Publisher's Synopsis
Perhaps the most important conclusion we might draw from Jung is that Christ's work of redemption is not complete because it only reached consciousness. The coming of Christ meant that evil was repressed to the unconscious psyche from where it erupts in periodic bouts of conflict such as we saw in the last century. The archetypes of the collective unconscious that provide the framework of reality have no morality and it remains for the individual to fill the archetypes with their own meaning and moral direction or else they will have none, just alternating patterns of light and dark, Antichrist and redeemer, war and peace. How could one ever hope to approach such a task? Such is the subject of Jung's most important work. Jung deconstructed Christianity and alchemy, taking both back to its most psychologically important symbolic material, before putting the pieces back together again in an 'individuation process' that seeks to integrate the core archetypes, ultimately leading to the realisation of a transcendent Self. This brings a renewal of the Christ symbol in an individual symbol of the Self that integrates the unconscious psyche. The challenge for the reader is that Jung was writing in exploratory fashion and so individuation is not addressed in one place but rather dealt with piecemeal through the Collected Works, a large and intimidating body of work. Even so it is the definitive source where the reader must ultimately go to get the most from individuation. There is however a place for a bridging work that helps orientate the reader and set the scene. Such is the goal of this book. Having taken so much from Jung in my own life, it is my humble attempt to give something back. I use the concept of the theatre to take us into Jung because it has certain features that aid in understanding the structure of the psyche, and also a structure that can provide a more grounded and familiar context for the rest of Jung's work.The book includes a Foreword by Jacquie Flecknoe-Brown, a Jungian analyst and author of The Dreamer's Odyssey.