Just as the coloured man lives in your cities and even within your houses, so also he lives under your skin, subconsciously.  Naturally it works both ways.  Just as every Jew has a Christ complex, so every Negro has a white complex and every American (white) a Negro complex.
—C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 10, para 963

Lecture: Friday 19h00 - 21h00

As we encounter the issue of race and therefore racism, witnessing the constellation of cultural complexes in actions of racial violence, marching protests, and global engagement, it appears important to visit the Jungian concept of psychological complexes. Jung’s early work on the “color” complex, what I have named the racial complex, has with few exceptions, not been reviewed and investigated for almost one hundred years. It appears that Jung’s early attempt to define ethnicity and culture within the context of a racial complex, had the hallmark of 19th Century colonial-influenced thinking. As we work within a 21 st century consciousness, we are required to deconstruct psychological theories that are relevant specifically to Jungian psychology and in general to the field of Psychoanalysis. This deconstruction allows us to question, inquire of and re-define both the interior unconscious space of complexes, and the exterior relationship with a differing cultural/ethnic “Other,” in deepening our understanding of racial relationships.

Just as the interpretation of dreams requires exact knowledge of the conscious status quo, so the treatment of dream symbolism demands that we take into account the dreamer’s philosophical, religious, and moral convictions.
—C.G. Jung, The Practice of Psychotherapy, para. 339

Workshop: Saturday 09h30 - 12h30

The workshop will provide a deeper understanding of ethnicity and Africanist culture in dream imagery. Almost all of Jung’s exploration of dream study was exclusive of individuals of African descent and people of color. His most related effort was during a visit to Washington D.C. where he remained for one month researching the dreams of 15 hospitalized African American men. We will review this visit, as much of his findings as we can, and further consider dreams inclusive of people of color.

A most significant part of our time together will be the sharing of dream images in which BIPOC individuals are present, issues of race are apparent and or imagery related to culture. This is an area of little exploration within Jungian psychology as connected with our multicultural society. We will have an opportunity to share, discuss and perhaps find new openings for discussion and ways of considering how ethnicity and culture manifest in the Unconscious through our dreaming lives. Please bring a dream for sharing and discussion with the group.