Magick through Jungian perspective?

[cassianogpaiva]

For people that does not have a clue on how to start reading Jung, I found this in a Reddit post. Perhaps it can be useful:

(I guess that this is guide is only to have a better foundation on the subject, and surely there may have other reading guides that Is more well suited to read under under a magical perspective?)


Jung’s Reading Guide

1 - First of all, you can start by reading the "Man and His Symbols”, but only chapters 1 (Jung’s chapter) and 3 (Von Franz chapter). This is a nice introduction to prepare you for what’s coming next.

2- Second, read “Volume 16 - The Practice of Psychotherapy”, but only part one. This book can give you a better understanding of Jung’s method, the development of personality, and his views on Psychotherapy.

3 - Third, read the fourth chapter of volume 10 - “The Undiscovered Self (Present and Future)”. In this one Jung explores his views on self-knowledge, it’s a great read.

4 - Forth, read chapter 7 of volume 17 -“ Development of Personality”. Here you can get a sense of what he means by the Individuation process and what it entails.

5 - Fifth, read Chapter 12 of volume 18 - “A reply to Martin Bubber”. This is an essential read to clearly understand Jung’s position on religion and metaphysics. Spoiler alert: if you believe he was gnostic or a crazy wizard you’ll be disappointed.

6 - Sixth, read the first 4 chapters of Volume 9 - Aion - “The Ego, The Shadow, The Syzygy, and The Self”. This book is so hard to understand that the editors asked Jung to prepare an introduction about his main concepts.

7 - Seventh, now that you have a good background you can read the whole volume 7 - “Two Essays On Analytical Psychology”. Every bit of Jung’s ideas is in this volume.

8 - Eighth, you can read the first chapter of Volume 18 - “The Travistock Lectures”. Here, Jung introduces his typological method and its importance for his psychology. You can see how the British fellows were trying to grill him, lol.

9 - Ninth, it’s time to learn more about Archetypes, with the first 3 chapters of Volume 9.1 - “Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious”, The Concept of the Collective Unconscious”, “Concerning the Archetypes, with Special Reference to the Anima Concept”.

10 - Lastly, you can read Volume 6, the backbone of Jung’s work - “The Psychological Types”. This will make you completely forget typological tests, as Jung never conceived them. In case you were wondering, MBTI isn’t from Jung, and after reading this I’m sure you’ll agree with me on how bad it is.

 

[aviaf]

For people that does not have a clue on how to start reading Jung, I found this in a Reddit post. Perhaps it can be useful:

(I guess that this is guide is only to have a better foundation on the subject, and surely there may have other reading guides that Is more well suited to read under under a magical perspective?)


Jung’s Reading Guide

1 - First of all, you can start by reading the "Man and His Symbols”, but only chapters 1 (Jung’s chapter) and 3 (Von Franz chapter). This is a nice introduction to prepare you for what’s coming next.

2- Second, read “Volume 16 - The Practice of Psychotherapy”, but only part one. This book can give you a better understanding of Jung’s method, the development of personality, and his views on Psychotherapy.

3 - Third, read the fourth chapter of volume 10 - “The Undiscovered Self (Present and Future)”. In this one Jung explores his views on self-knowledge, it’s a great read.

4 - Forth, read chapter 7 of volume 17 -“ Development of Personality”. Here you can get a sense of what he means by the Individuation process and what it entails.

5 - Fifth, read Chapter 12 of volume 18 - “A reply to Martin Bubber”. This is an essential read to clearly understand Jung’s position on religion and metaphysics. Spoiler alert: if you believe he was gnostic or a crazy wizard you’ll be disappointed.

6 - Sixth, read the first 4 chapters of Volume 9 - Aion - “The Ego, The Shadow, The Syzygy, and The Self”. This book is so hard to understand that the editors asked Jung to prepare an introduction about his main concepts.

7 - Seventh, now that you have a good background you can read the whole volume 7 - “Two Essays On Analytical Psychology”. Every bit of Jung’s ideas is in this volume.

8 - Eighth, you can read the first chapter of Volume 18 - “The Travistock Lectures”. Here, Jung introduces his typological method and its importance for his psychology. You can see how the British fellows were trying to grill him, lol.

9 - Ninth, it’s time to learn more about Archetypes, with the first 3 chapters of Volume 9.1 - “Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious”, The Concept of the Collective Unconscious”, “Concerning the Archetypes, with Special Reference to the Anima Concept”.

10 - Lastly, you can read Volume 6, the backbone of Jung’s work - “The Psychological Types”. This will make you completely forget typological tests, as Jung never conceived them. In case you were wondering, MBTI isn’t from Jung, and after reading this I’m sure you’ll agree with me on how bad it is.

This is a solid academic reading path, and great for understanding Jung as a psychologist.
For people approaching Jung from a magical or mythic perspective, the entry point is a little different.

Most of Jung’s core ideas didn’t originate in the Collected Works. They came from the same terrain magicians work: direct encounters with the unconscious, active imagination, symbolic dialogue, and mythic experience. The CW volumes are the theory he built afterward.

If someone wants to understand Jung as a living system, the part that matters for ritual, ordeal, identity work, and symbolic practice, I usually recommend starting with:

• Man and His Symbols (Jung + von Franz)
• The Red Book (at least the early chapters and the Magician dialogue)
• Archetypes & the Collective Unconscious specific chapters:

- Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
- The Concept of the Collective Unconscious
- Concerning the Archetypes, with Special Reference to the Anima Concept

Those chapters lay out the actual mechanics: how archetypes behave, how symbols arise, and how the unconscious communicates. Once you’ve seen how Jung worked, the rest of the CW makes a lot more sense.

Academic Jung and operative Jung overlap, but they’re not the same entry point.

 

[cassianogpaiva]

Many thanks! I'll follow your proposed reading path instead!

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 7:15 PM

Thanks for your detailed remarks. I'm growing more and more fond of the archetype concept in my personal work. I have the feeling some people are afraid Jung's ideas turn magick into demystified academic psychology. I feel quite contrary. Too me it's more a reassurance about personal ideas and visions. The challenge is - as you wrote - to find a system within the symbols and not getting lost.

How are you using archetypes in your projects? Do you have a real-world example, personal experience or a story you could share?