Our Vice President, and Head of Programming, Bill Walker will be leading a book club on Alchemy, An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology by Marie-Louise von Franz. In preparation for an upcoming CJS lecture on Alchemy, we will read through a series of lectures given by Jung's most adept colleague in alchemy, Marie-Louise von Franz, delivered to the CG Jung Institute in 1959. Jung held that alchemy was much more than crude chemistry but a continuation of a gnostic tradition and that alchemical symbolism was used to portray psychological processes. There will be 8 Zoom sessions, one each Tuesday starting Jan 23 until March 12, 2024 from 6-8 PM. The initial in-person meeting has been cancelled at this time, but there will be the option to hold an in-person meeting at the end of the book group. Additionally, the March lecture and seminar on Jung and Alchemy would be a great opportunity for the book group to come together in-person.
About the book:
"It was the Genius of C.G. Jung to discover in the "holy technique" of alchemy a parallel to the psychological individuation process. This book, by Jung's long-time friend and co-worker, completely demystifies the subject.
Designed as an introduction to Jung's more detailed studies, and profusely illustrated, here is a lucid and practical account of what the alchemists were really looking for--emotional balance and wholeness.
Once again Marie-Louise von Franz demonstrates her remarkable gift for translating esoteric symbolic material into everyday experience. For the images and motifs that so occupied the alchemists were of an archetypal nature, and as such they constantly turn up in modern dreams and drawings."