“Beneath our scientific preoccupations, we remain in the stage of psychological awareness reflected in our religious heritage. Behind the curtain of moral judgment lurk the split figures of good and evil: a model of how we relate to our unconscious natures. Jung has described how those ideas reflect the positive and negative poles necessary to produce psychic energy: the sliding scale along which consciousness fluctuates in its on-going efforts to define itself. Just as it forms the path of collective history, so in the growth of the individual in the first half of life, the repression of the unconscious required for ego to strengthen and develop now creates circumstances which signal the need for a new relation to it — to balance conscious direction; to relate it, make it relative to the counter-pole of inner development.” — A Mid-Life Perspective: Conversations With The Unconscious
In a previous post I introduced the illustrations in my book. Some time ago, I posted three successive articles on the major themes stated in the preface: Part I, PART II, and Part III; each, a brief summary of the ideas which formed the basis of the book.
For the more serious-minded students of Jung’s psychology, I offer the preface in its entirety. It includes brief descriptions of my personal motives in writing the book, as well as cultural analogies of the individual process: an attempt to shed light on the transitional conflicts which seem to me to be shaping collective reactions to the forward movements of the unconscious.
The preface is a discursive outline of the broader premise of the text: the need for a new relation to the unconscious for the purpose of abetting a more conscious transition from a religious conception of nature to a scientific one and beyond — to a psychological one which would better equip us to confront our own natures.
Dear Evan,
With pleasure I discovered that your website shows signs of life again. Yes, the preface of your book fullfills entirely the goal you have given you: to help people to confront their own psychic nature, if possible, without the help of a psychotherapeute. The understanding of our psyche, and the acceptance of it,
these are the preconditions for humanity to avoid a catastrophic outcome of its destiny.
All the best for you – Peter
Thank you Peter,
One of the arguments in the preface is that we are in danger of damaging our connection to instinctual responses through rational thought. High on the list of conscious/unconscious functioning is reflection and, even more so today, I think, the quality of that reflection is vital. Connecting with the forward movements of the unconscious and finding meaning in them is, in my opinion, a psychological/spiritual task which demands knowledge and inner direction. It’s never been easy, but it’s made doubly difficult through the outer-directed orientation of today. Thank you, Peter for your comment — and all the best to you, too!