The NY Mythology Group

Goethe’s Faust (not another version of the Fautus legend)
A Jungian Exploration of Psyche, Shadow, and Transformation

This two-part discussion series will explore Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust through the lens of Carl Jung’s depth psychology, focusing on the symbolic journey of the psyche, individuation, and the human search for wholeness.

The first meetup will examine Faust, Part One, where Goethe presents the restless striving of Faust, his encounter with Mephistopheles, and his relationship with Gretchen. From a Jungian perspective, we will explore Faust’s encounter with the Shadow, represented by Mephistopheles, and the psychological significance of the feminine through Gretchen as an expression of soul, Eros, and transformation. Themes of desire, projection, guilt, temptation, and the tension between spirit and instinct will guide our discussion.

The second meetup will explore Faust, Part Two, a more complex symbolic and mythological work that expands beyond personal psychology into collective and archetypal dimensions. We will examine Faust’s encounters with classical mythology, Helen of Troy, the Eternal Feminine, and his continued quest for meaning and integration. Through Jungian concepts such as archetypes, the Anima, the Shadow, the Self, and individuation, we will consider Faust’s journey as a symbolic representation of the psyche’s movement toward greater consciousness.

Both newcomers to Jungian thought and those with a deeper familiarity with analytical psychology are warmly welcomed.

The discussions are designed to encourage thoughtful exploration, allowing participants at different levels of experience to engage with Goethe’s profound examination of human nature, transformation, and the mysteries of the psyche.

Participants are encouraged to read both parts of Faust before the respective discussions/meetups.

I will be reading the FAUST by Goethe, translated by Walter Arndt and Edited by Cyrus Hamlin.

NOTE: Inserted is an incomplete online version (sorry i was unable to find a full copy)

Please arrive early.
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Jung, Gnosticism, Alchemy, and the Religious Function of the Psyche

I have been studying the depth psychology of Carl Gustav Jung since the 1980s. And since the publication of Jung's The Red Book (Liber Novus) in 2009, I have devoted particular attention to studying the relationship between Jung's psychology, Gnosticism, and Alchemy.
In this presentation, we will explore Jung's concept of the "religious function of the psyche"—the natural human tendency to seek meaning, wholeness, and experiences of the numinous through dreams, symbols, myths, and spiritual experience.

For Jung, this religious function is not limited to organized religion. It can also express itself through secular and everyday activities, including creative work, relationships, personal values, the search for purpose, and the symbolic meaning we find in ordinary life.

We will examine key Gnostic themes such as gnosis, Sophia, the divine spark, Anthropos, and the Pleroma, and how they influenced Jung's understanding of archetypes, the Self, and individuation.

We will also consider important alchemical symbols and processes, including the nigredo, albedo, rubedo, coniunctio, Mercurius, and the Philosopher's Stone, as expressions of psychological transformation.

Together, Gnosticism and Alchemy provided Jung with a "symbolic language for describing the lifelong process of individuation," the movement toward greater consciousness, integration of opposites, and realization of the Self.