Analytical Psychology...and Art

For the first time ever, Carl Gustav Jung's Red Book, officially named Liber Novus is on public display at the Rubin Museum in New York.

For those of you who do not know who Carl Gustav Jung is, I will tell you a little bit about him:

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and former disciple of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Jung eventually left Freud's inner circle over disagreements about the role of spirituality and psychosexual development in the human mind.

The book itself is the result of his 16 years of studying his own unconscious. What is particularly interesting is the many illustrations done by Jung himself. They include mythological figures and Buddhist symbols known as mandalas.

Jung's family was reluctant to have the book published; Jung himself was worried that he would be branded as a mad man and his scientific credibility would be ruined.

Finally, a historian from London was given permission to translate the book from German to English. Since October 7, the Red Book has been up on display for everyone to see, according to the BBC.

External Links:

http://www.mandalaproject.org/What/Index.html

http://www.rmanyc.org/theredbook

http://www.answers.com/topic/carl-jung

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8295650.stm

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/27093.html

Author's Note:

Admittedly, this is not my most objective post. However, seeing Jung's name on the BBC, I was compelled to read the story. I've been fascinated with Carl Jung for a little while now, since I heard his name on a TV series. What was particularly interesting about Jung, from the point of view of an artist, are his quotes on creativity:

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."

"From the living fountain of instinct flows everything that is creative; hence the unconscious is not merely conditioned by history, but is the very source of the creative impulse."