More than 400 years ago, Shakespeare observed that thinking determines our experience. In Jungian circles, projections are the psyche’s playground – turning over the soil to reveal seeds, fruits, jewels and hidden treasures. In plain English, our attitudes shape our cultural complexes — and our cultural complexes shape our attitudes.
More than at any time in our lives, we are surrounded by polarized attitudes that are producing havoc. We live on the horns of an age-old dilemma that seems to defy harmony. Is it the nature of culture to be at war with itself? Or as Rodney King once put it, “Can’t we all just get along?”
Dr. John Beebe, as an Elder, has endured more cultural transformations than most of us. As a Jungian analyst dealing with angst and trauma for many decades, he has become skilled at using the tools that mythic perspectives provide him. A wise warrior, he provides counsel at times when people need it most – when they are down, when they are surrounded by confusion, when even rational discourse seems to make no sense. If it’s culture’s nature to manifest divisions in attitudes and complexes, we need to know how to find the reckoning point between the tensions of the opposites. Look no further than aging, race, politics, gender, or the pandemic to find an issue that for you is the lightning rod of most relevance. Since we lack a common story, we all benefit from the skill of a storyteller who can work the myths in multiple ways. These are, as the title of his most recent book indicates, the energies and patterns in the psyche.
