Carl Jung and his long kept Red mystery

                                Carl Jung and his long kept Red mystery

     One of the most intriguing writings in the field of psychology is definitely Carl Jung’s “Red book” or “Liber Novus”. Jung’s heirs didn’t want to make this particular work public, because they considered it to be too personal and it was kept from the public until the year of 2009, when Jung’s grandson Ulrich Hoerni was finally convinced to publish it. This work is one of a kind in our field, as it is  a fine blend of art and soul all created by the great scientist  Carl Jung himself. The beautiful calligraphic text is of course fully written in German. The writing contains a total of 205 pages. Some of them are full images, others are a combination of smaller images and calligraphic text and some are pure calligraphic pages.The illustrations are reflective and contain many symbols, which really makes the book even more personal. To be honest I was amazed of their art value and pleasantly surprised to see one more of Jung's talents. This work is a result of 16 years of work, in which Jung also developed some of his most significant theories. Of course I won’t discuss this work, because I think that just as it was written out of soul it has to be read that way too, so that every reader could project and consequently relate, or not relate to this work. Is this work a result of a psychotic episode as Jung himself explains it? Or it is a result of growth and enlightenment? Either way it would be a unnecessary speculation from my behalf to talk about it and I’d love not to. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend it to all people interested in psychology- it’s really valuable!

     

Here are just a few paragraphs from the book along with a few illustrations; only to get you into its mood…They’re random and probably you won’t get the full meaning. I really hope that you’ll read The “Red book” (if you haven’t done it yet) and you’ll enjoy it as much as I did! 

                “The Red book” (written between 1914-1930) by Carl G. Jung and published in 2009

                                                                    “Liber primus”

 “…Give me your hand, my almost forgotten soul. How warm the joy at seeing you again, you long disavowed soul. Life has led me back to you. Let us thank the life I have lived for all the happy and all the sad hours, for every joy and every sadness. My soul, my journey should continue with you. I will wander with you and ascend to my solitude.”

The spirit of the depths forced me to say this and at the same time to undergo it against myself, since I had not expected it then. I still labored misguidedly under the spirit of this time, and thought differently about the human soul. I knew many learned words for her. I had judged her and turned her into scientific object. I did not consider, that my soul cannot be the object of my judgment and knowledge, much more are my judgment and knowledge the objects of my soul. Therefore the spirit of the depths forced me to speak to my soul, to call upon her as a living and self-existing being. I had to become aware that I had lost my soul…”

(pages of the original text: calligraphy and illustrations)

“He whose desire turns away from outer things, reaches the place of the soul. If he does not find the soul, the horror of emptiness will overcome him, and fear will drive him with a whip lashing time and again in desperate endeavor and a blind desire for the hollow things of the world. He becomes a fool through his endless desire and forgets the way of his soul, never to find her again. He will run after all things, and will seize hold of them, but he will not find his soul, since he would find her only in himself.”

(illustration from the book)

 “….But what is more ambiguous than love? Love is the way of life, but your love is only on the way of life if you have a left and a right. Nothing is easier than to play at ambiguity and nothing is more difficult than living ambiguity. He who plays is a child; his God is old and dies. He who lives is awakened; his God is young and goes on. He who plays hides from the inner death. He who lives feels the going onward and immortality. So leave the play to the players. Let fall what wants to fall; if you stop it, it will sweep you away. There is a true love that does not concern itself with neighbors.”

                                       Enjoy your day, my friends!