Year
Publisher
Journal
1
Institution
Institution Country
Publication Type
Field Of Study
Topics
Open Access
Language
Filter 1
Year
Publisher
Journal
1
Institution
Institution Country
Publication Type
Field Of Study
Topics
Open Access
Language
Filter 1
Export
Sort by: Relevance
THE RECEPTION OF C.G. JUNG IN US DEATH AND DYING STUDIES

C.G. Jung’s work has had a noticeable impact on conceptions about death and the dying experience, as well as on the therapeutic work methods that deal with anxiety, depression or terminal illnesses. This article analyses the reception of C.G. Jung’s work in the United States during the time period 1960-80. It examines ways in which Jung’s concepts were discussed and applied by psy practitioners who worked in fields related to death and dying studies (thanatology, palliative care, suicide and near- death studies). Following an examination of Jung’s ‘Americanisation’ in the 1950s and the reception of his commentaries on death, discussed in relation to the reception of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, I will analyse four examples: 1) a psychiatric interpretation of Jung’s account of a near- death experience and its comparison with William James’ mystical states of consciousness; 2) psychedelic therapies conducted with LSD, in which ‘symbolic dying processes’ are provoked; 3) suicide studies done on suicide survivors; 4) parapsychological investigation of near-death experience. The examples show that Jung’s work was pivotal, allowing psychologists to link it to concepts and approaches to terminal illness and positive or transpersonal psychology. Within the period under consideration, Jung’s reception has to be read and understood in relation to the more general reception of James’ work, in particular his psychology of religion. KEYWORDS William James, near-death experience, thanatology, palliative care, Tibetan Book of the Dead, LSD therapy, suicide studies, humanistic psychology

Read full abstract
Open Access
"Crush the Head of the Serpent and It will Bite you in the Heel": A reconstruction of Jung's Interpretation of the Poisonous Serpents in Zarathustra Through Liber Novus

The psychological interpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra given by C. G. Jung in a speci cally dedicated seminar in years 1934-1934 comes across as obscure, somewhat mysterious and philosophically distant from Nietzsche’s work. Such interpretation, however, remains consistent in Jung’s later works. One of the most striking aspects of Jung’s interpretation of Zarathustra concerns the animals: in most cases, Jung delivers long and detailed explanations, drawing on mythological, as well as alchemical material, to analyse some animal gures that do not play any relevant part in Nietzsche’s text. This is particularly remarkable in the case of the serpent hanging from the shepherd’s mouth in chapter ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’, closely related by Jung to the adder biting Zarathustra’s throat in chapter ‘Of the Adder’s Bite’. The same connection will come back later in 1952, in Symbols of Transformation. Interestingly, most of Jung’s later interpretation of Zarathustra can be re- contextualised and understood if compared with Jung’s own Liber Novus, serving as a proper lens to observe and analyse the evolution of Jung’s confrontation with Nietzsche. Reading Jung’s marginalia on his own copy of Zarathustra, it is clear that he interpreted the work as a sort of Nietzschean Liber Novus, so to speak—both being understood by Jung as ‘visionary’ works. This paper will explore Jung’s understanding of Zarathustra chapters ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’ and ‘Of the Adder’s Bite’ in the 30’s and 50’s, and will then reconstruct such understanding based on Liber Novus. KEYWORDS Nietzsche, Zarathustra, Liber Novus, The Red Book, Serpent, Heel, Visionary Works

Read full abstract