On occasion, most of us have gotten a glimpse, however brief, of a hidden hand directing the nature of our relationships and even the events of our lives. That is what Jung called the Self, the central organizing principle of our total psyche, and of our very being.
He had much to say about the operating principles of the Self, and how we are called upon to relate well to how the Self appears in our lives.
In this course, we will first do a careful exploration of exactly what Jung means by the Self, with handouts from Jung’s and Marie-Louise Von Franz’s various descriptions, and examples of the appearance of the Self. (Jung often said the Self is both above and below us, so he didn’t use the term Higher Self.)
Then we will look at some of those major operating principles, such as how the Self often first appears in our lives through a wound—awful and painful–that calls for greater development of our conscious personality. We will look at a number of “real life” examples of how the appearance of the Self in a person’s life often seems at first to be an enemy that must be resisted or even fought. When the Self appears as our very worst enemy, we are confronted with a higher power that blocks our way and imposes insurmountable obstacles to our greatest desires.
We will take up Jung’s discussion of how the “dark side” of the Self manifests in human life, and how the encounter with this dimension of life tests our ability to respond in the deepest of ways.
However, since the focus of the course is on solving the real problems of life, throughout the five sessions we will look at examples of the bright side of the Self: how it comes as a dependable friend, a clear guide, a profound teacher, and a source of wisdom and meaning, with everything hinging on how we respond to the messages of the Self with our attitudes.
Course readings will include handouts from the writings of C.G. Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, Edward Edinger, Edward Whitmont, Yoram Kaufmann and David Hart.
5 consecutive Mondays, 7:00 – 8:30 pm Eastern Time, USA, online only via Zoom.