C. G. Jung

As a consequence, all visions—except the pathological ones—have a well-composed character. On the contrary, the normal dream does lack the shaping of consciousness almost completely, and therefore the dream of the female patient is a pure look at the unconscious thus without a consciousness build. The visions have a decisively dominantly calm character because they derive from the composing of the conscious being while the dream without the influence of the consciousness composure portrays the majesty of the undisguised animus occurrence. In this case, the vision shows that on the female side there is unlively and grey lack of freedom, however on the male side there is lively activity. The indication of ‘north’ possibly means intuition and thinking, abstraction which means coldness. I would assume that the person in question has to rely on intuition and thinking because she is possibly in need of abstraction for the fastening in the consciousness opposed to the dangerous activity of the unconscious which reveals itself in the animus. It would be in line with going ahead with intuitive understanding and thinking which of course always threatens the confusion with the animus. A woman can only liberate herself from animus when she starts thinking for herself instead of having inclinations, when she starts asking herself how she thinks about it, not knowing what one may think about it, which means in other words she would have to do what the dream murderer does namely to put the ‘slicing open’—that is the ‘recognizing’ action into motion, and therefore she also goes for the knife in her dream while the animus beats her to it.” In fine condition, with central horizontal and vertical folds, and some creasing to top edges. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Described by Jung in his theory of the collective unconscious as the primary anthropomorphic archetype of a woman’s unconscious mind, the animus embodies a set of masculine attributes and potentials within a woman’s psyche. A complex host of images, the animus can be either positive or negative, bringing ‘life-giving development and creativeness to the personality, or [causing] petrification and physical death.’ Gaining understanding of it and balancing its power, not letting it ‘invade’ one’s self, was Jung’s ultimate response to controlling the animus. Writing to his longtime colleague W. M. Kranefeldt, who had recently published his book Secret Ways of the Mind: A Survey of the Psychological Principles of Freud, Adler, and Jung, for which Jung wrote an introduction, Jung offers an interesting analysis of this very element in one of Kranefeldt’s patients. “A woman can only liberate herself from animus when she starts thinking for herself instead of having inclinations, when she starts asking herself how she thinks about it.” A fascinating letter regarding a key element in Jung’s groundbreaking theory of the collective unconscious..

The teasing inscription on this photograph refers to the fact that it was Hugh Burnett's programme, "Face to Face", that brought Jung into contact with a mass audience for the first time. One of the viewers of the programme, Wolfgang Foges, contacted Burnett's interviewer, John Freeman, and asked him to contact Jung to sound him out about the possibility of writing a book explaining his views for the intelligent general reader rather than the specialist. Freeman conducted two interviews to this end with Jung, but was met with a firm but polite refusal. Jung then had a dream in which he was speaking in a public forum to 'a multitude of people who were listening to him with wrapt attention and understanding what he said'. When asked by Foges if he would reconsider, Jung agreed, on the condition that it consisted not just of his own writings but included essays by his closest followers, and was to be edited by Freeman. The result, which was to appear after Jung's death, was "Man and His Symbols", 1964 (cf. Deirdre Bair, Jung: A Biography [2004], pp. 619-620)..

Philp whom I had met once in your house. I couldn't quite make out what his theological or psychological problems are [...]". - E. A. Bennet had been Jung's foremost advocate in England since the 1930s. - On headed paper; some slight edge damage. Includes a letter to Bennet by C. A. Meier, concerning the controversy Jung discusses in his letter, some letters of response from Bennet to Jung, Meier and others, typescripts of papers by Jung's associate, Toni Wolff, "Some Principles of Dream-Interpretation" (April 1934; 36 ff.) and "A Few Thoughts on the Process of Individuation in Women" (undated; 48 ff.), as well as an obituary brochure for Toni Wolff and some related material..

Neben der Beschäftigung mit Jungs Schriften besorgte sie die englische Übersetzung von Richard Wilhelms "I Ging" (auch "Yijing", "Das Buch der Wandlungen"), zu der Jung ein umfangreiches Vorwort verfasste, in dem er sein Verständnis des Yijing darlegt..

Ich musste schon am 3ten Tag wieder hieherkommen, da ich mit hohem Fieber (39.5) erkrankte. Allgemeine Infection, Darm, Leber, Blase. Letzte Woche im Bett. Jetzt fieberfrei, kann aufstehen, aber schwach. Bin ins Ubw heruntergeholt und dort mit Inhalten imprägniert worden, die ich jetzt, trotz Schwäche, ausarbeiten muss. Alles sehr zwangsläufig. Titel: 'Antwort auf Hiob'. Gott sei mir gnädig, ich weiss nicht, wohin es führt. Ich schwimme noch. Es ist eine Erneuerung geschehen. Anderes Niveu und neue Motivkraft, die mir unerwartet ist. Eine Reise den Rändern des Todes entlang. Ein Stück Weltgebundenheit scheint abgefallen zu sein, daher freiere Bewegung im Geistigen [...]")..

The peculiar phenomena we observe in connection with archetypal numinosity, termed as synchronicity, belong to this category. My approach is, as you see, entirely inductive, as I’m a bit afraid of deduction in such delicate matters like psychophysical relations". Jung adds that he has written an essay, "Synchronicity as a Principle of A-Causal Connections", which is being published with a paper by Pauli, "the well-known physicist, who deals with the archetypal foundations of Kepler's astronomy". - The term "synchronicity" was first coined by Jung in the late 1920s but it was only after collaborating with Wolfgang Pauli to refine his concept - which Jung defined as the acausal connection of two or more psychic and physical phenomena - that it was formally introduced to the scientific community in 1952 with their joint publication, 'The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche'. Smythies letter pre-empts the publication of both Jung and Pauli’s essay and their book on the subject. - The British neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and neurophilosopher Smythies developed the first specific biochemical theory of schizophrenia; his research was inspired by the remarkable effects of mescaline on the human brain and the interdisciplinary work of Albert Schweitzer. Jung directs his letter to Smythies at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon: founded in 1869, it became one of the most advanced brain surgery centres in the world in the 20th century, and was involved in the development of the CT scanner in the 1970s..

Jung himself gave much thought to it, but has not yet succeeded in overcoming the difficulty. He has taken a different approach: instead of focusing on the statistical truth of the phenomena, he has tried "to answer the question of the psychological conditions under which parapsychological phenomena occur. This approach, however, is equally difficult, since it demands an unusual amount of psychological knowledge, particularly of the psychology of the unconscious. Such knowledge can only be acquired by practical work in the field", and the results are "complex facts which are apt to be full of chance-variations. To deal with such intricate facts you need certain hypothetical patterns serving as means of comparison. I call them archetypes". Suggesting his correspondent read up on practical psychology, he stresses that archetypes are not philosophical constructs, but based in fact, before warning him that parapsychology is one of the hardest problems ever put to the human mind, more complex than nuclear physics, because it calls into question our very understanding of space, time and causality. He moves on to discuss the relative merits of the experimental and psychological approaches to synchronicity. - Stephen Abrams was at the time attending the Parapsychological Laboratory at Duke University under Professor J. B. Rhine and planned to work on the experimental confirmation of Jung's theory of synchronicity. He moved to Britain in 1960 to work on an extra-sensory perception at Oxford and head its parapsychology laboratory..

This is exactly what I understand by Sychronicity. I have chosen this term, because the approximate coincidence in time is the most obvious criterium of the phenomenon", going on to explain in more detail how a psychical quality might be shared between a conscious subject and an object. He informs his correspondent that the Zurich Institute’s chief focus is the instruction of professional analysts, adding: "As you want a specific knowledge of a more theoretical nature you are in particular need of a concrete experience in the realm of the unconscious". Such experience can only be acquired by personal analysis, he notes, recommending to that end that Abrams contact Marie-Louise von Franz , "in this respect the most competent of my pupils". - Jung directs his letter to Abrams, recently graduated from J. B. Rhine’s programme at Duke, at a new address: the Parapsychology Society at the University of Chicago. His correspondence with the younger man on the topic of synchronicity began the previous year and is notable for its expositional quality and the complexity of the ideas contained therein..

Ich weiss von der Praxis dieser Kunst viel zu wenig, als dass ich mir ein klares Bild davon machen könnte. Auch kann ich mir das Ziel der Methode nicht recht vorstellen. Ich habe, vielleicht fälschlicherweise, immer das Bild des christlichen Mönches vor mir, der eigentlich Übermenschlichkeit erstrebt; also etwas, das er nicht ist, ähnlich der Zenmeister, er ist ein grosser Bogenschütze, kann die Koans verstehen und Glocken zum Ertönen bringen. Mich interessiert aber nur wie ich als Mensch richtig leben kann. Das ist mir schwierig genug, sodass mir keine Zeit für weitere Koans bleibt. Sutras zu recitieren finde ich unattractiv. Wie indische Philosophie, so kommt mir der Zen als mittelalterlich vor und, jedenfalls für den wirklichen Menschen[,] kaum wünschenswert vor [...]"..

He was unselfish and idealistic. Two bad friends succeeded in persuading him that there was money in it. The next experiment killed him. In this case it was quite obvious that he owed invulnerability to an intensely religious attitude which is an archetypic constellation. It is possible that also other conditions like physical traumata, diseases and physiological constellations can maintain an 'abaissement' of consciousness, which enables unconscious effects to cross the threshold. I should not wonder at all if synchronistic phenomena would manifest in form of physiological effects". Stating that the mathematical theory of information is beyond his understanding but describing it as interesting nonetheless, he allows that it is quite possible, even probable, "that man has a much greater amount of ESP at his disposition than one generally supposes. This must be so if it is true that synchronicity belongs to the basic qualities of existence". - The present letter concludes the correspondence between Jung and the young parapsychologist Stephen Abrams on the topic of parapsychology and synchronicity. The same year this letter was written, Abrams moved to Britain in 1960 to work on an extra-sensory perception at Oxford and head its parapsychology laboratory..