The Solar Myths and Opicinus de Canistris: Notes of the Seminar given at Eranos in 1943

by C.G. Jung

C.G. Jung held an ‘extemporaneous’ seminar on “The Solar Myths and Opicinus de Canistris” at the 1943 Eranos Conference. In a complete version for the first time, this book presents all of the known material relating to the seminar, including notes taken by two of his students, Alwine von Keller and Rivkah Schärf Kluger, and the outline that Jung himself prepared. Opicinus de Canistris (1296–c. 1352) was a priest and cartographer from near Pavia, Italy. His typically medieval cartography is characterized by historical, theological, symbolic and astrological references along with a curious anthropomorphism, which depicted continents and oceans with human features. Jung recognized this as a projection of Opicinus’ inner world and interpreted the maps of the world as mandalas, where the integration of the shadow, the dark principle, was missing.

From the contents:
Opicinus de Canistris. Concluding Seminar, Eranos, Ascona, 1943 (Speaking Notes by Carl Gustav Jung)
Notes on Jung’s Seminar held on August 12 and 14, 1943, by Alwine von Keller and Rivkah Schärf Kluger
Rivkah Schärf Kluger. A Life Fuelled with Intensity of Spirit and Rare Depth of Soul, by Nomi Kluger-Nash
Alwine von Keller (1878–1965). A Biographical Memoir, by Riccardo Bernardini, Gian Piero Quaglino, Augusto Romano

174 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2015

About the author

Carl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.

The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.

Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.

Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.

Reviews

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting little find, a 20 page lecture Jung delivered across two days informally, an exploration of the sun myth and integration of opposites--two separate topics. Thoughts on Jung's mind as he listened to other thought leaders speak. I appreciated this "seminar" especially as it better explained the concept of God from his visit to Africa, it is not the "moment" the first rays of sun break The horizon, it is the emotions provoked. This anecdote has come up in multiple works I've reviewed from Jung though I had missed that point until now. The rest of the book is semi-interesting biographical explorations of how this lecture and Erabos came to be. Informative, and basically information I wouldn't have bothered to learn and am fine for having learned it.