The C.G. Jung Society of Queensland

President’s Letter

Jung’s Switzerland and Deirdre Bair’s Biography

Dear Reader,

I recently read Deirdre Bair’s Jung:  a Biography (Little, Brown and Co., New York. 2003). Deirdre Bair had already written acclaimed biographies of Anais Nin, Simone de Beauvoir and Samuel Beckett. She is a literary journalist and a university professor of comparative literature.

This book of more than 800 pages was a tremendous achievement for Bair who seems to have been as even-handed as possible in her treatment of the subject. She shows compassion and understanding for Jung and for all who figured in his life while maintaining enough detachment to do her job well. I gained a greater appreciation of the cultural and social milieu of Jung’s 19^th and 20^th century Switzerland. For example, Bair points out repeatedly how the middle class sensibilities of Carl and Emma Jung’s families were such a source of constraint in key developments in Jung’s life. The families wanted to maintain the private anonymity that was typical of the Swiss middle class. The idea that Jung had become a leading international figure seems to have escaped them, according to Bair. Jung’s marriage to Emma was also of course the main source of wealth that gave him the freedom to pursue his intellectual and therapeutic interests.

Flowers. Another cultural image that stands out is that of the Psychological Club of Zurich where Jung and his followers met to deliver talks. Carl, Emma Jung and Toni Wolf regularly attended together. Sometimes, Emma would go to the lectern to give a talk followed by Toni Wolf to give another talk. A vase of flowers placed near the lectern, in honour of Jung’s wife, Emma, would be whisked away by another female club member as soon as Toni Wolf took the stand. A stark contrast existed between such rigidly established societal roles as illustrated by the flower story and the transcendence of social roles that Jung’s work entailed.

The cultural atmosphere of the Burgholzli Mental Hospital, where Jung established his reputation as a young psychiatrist, also fascinated me. Bleuler, the hospital’s director, took the view that the daily routine of doctors and patients should be integrated. Although doctors had private quarters, patients and doctors ate together. The doctors worked from as early as 6am through to 11pm each day. Bleuler believed that every doctor should be familiar with the history and progress of every patient. Bleuler could ask any doctor for a verbal patient report at any time.

Nazism. Was Jung a Nazi sympathiser? I followed Bair’s examination of the question with interest. Jung was accused of being a sympathiser perhaps mainly because he felt at the beginning of the rise of the new Germany that a positive archetype was beginning to express itself in Europe. He continued to support the German-based International General Medical Society for Psychoanalysis — an organisation promoting his work — from the 1930’s through to the beginning of the war, a period in which the Society was forced to conform to the psychological principles of Nazism. His purpose was to support and protect Jewish members of the Society, he said. He certainly went to great lengths to offset the Nazi influence in the Society. But many felt that he remained involved far longer than he should have. On the other hand, Jung was secretly enlisted by the American intelligence forces during the war. Jung became agent 488 who met with Allen W. Dulles, an American intelligence operator in Switzerland.  He said in an interview after the war “nobody will ever know how much Professor Jung contributed to the allied cause during the war, by seeing people who were connected somehow to the other side.”[1] ‘By 1945, when the primary Allied objective was to convince the German population that surrender was inevitable, Jung’s view on how best to get civilians to accept defeat were being read by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower.’[2]

James Joyce. Through the biography, one easily gets the sense of Jung’s life itself as the expression of a powerful archetypal force. Both Freud and Jung, as well as their many followers, expressed the intense energy of the first half of the 20^th century’s exploration of consciousness and what lay below or behind it. Another explorer of consciousness, James Joyce, was drawn to Switzerland where he wrote Ulysses. Joyce was supported financially by Edith McCormick, the same woman who established the Psychological Club.

 “A batch of people in Zurich persuaded themselves that I was gradually going mad and actually endeavoured to induce me to enter a sanatorium where a certain Doctor Jung (the Swiss Tweedledum who is not to be confused with the Viennese Tweedledee, Dr. Freud) amuses himself at the expense (in every sense of the word) of ladies and gentlemen who are troubled with bees in their bonnets.”[3]

Ironically, Joyce was later forced to seek help from Jung, although sadly without much success in this case, for his daughter who suffered severely from schizophrenia.

The growth of Jungian psychology was certainly due in large part to the incredible work of Jung himself but Jungian psychology was established not only by Jung but also by the many who came from Europe, England and America to take part in the fledgling psychotherapy through testing Jung’s theory in their own lives, in their own analyses. Many brilliant people in Jung’s circle contributed their own ideas to the evolving psychology.

Desperation. One senses desperation and great hope on the part of prospective analysands who crossed the globe in search of relief from the neurotic and psychiatric disturbances that afflicted them. In the modern world, we have become accustomed to choosing from a seemingly endless menu of therapeutic fixes for our mental ills. Those who came to Jung’s door in Kusnacht had few or perhaps no other places to go. If Jung were away or could not see them, many stayed locally for weeks or months waiting for an appointment. In the course of the wait, many long-term friendships were established among those in the queue. Several lived in Switzerland for the rest of their lives.

The book is packed with interesting episodes in Jung’s life, none more so than the many years it took —through legal and psychological wranglings and power struggles— to have his collected works and autobiography published. The relationships with Freud, Emma Jung and Toni Wolff are detailed. However, if I could have one improvement in the book, it would be to know more about Emma Jung, surely a person worthy of greater study.

Overall, it is difficult to imagine that anyone interested in Jung would not find this book of great value.

As a footnote, I must mention particularly our November talks and workshops by Michael Edwards, one-time curator of art works at the Jungian Institute in Zurich, and Ruth Amman, currently Vice President for Europe of the International Society for Sandplay Therapy, among her many roles. Both presenters will be certain to offer insights into Jung: Michael as he presents slides of Jung’s own art and Ruth as she talks about the psychology of architecture in the places of Jung’s life which she visited, such as Kusnacht and Bollingen. Michael is the father of Brisbane art therapist, Claire Edwards, who presented to our C.G. Jung Society some years ago.

Regards,

Frank Coughlan

President

Dreaming in Hawaii

Anne Di Lauro

I am looking over a lunar landscape, on the rim of the Kilauea crater, aware that I am sitting on top of one of the Earth’s hot spots. Beneath the grey desolate landscape, a core of magma descends to the centre of the Earth. Beside me I feel the heat from the steam that billows from cracks in the rocks. I descend to the bottom of the crater through native vegetation - the ohi’a lehua with its red caliandra-like flowers, the large fern hapu’u and the more delicate branching fern uluhe. I walk across the desolate lava – the silky pahoehoe and the chunky ‘a’a . A lone ohi’a with one red flower is pushing up through the lava.

It is July 2004 and I am on the big island of Hawaii for a one-week intensive Embodied Dream Imagery training with Robert Bosnak. I am meeting face to face for the first time souls with whom I have been dreaming over the Internet for the past four years or more. There is much laughter and exclamation. “I thought you would look different!” “I guessed it was you straight away.” There is energy flowing between us for we are already connected through our dreams.

It is the first evening. We are incubating a dream. In the ancient world, dream incubation was used for healing. In Greece, the sick would go to a sacred place to incubate a dream by praying to the appropriate god to reveal a cure for the illness.  For our dream incubation, we are focussing on the spirit of this place and on an issue that is important to us. We are instructed to feel our emotions concerning the place and the issue, and to anchor these emotions in the body. Then, just before going to sleep, for no more than thirty seconds, we are to feel again these different emotions and body feelings.

I am aware of the shifting nature of the earth in this place and how this gives me a sense of the precariousness of existence – a sort of light, wobbly feeling. I conjure up an image of an erupting volcano and of the red hot lava flowing over the landscape. It is exciting and full of energy. I think about the goddess Pele who personifies the natural force of the volcano. I see the grey lunar landscape of the crater.

I dream that I am in an office and that a young woman is telling me that she permitted another woman to take my laptop computer. She will not tell me who the woman is. Who took my precious laptop? I explode with anger. I spit out angry words at her. But she will not tell me.

A few hors later, the group helps me to work on my dream. Focussing on the moment when I become aware of my loss, I feel intense grief in my heart. Then I feel the hot core of anger rise up through the centre of my body. I feel the words erupting from my mouth like stones. I feel impotent desolation when my anger has no effect. I hold these feelings together. I retain their imprint in my body - the pain in the heart, the rising heat, the erupting words and the desolation. Pele has honoured me with her visit while I slept. I sense that I have been touched by primal forces - something numinous, beyond the personal.  I feel it still.

Robert Bosnak in Brisbane

Robert Bosnak has accepted our invitation to come to Brisbane to give a workshop on his Embodied Dream Imagery method of dreamwork in April 2005. The workshop will take place from Friday night 8 April to Sunday afternoon 10 April. This is an experience not to be missed so mark it on your 2005 calendar! Details will be in the January 2005 issue of this newsletter.

Upcoming events at the Jung Society

October 2004

Trickster and the Subversive Imagination

A presentation by Jeff Power

Thursday October7, 2004 7:30-9:30 pm

 St Mary’s Community House, Merivale St, Cn of Peel St, South Brisbane

Members and concession: $5; non-members $10

In mythologies all over the world, the trickster is a personification of feeling in between or in transition.       

Trickster lives and operates on the outskirts, the boundaries, on the edge of the mainstream. By understanding this figure an important part of our everyday experience can be clarified, supported and nurtured.

This talk will outline the role of the trickster figure as it appears in mythology, art and religion with a special focus on what this might mean for our everyday lives.

It will be an evocation and provocation of our own dormant subversive imaginations and may cover some of the following:

·        Getting dirty: the unnecessary division between sacred and profane.

·        Dirt workers: Therapists, artists, and prophets.

·        Boundary crossing, shape shifting and the polytropic mind

·        On the road: Luck, opportunity and improvisation

·        Liminal space: The importance of ambiguity

This evening is open to anyone who values creativity, spontaneity and scatological humour.

It will be of special interest to those in the creative arts, therapists and community workers.

Jeff Power is a therapist in private practice. He consults with individuals, couples and organizations. He is currently completing a Masters in Jungian Psycholgy. He has had a long time interest in Trickster.

November 2004

ARCHITECTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY

A LECTURE BY RUTH AMMAN

Jungian analyst, Zurich

Please Note that, Exceptionally, our November Lecture

Will take place on the Second Thursday of the Month and at a different place

Thursday November 11, 2004, 7:30-9:30 pm

Meeting room of the Theosophical Society, 355 Wickham Tce, Brisbane

Members and concession: $5; non-members $10

Winston Churchill once said, "We shape our dwellings and our dwellings shape us".

 Everything we do, especially what we build and construct in the outer world, is a mirror of our inner world. This profound interaction between people and buildings raises questions about our responsibility to care for our built environment. Ruth suggests that we need much more Eros (relatedness), not only in our relationships with other people but also in the building and creation of our living spaces.

This talk will look at the relationship between the human psyche and our built environment, including reflections on landscapes, houses and rooms where Carl Gustav Jung worked, lived and was at home.

To help us with our reflections Ruth will take us on a guided tour of the houses where Carl Gustav Jung lived and worked. We will visit and explore, seeing what Jung saw day after day, touching what he touched, hearing what he heard, walking where he walked and finally experiencing his spirit in the Tower at Bollingen, which he built himself.

How is the Tower a mirror of Jung's personality? And what does this mirror in ourselves as people interested in Jungian psychology? This slide show was originally produced for the International Congress of Analytical Psychology in 1995 in Zurich.

Ruth Ammann studied and graduated as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung-Institute in Zürich where she also studied the method of Sandplay with Dora Kalff, working as Dora's assistant for 3 years. Sandplay attracted Ruth, because of its excellent therapeutic effectiveness, and its artistic, spacial and creative aspects. Today Ruth works as a Jungian Training Analyst and a Sandplay therapist in private practice in Zürich. She is a member of the Curatorium of the C.G. Jung-Institute, Zürich and the Vice President for Europe of ISST (Intern. Society for Sandplay Therapy). Ruth teaches and lectures at the Jung-Institute Zürich, as well as in Italy, Germany, Denmark, England and USA. On route to Australia she will be lecturing in Asia including for the first time in China. Ruth has published numerous articles and books including Das Traumbild Haus (soon to be translated as The House as a Symbol in Dreams), Healing and Transformation in Sandplay, Der Zauber des Gartens (Secrets of the Garden). Before training as an analyst Ruth also practiced as an architect for 13 years.

Professional development seminar with Ruth Amman

The Use of Sandplay in Therapeutic Work with Severely Traumatized People

Saturday November 13, 2004, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Meeting room of the Theosophical Society, 355 Wickham Tce, Brisbane

Members and concession: $80; non-members $100

Maximum 20 people

Sandplay therapy is an especially apt way of gently and slowly approaching psychic trauma. As sandplay is not dependent upon verbalisation or cognitive understanding be the client it is especially appropriate for those clients who are unable to approach trauma in more conventional ways. It is also especially valuable in situations where there is no possible resolution such as in working with grief or childhood issues. Through silently touching the sand and creating image after image in the sand tray, physical sensations and emotions are greatly awakened and contained in the sand picture and the therapeutic relationship. These very profound processes will be shown and discussed using case material with slides. There will be ample opportunity for discussion.

This seminar will emphasise practical, day-to-day clinical issues and will be accessible to practicing psychotherapists, counsellors, medical practitioners and allied health professionals, regardless of whether or not they are familiar with Jung's work.

Also in November

The Art Works in the Archives of the C.G.Jung Institute, Zurich

Michael Edwards, Jungian analyst

Saturday November 27, 2004, 10 am to 3:30 pm

Meeting room of the Theosophical Society, 355 Wickham Tce, Brisbane

Members and concession: $50; non-members $60

Michael Edwards graduated in Fine Art, then analysed, trained and worked as a Jungian art therapist in the 1950s at the Withymead Centre therapeutic community in Devon, England. After a year teaching at Newton
Abbot College of Art he became Student Counsellor and Art Tutor at Dartington College of Arts. He then undertook further psychological training at the Tavistock Clinic, London, during which time he worked
for a year as a  therapist at Ealing Child Guidance Clinic. Subsequently he was appointed in 1969 to Birmingham Polytechnic School of Art Education where he established a postgraduate Art Therapy training,
leaving as Principal Lecturer in 1979. During this period he was for four years elected Chair of the British Association of Art Therapists. In 1980 he was invited to set up and direct postgraduate art therapy
training at Concordia University, Montreal, the first at a Canadian University. This led to a research opportunity at the C.G.Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland where he worked with several thousand drawings and paintings by Jung's patients and for several years was Curator of these Archives. This time also provided an opportunity to complete an analytic training at the Institute. For over thirty years he has been involved in the Champernowne Trust annual course in Jungian Psychology and the Arts at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, of which he is Director. Currently he works in private practice as an art therapist and analyst in Cornwall.

December 2004

Indigenous and Western Spirituality

A presentation by Mary Graham

Thursday December 2, 2004, 7:30 – 9:30

St. Mary’s House, Cn Merivale and Peel Sts, South Brisbane

Cost: Members and concession: $5; non-members $10

Mary Graham is an aboriginal elder of the Kombumerri people on the Gold Coast. Mary has lectured on comparative spirituality in the School of Social Work at the University of Queensland. She is highly knowledgeable of both aboriginal and western religious and spiritual traditions. Her talk crosses the divide between both cultures finding common ground where it exists and highlighting unique features in each tradition that could be of value in the other one.

This will also be our Christmas party.

Members and non-members alike are welcome!

The Jung Society will provide liquid refreshments.

Please bring a plate of food to share if you can.

Bulletin Board

Paint your dream!

A one-day workshop with Pamela Bouma-Brims and Anne Di Lauro

using art therapy and the Embodied Dream Imagery method of dreamwork.

Saturday September 25, 2004. 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Rosicrucian Centre, 156 Norman Avenue, Norman Park

$85 includes art materials. Reservations: Pam (3420 5169) or Anne (3511 0167).

Wanted – an Auditor

The C.G. Jung Society of Queensland is looking for an auditor to audit our accounts for 2004. If you feel you can do it and have a little time to donate, please contact Frank, Janeil or Paul (contact details are on page 8.)