I hope you still have a few more hours of you summer holiday to enjoy befgore starting work again. If you do you might be interested in a new audio play from Henry Abramovitch and Murray Stein “Twilight at Bollingen” which presents a fictionalised conversation between Carl Jung and his closest colleagues, Aniela Jaffé, Marie-Louise von Franz, and Erich Neumann. They explore themes of legacy, psychology, and mortality through three meetings at Jung’s tower in Bollingen, Switzerland.
In the first meeting in August 1959, an 84-year-old Jung expresses his fear of death to Jaffé and asks her to summon von Franz and Neumann despite their tense relationship. The second meeting a year later focuses on Jung’s instruction to his students to continue the development of analytical psychology after his death, which he believes is “not nearly finished.” The students discuss a collective crisis and the potential for a “cult-like” atmosphere among Jung’s followers.
The final meeting which takes place in May 1961, shortly before Jung’s death, sees him reflecting on his legacy and expressing his belief that students should not merely repeat his teachings but find their own way. The conflict between von Franz and Neumann resurfaces as they debate the future direction of analytical psychology. The video concludes with Jung’s final reflections on his life’s work, comparing it to a ship that has sailed beyond the horizon and raising a toast to his colleagues, stating, “We are together eternally.”
Written by Henry Abramovitch and Murray Stein, and produced by Luis Moris, you can listen to the full episode here.