexuality shouldn’t be a legal concern, and second, I believe that each individual has a different meaning to their own homosexuality. When it comes to Jung’s three theories, I am more partial to his third theory, which discusses that homosexuality has genetic/biological factors. Though, it can also be a mix of all three theories, since not every individual seems to be born homosexual, there are some who were sure of their sexuality, until at one point in their lives, they made a switch or opened up to possibilities. So perhaps there is something more than these three Jungian theories. However, going back to the first theory discussed, I find it unnerving how it must always be the relationships with the feminine that is overpowering in both females and males that are sexually attracted to their same sexes, instead of females with the masculine and males with the feminine. But, however Jung explains this, I believe that at least for his time, he had a more open mind than many other individuals including other academic individuals, even if this is only because of his “objectivity”.

It replays how synchronotic episodes happen when emotions are involved. It speaks of the models and archetypes that are shown in dreams which help with pre-cognition and telepathy. It states that a frequent symptom that accompanies the presence of an archetype is religion. It goes really fast, I’m trying to find a better video that will be of some help to explaining Jung’s perspective on the Paranormal.

For example, when Goldenberg is explaining about how Jung had made the animus and anima seem to be masochistic, I believe that it is not like that. Why? I am a firm believer in opposites. I understand and also believe that there is nothing disrespectful about having men have anima and women having an animus to complement them. I also do not feel like Jung intended this to be as Goldenberg expresses when she states that “Jung never developed the idea of the animus to the same extent as the anima; in my view he was forcing a mirror image where there was none.” (p. 447). As I stated, I believe in opposites, and I believe that in a way men and women can never be the same, I believe that we complement each other, the way that the anima and animus do. Though when it comes to where Goldenberg states that “The anima-animus model is clearly more beneficial to men than to women.” (p. 447) I don’t see this, except for when Jung seems to limit the sexes within their own zones.

I understand that Jung was being overly stereotypical and rude when he mentions in his writings that “In women, on the other hand, Eros is an expression of their true nature, while their Logos is often only a regrettable accident.” (p. 446). Why shouldn’t women be able to also be able to utilize and have Logos? That would be the main issue in my opinion, not the fact that anima and animus is such blasphemy to these feminists. I believe that in theory, there is nothing wrong with the fact that “The animus corresponds to the paternal Logos just as the anima corresponds to the maternal Eros.” (p. 445). However, limiting each sex to each correspondent and not letting it be able to spread itself into the other sexes lives seems too extreme to me.

For example when Goldenberg says that “Admittedly, it is good to urge men who have been afraid of experiencing Eros or anima because they think it is inappropriate to their sex to develop their contrasexual element.” (p. 447). Then, as discussed above, why can’t women also be free to experience Logos? In addition to what was stated above, “It is true that Jung genuinely values woman for her remarkable and all too often overlooked Eros, but it is equally true that he confines her to this sphere. Once she moves into a Logos arena, she is not only at a great disadvantage but is behaving unnaturally as well.” (p. 445). This just strengthens the fact that Jung is definitely confining women to their “areas” whereas men are free to (and are urged to) explore every area.

Perhaps the true issue here is not what Jung theorized, but how he intend to use them, or expresses them in a way that does not expresses equality or the possibility of equality between men and women. Then again, that is how I see it.

References:

Goldenberg, N.R. (1976). A Feminist Critique of Jung. Signs, 2(2), 446-449.

To emphasize Jung’s intense interest on the East, Jung would attend an annual conference called Eranos for many years. Here, there were many scholars who would attend and “bring their own contributions.”(Pg 61). At first, during these reunions with the various scholars, there would be talk pertaining to “finding common ground between Eastern and Western thought.” However, after time, there were more themes that were integrated to the group gatherings, such as the history and psychology of religious experience. Also, as an example which proceeds from the text (also quoted from Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn) which states that “It is not the emulation of Eastern methods and teachings that is important, nor the neglecting or replacing of Western knowledge about these things, but the fact that Eastern wisdom, symbolism, and methods can help us to rediscover the spiritual values that are most distinctively our own.”. In other words, this is what Jung basically also believed in, trying to integrate Eastern thoughts and points of views, to help better understand the world in a different perspective.

However, Jung also realized and stated in a commentary he made on The Secret of the Golden Flower, that the “human psyche possesses a common substratum transcending all differences in culture and consciousness” and that “In the collective unconscious you are the same as a man of another race” (pg. 65). However, later on, I find this to be contradicted by Jung himself.

Also, Jung realized that there seems to be an opposite of everything. Hence, in a way, he is theorizing that Western and Eastern mentalities are opposite tendencies which balance each other. For instance, the Western mentality “developed and refined the extraverted aspects of the psyche” and these are “associated with rational understanding and control of the external world”, whereas, Eastern mentality “developed those psychological qualities of introversion associated with the understanding and control of the inner world” (pg 66-67).

Jung also believes that the West “has cultivated the extraverted function at the expense of the introverted.” (pg. 67). This will then create an imbalance and hostility. However, Jung also realized that the East is also one-sided in its own self. Even though both the East and the West are one-sided, Jung believed that “the West’s situation is inherently more dangerous” and this is “because in his opinion the West is going through an unprecedented spiritual crisis.” (pg. 68). This can be seen, because in the Western world, the scholars are always trying to search for a soul, or spiritual evidence; whereas in the East culture, they are very spiritual and have studied spirituality for hundreds of years.

However, in a way, it is understood that Jung, even though he wants the West to study the East, he wants the West to come up with its own ways, and not just do a “copy paste”. Instead, it is much better to be inspired by the East and “build on our own ground with our own methods” (pg76). An example given in the text is that of Yoga. Jung is somewhat forbidding Yoga as a method for Westerners to use since it will seem like the Westerners are escaping from their own problems (pg 76).

Also, with Jung’s views on the Ego, it seems that yoga crashes against what Jung believes to be healty for the Ego. The text states that “yoga was not merely the integration of the ego into the higher self, but rather a state of complete absorption in which the ego to all intents and purposes, ceases to exist.” (pg146). This would because yoga helps an individual identify with “universal consciousness” which seems to be of a total opposite to what Jung would say. This is because Jung believes that for a Westerns mind this will be no good. He uses Hitler as an example of a Western mind “whose ego became too fully identified with his unconscious” (pg 146). Jung cannot fathom an individual without an ego.

Jung was in a way semi prone to Enclavism, though he was not in this position because he understood the points of views of other cultures, and accepted them, even promoted learning about these other cultures; however he said that “there are severe constraints on our capacity to adopt its world-view and practices.” (pg. 152).

So, the basic thoughts of Jung around the Oriental views revolved around interest and intrigue. He promotes the study of such, but the prohibition of application. This is because the Western individual has a different collective unconscious thanks to the cultural upbringing, and just applying foreign methods instead of creating one’s own (based on these foreign methods) is just a way to escape instead of confronting a problem; which in turn will resolve nothing.

What I found interesting was the birth and growth of Spiritualism in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Spiritualism was introduced to the island, but it then became intertwined with various other beliefs such as Catholicism which then in turn created “a unique healing system.” (p.227) (Nuñez, 2006).

Medium's Roundtable

In both Jung’s therapy and in “Espiritismo” the patient must create a bond with the spiritual world; they must embrace and accept it. As my Professor, Mario Nuñez (1996), stipulates in a journal entry for the Journal of Analytical Psychology these two systems share a bond which is that between them there “is a process of transcending the limited perspective of the ego (the ‘material world’) in order to experience a much broader reality (spiritual world or collective unconscious).” (p. 227)

Clarifying on Spiritualism, there are rituals that must be ritualized throughout the stay of the ‘patient’. This is because

Healing by Wakabee @ Deviantart.com

the “Communication between the spirits and human beings is an essential element of Espiritismo.” (p. 229). To achieve this the ones who work with Spiritism, who are called “Espiritistas” have to create the mood to help with that communication. “‘Espiritistas’ believe that ignorant spirits can be the cause of physical as well as mental illness.” (p. 229). If the Espiritista (or medium) finds a cause to the persons discomfort being of material origin (or physical), the person is then referred to an actual health professional. If there are no signs that this discomfort is pertaining from material origin then it is said that the illness and the cause is identified as pertaining to the spirit world, or spiritual. This then lets the medium (who is the healer in this case) start the persons healing process. Usually what this means is that the person has a spirit dwindling in or around them. They are usually known as ignorant spirits. As Nuñez explained, the ignorant spirits are those that are at the lowest levels of the spiritual hierarchy. The highest ones are usually called the “spirits of light” who are there to help and not to create the “chaos” that the ignorant spirits cause.

HELP ME

Moving on with Jungian psychology, Nuñez (1996) lets us know that “Jung correlated the spirit world with the collective unconscious and the spirits with archetypes and autonomous complexes” (p. 232). Hence, the parallelism commences. Also, Jung believed that in a way if we are to compare, having an assault of a spirit within a person can also be seen as an assault of a complex. Complexes are in other words nodes, which in this case will be assaulting the person’s collective unconscious. Since Jung categorizes spirits as an archetype, the equivalent for Spiritisms’ ignorant spirit would be the complex.

Jung seems to believe that spirits are just another form of archetype, though he also seems to sometimes be confused and would say that sometimes these spirits and archetypes can be mixed and mingle together. He seems to be trying to stay scientific but since he has no scientific way to prove the existence of spirits, he seems to let his belief in them slide for sciences’ sake.

Expression of the Unconcious by badmojomonkey @ Deviantart.com

This is also a learning experience for both the person and the ignorant spirit/complex. When it comes to therapy, it just has to do with bringing the archetypes to the surface, understanding and confronting them, the same thing happens with mediums and their “extraction” of spirits. In other words, in both Espiritismo and in Jungian psychology there is confrontation. In Espiritismo the confrontation is with spirits, in Jungian psychology it’s with the complex or archetype.  It is the same thing, but with a different name.

As quoted by Shakespeare- “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

References:

Nuñez Molina, M. (2006). Archetypes and spirits: A Jungian analysis of Puerto Rican Espiritismo. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 41, 227-244.

Also, as stated in his writings, “Dios es una coincidentia oppositorum.” (Jung, 1952). Which he clarifies by letting us know that “Ambas cosas estan justificadas: el amor y el temor — a Dios.” (p. 35).

However, while reading the rest of Answer to Job we are confronted with seeing God transform by wanting to be human. I understood this to be a part of his desire to adquire more wisdom, as Job wanted to, which Jung (1952) realizes as “El acercamiento de la Sabiduria significa una nueva creacion.” (p. 22). Seeing God wanting to be human can also be a way for him to achieve a higher state of consciousness and to understand humanity. This is stated by Jung (1952) when he wrote that “Dios quiere hacerse hombre” and that He “quiere adquirir responsabilidad consciente.” (p. 38).

I believe that this transformation  in turn helped Him to sacrifice his son, Jesus, for humankind. Though, the way it was stated in the text made it seem like if Jesus was in fact God Himself. This is probably why we then see a more compassionate God after Yave.

The thing is, that this still doesn’t completely answer why God lets bad things happen other then wanting to invoke fear to retain his position. Perhaps, just like there is good, there must be its counterpart: bad. This reminds me of Syzygy and the Ying & Yang. There is always that continuous battle of opposites. Though I cannot be completely sure and am going to see if now my outlook on this text is a little bit closer to the truth.