The Gods of Time: Traces of Eternity
“In so far as the forms or patterns of the unconscious belong to no time in particular, being seemingly eternal, they convey a peculiar feeling of timelessness when consciously realised.”
In this four-part series, we explore the mysteries of time through archetype, myth, symbol, memory and the unconscious, starting with the Friday night lecture, followed by three subsequent classes on the Gods of Time.
Philosophy and physics confirm the mysterious nature of time. It was this mystery between temporal and eternal time, combined with Jung’s experiences, that led to his explorations into the nature of time. For nearly two decades before Jung first used his term ‘synchronistic connective principle’, he had been deeply engaged in his ‘confrontation with the unconscious’. Even though he expressed ideas about his acausal understanding of the quality of time, another two decades passed before he made his first public address on Synchronicity, appropriately during the Eranos conference on Man and Time.
This lecture focuses on Jung’s exploration and experimentation with time, and how his breadth of enquiry led to his exposition of synchronicity, how he saw these moments as being arranged by an underlying archetype and how these experiences confronted our conscious attitudes. We will engage in the enigma and wonder of time from Jung’s perspective.