This talk explores Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach as a profound meditation on the problem of power—its limits, its dangers, and its potential transformation. Parzival’s journey mirrors a psychological and spiritual evolution: from the ego’s pursuit of control and conquest to a deeper, soul-centered capacity for compassion, service, and love.
Written during the rise of centralised Church power and the Crusades, Parzival emerges in a time when traditional masculine models of dominance were being challenged by a resurgence of feminine spiritual values—seen in the cult of the Virgin Mary, courtly love, and the Grail myths themselves.
Similarly, today’s world is marked by ecological devastation, geopolitical aggression, inequality, and technological overreach—symptoms of power obsession and a disconnection from soul.
In our own age of Wasteland, Parzival offers a guide to transforming power—not by renouncing it, but by grounding it in love, humility, and sacred service to the Self.
About The Speaker
Robert Matthews is a Swiss trained Jungian Analyst in private practice and the current President of the C G Jung Society of South Australia. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics and is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Adelaide University.
He is also a published author having “The Paradoxical Meeting of Depth Psychology and Physics: Reflections on the Unification of Psyche and Matter” (Routledge) published in 2022 as part of their Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies series.
