carl Jung & transpersonal/depth/existential psychologies

This is ONLINE

I will be hosting a short series of meetups to read and discuss Carl G. Jung's "Psychology and Alchemy," Volume 12 from Collected Works by Bollingen Series.

This session is the SECOND in that series.

Required reading:

Part 2: Individual Dream Symbolism in Relations to Alchemy.
Pages 41-94. Paragraphs 44--121.

All sessions welcomes both longtime readers of Jung and those completely new to his ideas.

Together, we’ll explore questions like:

• What did alchemists believe they were really transforming?
• How does Jung relate alchemical symbolism to psychological processes?
• Where do religion and psychology overlap in the quest for inner change?
• Can these ideas still speak to contemporary life?

The meetup will blend brief framing with open discussion, so even if you found the reading dense, you’ll have space to unpack it collaboratively.

Again, no prior background in alchemy or Jung is required—just curiosity and a willingness to engage.
Expect a thoughtful, welcoming atmosphere where complex ideas are explored without pressure to be an expert.

Bring your questions, your interpretations, and your copy of Part I2

NOTE: location and start time.

The Carl G. Jung Meetup is returning to the Kristine Mann Library (KML). Feel free to arrive early, it's a special library.

These monthly readings and discussions are devoted to the exploration of the works of Carl G. Jung and other Jungian, analytical, depth, existential, and transpersonal writers as well.

Meeting on select Tuesdays from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, the group offers an open, thoughtful, and respectful atmosphere that encourages dialogue, reflection, and collaborative inquiry.

Beginners are warmly welcomed, as are longtime readers of Jung.

We will begin and inaugurate our return to the KML with a new series with Volume 12 of Jung’s Collected Works, Psychology and Alchemy (Bollingen Series), one of his most fascinating and influential explorations of symbolism, religion, and psychological transformation.

Our first gathering will focus on Part I: “Introduction to the Religious and Psychological Problems of Alchemy” (pp. 1–37).

Future sessions and reading assignments to be determined (The Jung Center will be closed during the month of August).

NOTE: Participants are expected to complete the assigned reading in advance so that discussion may be substantive, engaging, and rewarding for everyone involved. If you are unable to complete the reading assignment beforehand, you are still welcome to attend, though we ask that you refrain from actively participating in the discussion.

Although Psychology and Alchemy is one of Jung’s more challenging works, Part I serves as an accessible entry point into Jung’s understanding of alchemy as a symbolic language of inner psychological transformation.

Together, we will explore questions such as:
• What did the alchemists believe they were truly transforming?
• How does Jung relate alchemical symbolism to psychological processes?
• Where do religion and psychology overlap in the search for inner change?
• Can these ideas still speak meaningfully to contemporary life?

The evening will combine brief framing remarks with open discussion, allowing participants to unpack difficult ideas collaboratively and without pressure to be experts. Again, no prior background in Jung or alchemy is required—only curiosity and a willingness to engage seriously with the material.

From time to time, the group may also view a video presentation together or discuss a film from a Jungian and symbolic perspective. Occasional guest presenters may also join future sessions.

Whether you are new to Jung or have studied his work for years, you are invited to participate in what we hope will be a thoughtful and rewarding exploration of psyche, symbolism, and transformation.

NOTE: New date.

This will be our Final Meetup (3 of 3) for this work.

REQUIRED READING ASSIGNMENT: Jung's Seminar on Nietzsche's Zarathustra. Edited by James L. Jarrett.

For this meetup, read from page 301 to the end.

Having wrestled directly with Nietzsche’s poetic and prophetic text, we have turned to C.G. Jung’s abridged edition of his Seminar on Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, drawn from the original lecture series Jung delivered between 1934 and 1939.

These seminars form one of the richest sources for Jung’s mature thinking and deeply inform the foundations of Analytical Psychology.

Across the three sessions, we have been exploring how Nietzsche’s ideas in Zarathustra—the Übermensch, eternal recurrence, the death of God, and the revaluation of values—sustain and provoke Jung’s concepts of individuation, the Self, the shadow, and the tension of opposites. Jung approaches Zarathustra not merely as philosophy, but as a psychological drama expressing the fate of modern consciousness. Each meetup will combine close reading, open discussion, and reflective dialogue, linking Nietzsche’s visionary language to Jung’s symbolic and clinical insights.

I hope to conclude**, in some manner,** by comparing and contrasting Nietzsche’s Zarathustra with Jung’s Red Book: two perilous inner journeys shaped by imaginal encounter, myth-making, and confrontation with the unconscious—one prophetic and philosophical, the other therapeutic and psychological—each risking transformation at the limits of the modern soul.