The Secret of the Golden Flower: Meditations on the Way of Individuation

Jung’s encounter with the Taoist-alchemical text, The Secret of the Golden Flower, was an important event in the development of his psychology. On the one hand, it gave him confirmation for the method of active imagination that he had been developing, and it gave him confidence to begin to publish his findings about the process. On the other hand, the text formed a link to alchemy, the subject that would come to dominate Jung’s later years of research and study.

In this class, we will read through both the original text of The Secret of the Golden Flower, translated by Richard Wilhelm, as well as Jung’s commentary on the text. We will discuss its importance to Jung’s work, noting its value for his theory of the reality of the psyche, for the development of the method active imagination, and for his study of the psychology of alchemy. We will use the images in the Golden Flower text to practice the art of working with symbolic material. Finally, we will explore the relevance of this work for the practical application of the symbolic life in our own daily lives.

Required Reading

The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life (Translated by Richard Wilhelm, with a commentary by C.G. Jung)