Psychedelics, Psychoanalysis and the Creative Process
Spinning on a Dream Thread by Rix Weaver
with Brittain Garrett
As part of our ongoing celebration of Rix Weaver, the first Jungian analyst in Australia and the founder of the CG Jung Society of WA, this lecture looks at her book Spinning on a Dream Thread. This book encouraged by, edited by and organized by Olive Mason, takes us deep into the creative process of the Nobel Prize winning author Herman Hesse.
Olive tells me that Rix Weaver’s main motivation for writing this book was to make very clear that Hesse was not taking hallucinogens as Timothy Leary and others claimed. Weaver shows throughout that Hesse’s creative process is an Active Imagination. She makes some very interesting points about the use of psychoactive drugs and points out Jung’s attitude to them. It is relevant to us now as we think about using psychoactive drugs therapeutically. The comments might generate some conversation on the night and I look forward to it.
Weaver shows how some of Hesse’s most influential books; particularly Demian, Siddhartha and Steppenwolf, are his way of wrestling with the unconscious forces within. They are an Active Imagination, a conscious encounter with unconscious psychic aspects.
Hesse had a few sessions of analysis with Jung in 1921, and saw an analyst who had worked with Jung. He also had a Freudian psychoanalysis. In 1934 Hesse wrote Jung and much of this correspondence Weaver shows, is about the creative process of the artist and what drives it. Hesse feels Jung has no understanding of the artist, but Jung’s response shows very clearly that he does. The correspondence is an eye-opening treat to read! I can’t wait to read it out to you. It really lays out the differences between Jung and Freud particularly with regards to the creative process.
Brittain Garrett is a Jungian Analyst in Private practice in Fremantle and Margaret River. She is the current president of the CG Jung Society of WA. www.jungian.com.au
Venue: Cottesloe Civic Centre Lesser Hall
Corner of Napier Street and Broome Street, Cottesloe
Cost: $10 (members), $15 Concession $20 (general)
