September Book Spotlight: There Are No Accidents in Love and Relationships
After the extraordinary popularity of There Are No Accidents: Synchronicity and the Stories of Our Lives, Jungian psychotherapist Robert H. Hopcke returns once more to an even deeper exploration of the phenomenon of meaningful coincidences, this time within the ambit of that most intimate area of our lives—our love life and our family connections. Drawing from the stories of clients, friends and colleagues, as well as disclosing some of his own experiences that have led him to pursue the topic of synchronicity for the past 20 years of research and writing, he looks at how we ourselves make meaning out of these chances events and thereby enrich our lives in ways we might not otherwise find a way to do. Such occurrences lead us to a deeper appreciation of those we love but likewise lead us to a greater intimacy with our own unconscious, illuminating who we are through who—and how—we love.
How many times have we thought that, if only we hadn’t missed that bus or had to walk home after our car had died, perhaps we might have never met the love of our life with whom we have gone on to spend the rest of life? And how many times has a family member or a friend given us the perfect gift that we always wanted but had never spoken to anyone about?
These amazing coincidences can be explained as mere “chance” or even “fate” and perhaps even “cosmic connections.” But one thing is for sure: dismissing them with an amused smile doesn’t come close to doing them justice. Such events happen to us all at crucial junctures in our life stories, and unbidden, these coincidences change everything. Just at the moment we have a critical decision to make that will shape our future, they bring our attention to the transcendent bonds we share with those we love, our spouses, our children and our families.
Jungian analyst Eve Maram’s The Schizophrenia Complex focuses on the thoughts and feelings constellated by encounters with what we call schizophrenia, for those who experience symptoms, and for those others impacted by them. To do so, Dr. Maram had to face her own fear, denial, resistance, and ultimate not knowing. The events inspiring her were beyond her control and rearranged her life without her permission.
Chiron Publications is honored to publish the newly translated volumes of the Collected Works of Marie-Louise von Franz, one of the most renowned authorities on fairytales.
Aurora Consurgens, the rising sun, is a vision forged in the pseudo-Aristotelian tradition that became a cornerstone of medieval Church doctrine and the centerpiece of the Dominican and Franciscan traditions. While its authorship has been shrouded in mystery and controversy, Marie Louise von Franz furnishes ample evidence that this was a final work of Thomas Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church. His vision begins with an anima figure of the Sapentia Dei.
This medieval alchemical text is rich in symbolism and offers a glimpse into how unconscious contents can be understood through their interactions with the material world. Marie Louise von Franz places Aurora Consurgens squarely in the tradition of visionary spiritual writings similar to the visions of Hildegard von Bingen or John of Patmos. Aquinas’s visions and his final commentary on the Song of Songs appear to have been the result of a state of ecstasy into which he fell just before his death. Marie Louise von Franz excavates a psychological treasure from his work.
Like Berlin, we all have a wall, an inner wall, that needs to be torn down. It’s a wall we built at a young age, when socialization began and we needed a barrier behind which we could hide that part of ourselves that was unacceptable to our mothers as well as important others. What we hide is the “shadow.” To conceal it, we create a wall that we call the “persona. “
To be a Berliner, is about starting out as a unified whole, as we all started out as infants, as Berlin itself started out. It is then to be split in two with a wall erected between the two parts, as Berlin was, and as we all were when socialization began, shattering our original wholeness.
Finally, it is to become one again, as Berlin has done and as we hope to do, if we do our work and if we are lucky. As in the case of Berlin, the wall keeps us from becoming all we can be. Berlin, thus, is a metaphor for the enlargement of personality that can occur when we, like Berlin’s inhabitants, tear down that wall and become bigger, richer, freer, and more diverse and democratic. In this sense, we are all potentially Berliners.
Verena Kast ́s Father-Daughter, Mother-Son was first published by Element Books in 1997. Since then, it has become a classic read for those adventuring into Carl Gustav Jung ́s concept of complexes-what they are, how they affect our life and shape our relationships- and for those wanting to understand more about the relationship between fathers and daughters, and mothers and sons-of whatever sex and gender.
This book is not only a must read for psychoanalysts and psychologists, but it is also comprehensible and very useful for those that have little knowledge about this field and those eager to know more about themselves.
This book is the first of the series titled Jungianeum: Re-Covered Classics in Analytical Psychology curated by Stefano Carpani.
Eastern Practices and Individuation: Essays by Jungian Analysts Edited by Leslie Stein
Are Eastern practices useful for psychological growth? Is psychoanalysis an aid on an Eastern path? Carl Gustav Jung had the realization of the existence of a center deep within our being, the Self, the discovery of which is the goal of individuation: the process of psychological development. Unable to find analogies to the Self in Christianity, he turned to Eastern religions, uncovering and finding a reflection of this miracle in Daoism and Hinduism, while also examining Buddhism and Sufism.
Eastern paths and their practices, such as meditation, mindfulness, and yoga, have been absorbed into Western culture. It is thus timely to approach the contemporary relevance of Eastern religions and practices to the Jungian path of individuation. These essays are personal, engaging, and contain a refined analysis of whether these two paths may work together or are pointing to different end points.
Contributors: Ashok Bedi, Lionel Corbett, Royce Froehlich, Karin Jironet, Patricia Katsky, Ann Chia-Yi Li, Jim Manganiello, Judith Pickering, Leslie Stein, Murray Stein, Polly Young-Eisendrath
When the archetypal patriarchal or matriarchal dominate in a daughter’s psyche, the positive masculine spirit does not mature sufficiently out of the maternal unconscious for there to be an optimal meeting between feminine and masculine principles. It becomes difficult for a more conscious, well-integrated, whole human being to develop. Where inadequate or incompetent fathering is combined with absent or passive, silent mothering, the balance is off; a daughter’s talents and possibilities for the future can remain dormant-or fade away in self-doubt.
Love and Soul-Making brings awareness to both the patriarchal origins of romance and the unarguably magical, archetypal experience of love. Relationships can serve as an alchemical vessel for the development of the soul as part of the individuation process. The struggles of relationships, whether one is partnered or not, can allow us to engage more deeply with the psyche and can guide us further into her territory.
For those experiencing romantic difficulties, the myth of Psyche and Eros can serve as a guide to the stages involved in soul-making and how that is enacted in human relationships. This book encourages contemplating relationships both literally and metaphorically. With metaphorical vision, we create possibility for the alchemical transmutation process and the development of the soul. This book provides context to the soul-making process, and it can help to re-animate your creativity and vitality. Soul (Psyche) follows what she loves (Eros).
The Collected Works of Marie-Louise von Franz is a 28 volume Magnum Opus from one of the leading minds in Jungian Psychology. Volume 6 heralds translations of material never before available in English. It explores the profound visions of two ground-breaking saints in the Catholic church, Saint Niklaus von Flüe and Saint Perpetua.
Note: Volumes 4 and 5 are currently in production and we look forward to the releases when translations are complete.
The first chapter describes how the theory of individuation serves as an assessment tool for the analyst and guides the process toward the client’s further psychological development. The second chapter, on the analytic relationship, discusses the depth psychological understanding of the healing effect of the therapeutic encounter.
Working with dreams and active imagination comprise the other two chapters. In both of these chapters, there is detailed discussions of how these methods are used in Jungian psychoanalysis and to what purpose. It is the combination of “the four pillars” that makes Jungian psychoanalysis unique.
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