Verena Kast and Ingrid Riedel- WHEN EVIL REIGNS, JUNGIANS READ FAIRY TALES
May 29, 2025 at 10:05PM
WHEN EVIL REIGNS JUNGIANS READ FAIRY TALES
ABSTRACT
Witches, Ogres, and the Devil’s Daughter: Encounters with Evil in Fairy Tales—first published in English in 1992 and now republished by JUNGIANEUM/Books—explores how fairy tales shed light on the nature of evil, not merely as an external threat, but as an essential aspect of the psyche’s developmental journey. Through symbolic and psychological interpretation, the authors show how dark figures in these tales act as catalysts for transformation, guiding protagonists toward individuation.
Written by Mario Jacoby, Verena Kast, and Ingrid Riedel, this seminal work remains as timely today as it was 47 years ago, offering profound insight into the moral and existential dilemmas embedded in folklore. With its reissue under the JUNGIANEUM: Re-Covered Classics in Analytical Psychology series, JUNGIANEUM/Books reaffirms its commitment to preserving and revitalizing foundational contributions to analytical psychology.
Drawing on both familiar and lesser-known stories, Kast and Riedel illuminate the cultural, psychological, and ethical dimensions of these archetypes and their lasting grip on the human imagination. This webinar invites participants into a rich, reflective dialogue on the enduring power of fairy tales and the dark, transformative figures who inhabit them.
BIOS
Ingrid Riedel, Ph.D., is a German analytical psychologist, theologian, literary scholar, and author. She holds doctorates in theology and German literature and trained in Analytical Psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute Zurich. Riedel directed programs at the Evangelical Academy Hofgeismar and later taught at the universities of Kassel and Frankfurt. A long-time lecturer and training analyst at the Jung Institutes in Zurich and Stuttgart, she is also honorary member of the International Society for Depth Psychology. Riedel has been awarded an honorary professorship by the University of Frankfurt. She lives in Konstanz.
Verena Kast, Ph.D., studied psychology in Basel and Zurich and trained as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute Zurich. She earned her doctorate with a dissertation on creativity in Jungian psychotherapy and later habilitated with a study on grief in the therapeutic process. From 1973 to 2008, she taught at the University of Zurich and continues to lecture internationally. She has held leading positions in the Swiss and International Societies for Analytical Psychology and co-directed the Lindau Psychotherapy Weeks. Her publications focus on emotions, attachment, grief, and the transformative power of imagination.
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