As we face the general and presidential election of 2024, hope and dread wrestle for dominance. Surely, we tell ourselves, things can’t go on as they have been. Conversely, we resign ourselves for a dystopian four years and beyond. In such moments as these, the perceptual tools C. G. Jung proposed are among the few that allow us to tolerate and reflect on extreme times in a genuinely psychological way. As his Red Book shows, Jung faced such disarray and psychosis with intelligence and heart. Indeed, his psychology was born of extremity.
Jung also wrote of the mercurial spirit that, like the volatile alchemical mercury, cannot be pinned down. The more we try to do so the more this element seems to move––even more freely and perversely in response to attempts at control, whether personal, cultural, or political. In this Friday evening forum, three Jungian Analysts, Connie Romero, David Solem, and Larry Rayburn will attempt to capture some of the mercurial dynamics in psychological phenomena attached to the political arena such as narcissism, queer theory, and the figure of the trickster. Each of these analysts will take a turn presenting and then face one another to question and further tease out their ideas through dialog. Following the panel’s conversation, the discussion will open up to include the audience and their questions.
Please join us on this Friday evening after the election as we address the realities and possibilities of a great national reckoning together.
