The line between eccentricity and genius seems to be walked with the utmost ironic frivolity by those we so deem the true movers of our society. I use the phrase “ironic frivolity” here because it seems whenever one makes the leap from philosophy to a specific science or field, we tend to think that that field was devised of completely logical and tedious steps. It seems more often, however, that those who actually move the world do so with an almost puerile trot.
To better elucidate what I mean by this, I wish to review a masterstroke that has only recently become available to the public. Doctor Carl Jung – a contemporary of Freud’s and the founder of analytical psychology – is a somewhat enigmatic figure within the already niche field of psychology. Truly, I would not have been able to produce more than a faint remembrance of his name until my interest in the man was piqued while taking a Comparative Mythology class during my senior year of undergrad. Alongside better known contributors to the field like Joseph Campbell, Jung was mentioned only briefly in our class lecture. I read his book Man and His Symbols for the class, as I ended up writing my final paper on a Jungian analysis of the Enuma Elish and Hesiod’s Theogony. After only this brief introduction to Jungian psychology, I was inexplicably hooked, reading every portion of his collected works I could get my hands on. Now, I do not expect the reader to share my subjective infatuation with Jungian psychology, but I do wish to recommend very highly the book that started it all for Jung. According to Jung, himself, when reflecting upon his then newly established field of psychology, “Everything later was merely the outer classification, the scientific elaboration, and the integration into life. But the numinous beginning, which contained everything was then.” This mysterious “then” that Jung is referring to is his chronicling of a series of dreams, visions, and active imagination sessions that occurred immediately prior, during, and shortly after World War 1. These personal writings were collected in a series of journals called The Black Books which were later transcribed and gorgeously illustrated by Jung himself into a book which was finally published half a century after his death in 2009 called Liber Novus or The Red Book.
The simple title – literally “the red book” or a reflection of the ornate binding Jung put around it – seems to bait the reader into a perceived magnum opus of psychology – at least it did to me. The book itself could not be more disheveling to any reader expecting a scientific work describing such things as psychological types from the man who provided us with terms like “extroverts,” “introverts,” and psychological “shadows.” What the reader instead receives is a series of psychopompic and allegorical quests more akin to works of Dante or C.S. Lewis that Jung undertakes – in true Dante fashion – as both pilgrim experiencing the revelation and orator conveying the tale to posterity.
One can see upon reading the various chapters how each revelation corresponds to a main idea in Jungian psychology. Luckily, many aspect of Jungian psychology have diffused into modern pop psychology and psychological tests prevalent in academia as to provide a bearing to the average reader – as it did to me prior to my immersion into Jungian psychology. In one scene, Jung is taught by the Biblical prophet Elijah and equally scripturally infamous Salmone – the woman responsible for the execution of John the Baptist – about such things as psychic opposites, the anima, and the animus upon being a guest in the odd couple’s home. These concepts refer to, respectively, our dualistic method of perceiving reality (if something is “good” that implies that it is not “bad” and so on), the “inner woman” or conscience within man, and the “inner man” or conscience within a woman. Over the course of several other chapters, Jung has a conversation with his own soul which takes various forms such as a bird or a snake in which Jung, himself, is suspended in messianic fashion in midair as his soul divulges secrets to the agonizing Jung. Such ethereal whispers include things such as humans should strive to be, “not Christians but Christ.” In other words, do not imitate and idolize Christ, rather live as the perfect human which you already are because, “We should not bear Christ as he is unbearable, but we should be Christs, for then our yoke is sweet and our burden easy.” Jung further elaborates, “No one can be spared the way of Christ, since this way leads to what is to come. You should all become Christs.” Confusing, I know. Yet, within the course of the story, it makes perfect sense as you look down upon Jung for being so ignorant as to not grasp this concept sooner in his journeys. Other wonderfully vivid scenes include a meeting in a garden with Christ, apprenticeship under a magician named Philemon (a significant figure to Jung), sitting in a bar discussing Thomas Kepler’s Imitation of Christ, and a sermon to the dead where the origin of consciousness is discussed, albeit it is never expressly stated within the work.
Whether or not the reader is offended by some of these scenes, believe me I was shocked by some of them, the imagery and stories within the pages of The Red Book are amazing. Other than such works as Saint Augustine’s Confessions, there are few other writings in which a well-respected mind chronicles its development. Furthermore, there are few other works that are as incredibly rich with calligraphy, illustrations, allegories, and meaningful scenes all put into one work by one man. You may not agree with the entirety of this work – I highly doubt most will – but the raw glimpse into the soul of a great human is something not easily passed upon. There is a full copy with all illustration and calligraphy included that is available online for a pretty penny, but the “reader’s edition” which contains all writings and a great introduction is an affordable compromise and also available online. From many perspectives, but especially from a writer’s, this is something I believe all should read if only to gaze upon pure visceral human striving to understand something greater than oneself. Jung displays something that I believe is held as un-stated maxim in society and is demonstrated perfectly by The Red Book – that being that the true movers and creators in our society trod the line between eccentricity and genius, taking generously from both sides.
Written by guest author Michael Salvatore Politz
Dr. Carl Jung
Brains and Brawn 