What do you think?
Rate this book
Alchemical Active Imagination
A leading Jungian psychologist reveals the relationship between alchemy and analytical psychology, delving into the visionary work of a sixteenth-century alchemist
Although alchemy is popularly regarded as the science that sought to transmute base physical matter, many of the medieval alchemists were more interested in developing a discipline that would lead to the psychological and spiritual transformation of the individual. C. G. Jung discovered in his study of alchemical texts a symbolic and imaginal language that expressed many of his own insights into psychological processes.
In this book, Marie-Louise von Franz examines a text by the sixteenth-century alchemist and physician Gerhard Dorn in order to show the relationship of alchemy to the concepts and techniques of analytical psychology. In particular, she shows that the alchemists practiced a kind of meditation similar to Jung's technique of active imagination, which enables one to dialogue with the unconscious archetypal elements in the psyche.
Originally delivered as a series of lectures at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, the book opens therapeutic insights into the relations among spirit, soul, and body in the practice of active imagination.
Although alchemy is popularly regarded as the science that sought to transmute base physical matter, many of the medieval alchemists were more interested in developing a discipline that would lead to the psychological and spiritual transformation of the individual. C. G. Jung discovered in his study of alchemical texts a symbolic and imaginal language that expressed many of his own insights into psychological processes.
In this book, Marie-Louise von Franz examines a text by the sixteenth-century alchemist and physician Gerhard Dorn in order to show the relationship of alchemy to the concepts and techniques of analytical psychology. In particular, she shows that the alchemists practiced a kind of meditation similar to Jung's technique of active imagination, which enables one to dialogue with the unconscious archetypal elements in the psyche.
Originally delivered as a series of lectures at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, the book opens therapeutic insights into the relations among spirit, soul, and body in the practice of active imagination.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 1979
73 people are currently reading
1341 people want to read
About the author
Marie-Louise von Franz
84 books877 followersMarie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss Jungian psychologist and scholar.
Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter, deal with this research.
Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus," published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.
Von Franz founded the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."
Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter, deal with this research.
Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus," published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.
Von Franz founded the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 13, 2016
This one was a little more dense than her other works; nevertheless, Marie-Louise explained Jung with clarity. Take this quote, for example, as a way to express the purpose of individuation:
"Whenever this (the individuation process) occurs positively, it brings about a union of consciousness with the collective unconscious instead of an explosion of consciousness: it means an enlargement of consciousness together with a decrease of intensity in the ego complex. When this happens, the ego retires in favor of the collective unconscious and its center, the Self. To reach that point where outer and inner reality become one is the goal of individuation." p 149.
She thus make clear that by working towards awareness of self, Self and the complexes via dream interpretation and becoming vitally involved in life one is thus initiated into the unitive experience of being one with God.
"Whenever this (the individuation process) occurs positively, it brings about a union of consciousness with the collective unconscious instead of an explosion of consciousness: it means an enlargement of consciousness together with a decrease of intensity in the ego complex. When this happens, the ego retires in favor of the collective unconscious and its center, the Self. To reach that point where outer and inner reality become one is the goal of individuation." p 149.
She thus make clear that by working towards awareness of self, Self and the complexes via dream interpretation and becoming vitally involved in life one is thus initiated into the unitive experience of being one with God.
November 18, 2022
A collection of transcripts of Marie-Louise von Franz' lectures on alchemy. I know her largely for the interesting but frustrating "Puer Aeternus" and her collaborations with C. G. Jung such as those chapters of ”Man and His Symbols” I found by far the most lucid. This, however, is on a whole different level.
The first lecture alone, whose transcript is roughly 20 pages long, contains tons of information about similarities and differences between ancient Egyptian and Greek religions' metaphysics, how they manifested in the craftsmanship and architecture of those cultures and so on. One important point is that for the ancient Egyptians, blacksmithing and construction were religious activities like any other ritual as say a funeral or a wedding, as a result of having a resolutely non-dualistic worldview as a basis for their culture with no distinction between the material and the spiritual. The later lectures explain the underlying metaphysics of alchemy, which in the Christian era constitutes an esoteric compensation to the lacunae in conventional Christianity by preserving the holistic worldview underlying the pre-Christian Egyptian and Greek religions as well as the methods for enacting that metaphysical system in practice.
A central insight in alchemy, Von Franz points out, is that the skills necessary to complete the transmutation process is more valuable than the literal turning of lead to gold. Same message as the Arthurian Grail Quest myths, where whatever the Grail is happens to be less important than the wisdom necessary to find the Grail in the first place. Or for that matter the Kabbalah's initiation process, where the literal answers to the different challenges encountered on the ascent up the Tree of Life are secondary to the respective faculties of the human mind mastered in the process. Around here, Von Franz takes care to dispel popular misconceptions about alchemy, which she blames on the Freemasons and Rosicrucians.
The later lectures include even more information about different topics densely packed into extremely short space - requiring the reader to follow complex analysis of the similarities and differences between Greco-Roman esotericism, varying traditions within Christian and Islamic mysticism, Zen Buddhism and probably even more mystical religious traditions I have already forgotten.
I don't understand everything in here to a satisfying extent, let alone agree with all of Von Franz' conclusions, but this book got me thinking about several topics in new ways and convinced me to put ideas I already entertained on the abstract philosophical level into daily practice in my life. So I definitely found it worth reading, and got a better signal-to-noise ratio out of it than ”Puer Aeternus”.
Many thanks to Susan Demeter, author of COSMIC WITCH: magic, witchcraft, and the supernatural, for having mentioned Marie-Louise von Franz as an inspiration in one of her YouTube videos, hence giving me the impetus to finally read this.
The first lecture alone, whose transcript is roughly 20 pages long, contains tons of information about similarities and differences between ancient Egyptian and Greek religions' metaphysics, how they manifested in the craftsmanship and architecture of those cultures and so on. One important point is that for the ancient Egyptians, blacksmithing and construction were religious activities like any other ritual as say a funeral or a wedding, as a result of having a resolutely non-dualistic worldview as a basis for their culture with no distinction between the material and the spiritual. The later lectures explain the underlying metaphysics of alchemy, which in the Christian era constitutes an esoteric compensation to the lacunae in conventional Christianity by preserving the holistic worldview underlying the pre-Christian Egyptian and Greek religions as well as the methods for enacting that metaphysical system in practice.
A central insight in alchemy, Von Franz points out, is that the skills necessary to complete the transmutation process is more valuable than the literal turning of lead to gold. Same message as the Arthurian Grail Quest myths, where whatever the Grail is happens to be less important than the wisdom necessary to find the Grail in the first place. Or for that matter the Kabbalah's initiation process, where the literal answers to the different challenges encountered on the ascent up the Tree of Life are secondary to the respective faculties of the human mind mastered in the process. Around here, Von Franz takes care to dispel popular misconceptions about alchemy, which she blames on the Freemasons and Rosicrucians.
The later lectures include even more information about different topics densely packed into extremely short space - requiring the reader to follow complex analysis of the similarities and differences between Greco-Roman esotericism, varying traditions within Christian and Islamic mysticism, Zen Buddhism and probably even more mystical religious traditions I have already forgotten.
I don't understand everything in here to a satisfying extent, let alone agree with all of Von Franz' conclusions, but this book got me thinking about several topics in new ways and convinced me to put ideas I already entertained on the abstract philosophical level into daily practice in my life. So I definitely found it worth reading, and got a better signal-to-noise ratio out of it than ”Puer Aeternus”.
Many thanks to Susan Demeter, author of COSMIC WITCH: magic, witchcraft, and the supernatural, for having mentioned Marie-Louise von Franz as an inspiration in one of her YouTube videos, hence giving me the impetus to finally read this.
March 4, 2009
This is a challenging read. It starts out fairly normally in that she discusses much of what Dr. Jung thought and practiced in the way of Active Imagination. However, about 1/3 of the way through it, it becomes more of a commentary on Mr. Dorn's thoughts and ideas in this area. As interesting as it was, it was very difficult to follow as this was mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries and their thought patterns and ideas were very different.
However, it was very interesting and well worth the walk through if for nothing else but to read about one of the pioneers that helped Dr. Jung come to his own conclusions.
However, it was very interesting and well worth the walk through if for nothing else but to read about one of the pioneers that helped Dr. Jung come to his own conclusions.
December 20, 2012
This is a considerably less convoluted treatise on Alchemy and its modern day psychological relevance,than the one produced by Carl Jung.After a couple of chapters explaining the concepts and tracing the history of Alchemy back to Egyptian mummification and the rites of Osiris,the author proceeds to dissect some of the more relevant and more lucid parts of a sixteenth century text written by Gerhard Dorn,a student of Paracelsus.The active imagination referred to in the title concerns the imaginary conversations between the different parts of the undifferentiated psyche and their conflicts,resolutions and final unity.Things do sometimes get complex, especially when Von Franz starts analysing Dorn's shadow projections in his metaphysical conversations,but that's not to say it's indecipherable it just requires more work than the rest of the text to understand.
The book works well as a truncated description of individuation and the external effects of the process that manifest in the external environment of the one undergoing the process,it also contains much of the authors own inner gold in clarifying concepts that others make complex.
The book works well as a truncated description of individuation and the external effects of the process that manifest in the external environment of the one undergoing the process,it also contains much of the authors own inner gold in clarifying concepts that others make complex.
Read
September 10, 2016As scientists today “enrich” or process uranium to transform it into a more “pure” metal for industrial/bomb-making purposes, so the 16th century alchemist believed that any metal, sufficiently “enriched” or processed, would transform into a metal’s purest form: gold.
Von Franz explains the theories of alchemist Gerhard Dorn:
“... gold, now really understood as a metal, is the perfect state of every metal. Iron, copper, and alloy, and so forth, are just not - yet - completed metals, hampered by stuff which in inimical to them. Therefore, if you make this higher separatio and remove what hampers the inner development of that metal, it will naturally become gold.” pg. 99
Football as the American religion:
“...when you to further back in the history of religion, you can no longer distinguish between play or games and rituals. The history of games such as still exist in primitive societies - like dice, ring-toss (putting a stick in the ground and then throwing a ring over it), and all the group and ball games - shows that these are played both as rituals and, at the same time, as games.... In other words, when a man is not occupied in hunting, eating, making love, or sleeping, if he has any further energy left, then - let us use the zoological expression - he moves about and does things which to him express the meaning of his existence, and such things are generally ritual-games or game-rituals. And according to the material I have seen, at least ninety percent if not all of them always cluster around what we now would call the symbolism of the Self.
“There is generally a mandala structure involved somewhere: rings have to be put over a center, or you have a round bowl into which you have to throw little stones, and you hit or miss the goal. The patterns of all those ritualistic games are bigger or smaller mandala patterns, and even the implements used, like dice, are generally of a mandala structure, and it is the same all over the world, whether in North America, India, China, Australia, and so on. These ritual games and performances are therefore the oldest features of religious life that which we can trace historically.” pg. 91
Von Franz explains the theories of alchemist Gerhard Dorn:
“... gold, now really understood as a metal, is the perfect state of every metal. Iron, copper, and alloy, and so forth, are just not - yet - completed metals, hampered by stuff which in inimical to them. Therefore, if you make this higher separatio and remove what hampers the inner development of that metal, it will naturally become gold.” pg. 99
Football as the American religion:
“...when you to further back in the history of religion, you can no longer distinguish between play or games and rituals. The history of games such as still exist in primitive societies - like dice, ring-toss (putting a stick in the ground and then throwing a ring over it), and all the group and ball games - shows that these are played both as rituals and, at the same time, as games.... In other words, when a man is not occupied in hunting, eating, making love, or sleeping, if he has any further energy left, then - let us use the zoological expression - he moves about and does things which to him express the meaning of his existence, and such things are generally ritual-games or game-rituals. And according to the material I have seen, at least ninety percent if not all of them always cluster around what we now would call the symbolism of the Self.
“There is generally a mandala structure involved somewhere: rings have to be put over a center, or you have a round bowl into which you have to throw little stones, and you hit or miss the goal. The patterns of all those ritualistic games are bigger or smaller mandala patterns, and even the implements used, like dice, are generally of a mandala structure, and it is the same all over the world, whether in North America, India, China, Australia, and so on. These ritual games and performances are therefore the oldest features of religious life that which we can trace historically.” pg. 91
December 22, 2015
This book was really cool. It helped me understand the psychological nature of alchemy--essentially active imagination, or the projection of the unconscious into outer material--whose purpose it is to unify the mind with itself, the mind with the body, and the body with the world. It also gave me a way of thinking about unlikely or seemingly supernatural events--as synchronicity that unites an inner state of mind with an outer event.
However, I'm still unwilling to go with the Jungians and say that good and evil are just another opposite to be resolved. Personally, I think that (at least in their divine sense) goodness IS the union of opposites, where evil is perpetual disunity.
However, I'm still unwilling to go with the Jungians and say that good and evil are just another opposite to be resolved. Personally, I think that (at least in their divine sense) goodness IS the union of opposites, where evil is perpetual disunity.
January 26, 2011
Marie-Louisse von Franz, one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century....
January 20, 2025
If you're not deeply into Jungian dreamwork/psychology, this is definitely not for you. Even if you are, getting to the gold--appropriately enough in the chapter on Medieval Magic--can be tricky. Von Franz, a close associate of Jung from early on, is reading a text by the 16th century alchemist Gerhard Dorn, who Jung had read closely in some of his alchemical studies. (For those who aren't aware, for Jungians, and for me, the alchemists were not best understood at proto-chemists but as depth psychologists.). There's a great deal of delving into arcane phrasings and "translations" of physical symbols into "modern' (which here means mid-20th century) terms. It's also grounded in the practice of active imagination--engaging in dialogs with dream figures. Von Franz approaches that differently than I do, so I had to do another bit of translating. But at the end of it, there's some really important insight in the Medieval Magic chapter, which I'd include if I were assembling an anthology of crucial Jungian writings.
January 25, 2025
“This means that one can recognize oneself by looking within, or by concentrating on the light of nature within one self and then looking at what happens to one outwardly.”
What an important read in the realm of analytical, depth psychology. I will probably read this multiple times in my life and understand it differently each time (pg. 142 - IYKYK)
What an important read in the realm of analytical, depth psychology. I will probably read this multiple times in my life and understand it differently each time (pg. 142 - IYKYK)
April 26, 2021
Disclaimer 1: This is less of an objective review than a series of personal thoughts. I guess I could argue that from a Jungian perspective, there is no such thing as an objective review. However, this is just extremely subjective and I don't think it will help very many people decide if they want to read this book.
Disclaimer 2: 3 stars is likely an unfair review because I am still wrapping my brain around alchemy. I've been reading "Psychology and Alchemy" from Jung's Collected Works, and I got similar vibes here. I definitely believe they know what they're talking about, and that it's real, I just think it's nearly impossible to summarize in a single text. Von Franz even mentions that Jung's understanding of alchemy came from reading everything he could possibly find and looking at the information in aggregate. So that's what I expect to do. I feel like I'm swallowing up information for later use.
I picked up this book because I was interested in understanding active imagination a bit more, and I found other writings from von Franz to be pretty understandable. This book touched more on alchemy, but active imagination was sprinkled throughout. The idea that alchemists sort of understood that their whole process was about individuation is fascinating to me. It's not like they were just encoding these ideas in allegories; they really weren't aware of everything going on! Only when Jung came along did someone see the big picture. If I'm honest, the fact that he and von Franz understand what's going on, and are trying to explain it to me, all while I sit there blinking as the ideas bounce off my skull...it makes me feel stupid. I'm trying not to get hung up on that, because I really think there's something here for me.
Disclaimer 2: 3 stars is likely an unfair review because I am still wrapping my brain around alchemy. I've been reading "Psychology and Alchemy" from Jung's Collected Works, and I got similar vibes here. I definitely believe they know what they're talking about, and that it's real, I just think it's nearly impossible to summarize in a single text. Von Franz even mentions that Jung's understanding of alchemy came from reading everything he could possibly find and looking at the information in aggregate. So that's what I expect to do. I feel like I'm swallowing up information for later use.
I picked up this book because I was interested in understanding active imagination a bit more, and I found other writings from von Franz to be pretty understandable. This book touched more on alchemy, but active imagination was sprinkled throughout. The idea that alchemists sort of understood that their whole process was about individuation is fascinating to me. It's not like they were just encoding these ideas in allegories; they really weren't aware of everything going on! Only when Jung came along did someone see the big picture. If I'm honest, the fact that he and von Franz understand what's going on, and are trying to explain it to me, all while I sit there blinking as the ideas bounce off my skull...it makes me feel stupid. I'm trying not to get hung up on that, because I really think there's something here for me.
June 30, 2021
Marie-Louise never fails to impress and explain the deeper psychological structures and how our (Jungs) knowledge thereof came into being. It is impressive to realize how much knowing already was available throughout ancient times and further crystalized in the writings of 17th century alchemist Dorn. Von Franz illustrates and explains the deeper psychology and spiritual linkeages with his writings, story dialogues and clinical examples. Books which are well written and are ambitious on hinting and hitting aspects of truth and being, deserve a 5* rating, so here it goes...
October 22, 2017
This book, combined with James Elkins' "What Painting Is", are the bedrock upon which much of thinking about painting is based.
Read
June 5, 2021some interesting ideas, the authors voice was a little annoying to me though
April 9, 2024
It might have been a few month ago that I finished this book, and as much as I would like to report the alchemical change it had on my psyche, it felt more like von Franz’ book review of an obscure metaphysical text that Herr Professor Jung handed to her with a wink toward another publishing opportunity. However, she earned a few point back, getting one or two more GR stars, by selecting the dialogues put down by Gerhard Dorn, advancing the playfulness of dramatic dialogue to uncover some of the mysteries of consciousness.
June 2, 2024
Someone said, wes are what we read.
Through time reading this book, we will consciously pay more attention to our dreams, and try to read what it want to say.
Still wanna know what is the meaning of the term heart attack = manager disease ?
Through time reading this book, we will consciously pay more attention to our dreams, and try to read what it want to say.
Still wanna know what is the meaning of the term heart attack = manager disease ?
January 21, 2025
Beautiful
March 12, 2016
Door studie krijgt men kennis; door kennis liefde, die toewijding schept; toewijding schept herhaling en door de herhaling vast te leggen schept men in zichzelf ervaring, deugd en macht, waardoor het wonderbaarlijke tot stand wordt gebracht en dit is de aard van het werk in de natuur.
Dorn was van mening dat een evenwichtig levenspatroon de beste manier was om lichamelijk gezond te blijven. Niet te veel slapen, niet te weinig of te veel eten, de juiste hoeveelheid beweging nemen, enzovoort. Het is niets nieuws meer, maar daarom niet minder waar, want wanneer mensen lichamelijk ziek worden, is die ziekte meestal geleidelijk ontstaan door jarenlang zonder innerlijk evenwicht te leven, door te veel te eten, geen beweging te nemen of niet genoeg te slapen; en dan presenteert de natuur op een dag de rekening. Dorn zijn 'gouden geneesmiddel' moest de ziel van de mensen genezen: psychologische genezing door constant te zoeken met het zelf, of het proces van individuatie.
Multiplicatio: een werkelijk geindividueerde persoonlijkheid heeft een uitstraling naar andere mensen en brengt in hen hetzelfde proces op gang. Op die manier worden anderen ook bij het genezingsproces betrokken.
Niemand kan van zichzelf bewust worden als hij niet weet wie en wat hij is, waarvan je afhankelijk bent, aan wie je toebehoort en waarvoor je geschapen bent.
DE BAND MET HET ZELF ZORGT VOOR EEN ZEKERE RUST EN STANDVASTIGHEID IN DE PERSOONLIJKHEID.
We proberen geen einde te maken aan de vijandigheid door die te verdrijven, maar door mensen te dwingen om het met hun eigen conflicten uit te vechten (Fighting Monkey), door ze met hun conflicten te confronteren, zodat die zich niet meer alleen in het onbewuste afspelen, en door de neiging tot integratie in het onbewuste te stimuleren.
In het licht van je dromen kun je jezelf leren kennen op een manier die verschilt van de mening van het ik, want je dromen geven aanvullende informatie die niet afkomstig is van je eigen ik. (objectief)
Het bereiken van het punt waar de innerlijke en de uiterlijke werkelijkheid (hemel en aarde) één worden, is het doel van het individuatieproces: wat Jung de 'absolute kennis' van het onbewuste noemt.
Dorn was van mening dat een evenwichtig levenspatroon de beste manier was om lichamelijk gezond te blijven. Niet te veel slapen, niet te weinig of te veel eten, de juiste hoeveelheid beweging nemen, enzovoort. Het is niets nieuws meer, maar daarom niet minder waar, want wanneer mensen lichamelijk ziek worden, is die ziekte meestal geleidelijk ontstaan door jarenlang zonder innerlijk evenwicht te leven, door te veel te eten, geen beweging te nemen of niet genoeg te slapen; en dan presenteert de natuur op een dag de rekening. Dorn zijn 'gouden geneesmiddel' moest de ziel van de mensen genezen: psychologische genezing door constant te zoeken met het zelf, of het proces van individuatie.
Multiplicatio: een werkelijk geindividueerde persoonlijkheid heeft een uitstraling naar andere mensen en brengt in hen hetzelfde proces op gang. Op die manier worden anderen ook bij het genezingsproces betrokken.
Niemand kan van zichzelf bewust worden als hij niet weet wie en wat hij is, waarvan je afhankelijk bent, aan wie je toebehoort en waarvoor je geschapen bent.
DE BAND MET HET ZELF ZORGT VOOR EEN ZEKERE RUST EN STANDVASTIGHEID IN DE PERSOONLIJKHEID.
We proberen geen einde te maken aan de vijandigheid door die te verdrijven, maar door mensen te dwingen om het met hun eigen conflicten uit te vechten (Fighting Monkey), door ze met hun conflicten te confronteren, zodat die zich niet meer alleen in het onbewuste afspelen, en door de neiging tot integratie in het onbewuste te stimuleren.
In het licht van je dromen kun je jezelf leren kennen op een manier die verschilt van de mening van het ik, want je dromen geven aanvullende informatie die niet afkomstig is van je eigen ik. (objectief)
Het bereiken van het punt waar de innerlijke en de uiterlijke werkelijkheid (hemel en aarde) één worden, is het doel van het individuatieproces: wat Jung de 'absolute kennis' van het onbewuste noemt.
May 29, 2014
Was my introduction to jung and alchemy, absolutely amazing! Writing is concise and easy to follow but she still manages to delve into to the depths of a jungian/alchemical idea. Her selections of which dialogues of the manuscript to interject into the lecture were perfect.
Overall extremely focused and relatively short book that encouraged me enough to order her other book on alchemy.
Overall extremely focused and relatively short book that encouraged me enough to order her other book on alchemy.
March 13, 2016
Of all the books I've picked up so far about Jung and alchemy, this one has been the most immediately readable. The author focuses on a single alchemical treatise and walks you through a Jungian analysis of it in a style that doesn't require the reader to be neck-deep in psychology studies (or alchemical lore) to follow.
April 1, 2016
While this gave me a new perspective on alchemy, I did not enjoy it. I think I do not have enough background in psychology. I had a hard time following several parts and kept losing interest. I did enjoy looking at alchemy from a spiritual and introverted perspective though. The book has its merits, its just not for me.
July 8, 2025
Lo subrayé mucho, tiene frases muy buenas como para nombres de cosas. el libro en si es un poco viaje, habla mucho de la alquimia, de la relacion del cuerpo y la mente, de la transformación de las cosas, de la meditación. Me gustaría volver a leerlo a través de lo que marqué. No es el libro que esperaba.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews