In mid-October 2024, the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco hosted its seventh Presidency Conference, exploring the intersection of politics, psychology, and the human experience in the context of the US presidential election. This election year particularly the psychological was massively and profoundly central.
This year’s theme, Politics in a Traumatized World, addressed the emotional and symbolic emptiness of modern political discourse. Issues like “abortion,” “inflation,” “illegal immigration,” and “gun control” have been reduced to trigger words, stirring emotions but lacking depth and meaning. The conference papers aimed to reawaken these critical topics, reconnecting them with their deeper symbolic and soulful significance.
In collaboration with ARAS (the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism), the Jung Institute has now published these thought-provoking papers in a free digital book. The collection offers a thoughtful response to the draining effects of the election cycle, akin to a shamanic healing of the soul. By reembodying and resacralizing the issues often trivialized in political campaigns, these essays provide a necessary antidote to the shallowness of soundbite-driven politics.
The digital book of conference presentations is available for free, inviting readers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the deeper, soulful dimensions of our shared humanity. It’s a timely call to restore meaning to the political landscape and reclaim our collective spirit.
Tom Singer writing on his Substack says:
As we begin our long trek through the desert or worse, I want to share a document with you that, in a strange way, offers soulful hope in its willingness to confront in depth some of the many issues that will continue to haunt us during the next years.