The Red Book
By:
C. G. Jung
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Description:
The most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology. When Carl Jung embarked on an extended self-exploration he called his “confrontation with the unconscious,” the heart of it was The Red Book, a large, illuminated volume he created between 1914 and 1930. Here he developed his principle theories—of the archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the process of individuation—that transformed psychotherapy from a practice concerned with treatment of the sick into a means for higher development of the personality.
While Jung considered The Red Book to be his most important work, only a handful of people have ever seen it. Now, in a complete facsimile and translation, it is available to scholars and the general public. It is an astonishing example of calligraphy and art on a par with The Book of Kells and the illuminated manuscripts of William Blake. This publication of The Red Book is a watershed that will cast new light on the making of modern psychology.
212 color illustrations.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The Red Book - This is one of the most interesting books I've ever owned. I highly recommend it.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A long lost tale - This is the last published work from C.G. Jung, published as late as 2004. The book is divided in two parts, the first is the original script and drawings, the second is an english translation. The first part is a unique piece of art, it reminds me of an ancient bible, thou the motives are quite different, its very beatiful and even if you cant read German its a lot of eyecandy. The second part is most accessible for those of us who cant read German at this level. Many people regard this product as the most important and the work that binds all the rest of Jungs works together. I cant say yes or no to that. What is important for me is that this book contains thoughts that have been more or less unknown until its release. For me as a Jungian this is an essential work and a must have. And beware, this is a huge book in many ways, its large and heavy, also inside....
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
RED BOOK: Jung's dialogue with Elijah and Salome - In C.G. Jung's RED BOOK he narrates an account with Salome of the New Testament and Elijah of the Old Testament. When I read and then listen to Stephen Hoeller's tapes on the Red Book I was struck by this encounter.
Instantly Jung goes off on a tirade against Salome for her part in the beheading of John the Baptist but in nowhere in the telling of this active imagination session is there an indication that Jung recognized Elijah as John the Baptist. This was quite curious seeing that he was a preacher's son and would have known the content of the New Testament more than most that read it. For Jesus Christ, himself, in speaking of John the Baptist, mentioned that this was Elijah returned.
Stephen Hoeller mentions in his tapes commenting on the Red Book that every temple in Greece is dedicated to Elijah the prophet, who represents the Sun. This is most curious for some thirty years ago I had recognized that the story in the New Testament concerning Salome represents the Moon and that its different sages represent the `Dance of Salome' and the `Man in the Moon' represents the `Head of John the Baptist' on a silver platter. The Sun represents King Herod and the Earth represents his brother's wife: Salome's mother. What is also remarkable about the dream is that Elijah calls Salome his daughter as she was the stepdaughter of King Herod. Both these figures represented mythologically the Sun and Jung's active imagination more or less coincided with the New Testament account: except for not coconsciously recognizing that Elijah was John the Baptist.
Furthermore, Hoeller mentions in his tapes that Salome was doing what had to be done similar to how Judas Iscariot did what he did because he was doing what had to be done. Yet, neither Jung nor Hoeller mentions what the reasons were that these individuals did what they did.
Christ mentions that John was the greatest of all prophets born of woman as Elijah was also known because he was transfigured into heaven body and soul. John as was Elijah was a prophet of the Old Testament, whereas, Jesus Christ was the prophet of the New Testament. John had to die in order to make room for the new.
Here I recognize a basic paradigm from my esoteric studies of the Old Testament, yet, C.G. Jung knew nothing of the esoteric science, which explains this paradigm. The most curious aspects of Jung's telling of his encounter with Elijah and Salome was the fact that this dialogue of Jung (conscious mind) with the unconscious mind (Elijah and Salome) was literally a clash with his interpretation or `imagined reality' of biblical events as opposed to stark reality. Meaning that `stark reality' represents eternal laws, which is apparently the playground of the conscious mind. Jung's half of the dialogue was quite contentious.
This record of Jung's encounter with the unconscious mind (the incident with Elijah: Sun and Salome: Moon) was most instructive. For what Jung was inadvertently recording was the basic law that govern life: man's existence in the material world. Man (individually and collectively) experiences life on earth surrounded by a stellar universe: set into motion by eternal laws. There is no way that man individually or collectively is going to upset or change those laws no matter what he erroneously thinks about them or what his thought processes are. It is obvious that man must attune his consciousness to the eternal laws and not vice versa.
Another point that Jung's dialogue points out, which he was totally ignorant and unconscious of was that no matter what man's conscious thoughts or will was concerning the outer reality he was going to physically obey eternal laws . Meaning, as an example, in building his cities man literally follows the divine pattern whether he knows it or not similar to a spider building a web or a bee building a hive.
Yet, when considering Jung's dialogue with the unconscious (Elijah and Salome), the New Testament account of John the Baptist's beheading and its surrounding narrative storyline and Stephen Hoeller's commentary we can extract further data from all of this material.
John the Baptist's complaint against King Herod (Sun) was that he was having a relationship with his brother's wife , which he obviously by law had no right to have. In other words the unconscious mind should not dominate the conscious mind to the point of its having no life in the world.
The death of John the Baptist was only half of the equation concerning the `transcendent function' coming into play as outlined in the New Testament narrative. The second half of the equation was the death of Christ on the cross. For John's baptism educated the people of Jerusalem to the government's violations of the eternal laws: hence the dance of Salome. But John the Baptist's death is similar to the Sun setting in the west, which makes room for a new day dawning with the evening arriving and Christ being found and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. John going from the east to the west to his funeral left Christ going from south to north to die on this cross of north, east, south and west. At the death of Christ the temple was rent in twain and the Jews were sent into the Diaspora and Christianity (like the phoenix) was born from the ashes of Judea. Yet, when it is realized that Christ died so that Christianity can come to birth the true meaning of Christianity come to mind. If Christ lived the world could not survive. Christ came to give humanity an exemplar. Something to strive for not necessarily obtained without first having earned it. If Christ had stayed who would actually earn the kingdom of heaven. Man would merely bask in the light of Christ and seek no more than what was being doled out to him.
However, each new coming of the Christ (transcendent function) is the second coming. It is a new beginning as in BERESHITH: the first word of Genesis translated `in the beginning'. In Catholic terminology the Transcendent Function would be called the EUCHARIST. Any Catholic knows that the Eucharist should be taken daily as every Jungian knows the Transcendent Function is a lifelong tool to experience life more abundantly, which is why Christ came to give life more abundantly.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A Great Book - The book is absolutely beautiful. The illustrations are fantastic. Glad to have made the purchase.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Jung's RedBook - I've read a lot of Jung's work, and this is the most "theological." It's a personal journal of inner exploration, of course, but it's a spiritual journey that resonates with me. If you are familiar with Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces," this is the account of Jung's "hero's journey." It's written so well, it's hard to believe it hasn't been edited and re-edited.
The illustrations are incredible. It took me awhile to start reading the book, because I was so engrossed in the illustrations. Not just the large plates, but all the small flourishes within the text, such as the initial drop caps.
It's a huge, heavy book (it'll never be on the Kindle!) and not easy bedtime reading. More like reading your old family Bible you keep on a special stand in the library.
Because the translated text is in the back half of the book, you have to keep going back to the first half to see the illustrations. But you've got to do this, since they add a lot.
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