Il Libro Rosso. Liber Novus By C.G. Jung
The years, of which I have spoken to you, when I pursued the inner images, were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. preface
The Red Book is a stunning publication. It is a physically large book which mimics Jung's own handwritten copy which measured 11.57 inches by 15.35 inches.
The contents are just as impressive. The first part is a brief history of Jung and his publications. The second contains pages of calligraphy in both German and Latin of his active imagination visualizations as well as sketches and paintings created by Jung to accompany the text.
The last section of the book is the English translation of the second part.
Jung described his technique for inducing such spontaneous fantasies: 'The training consists first of all in systematic exercises to eliminating critical attention, thus producing a vacuum in consciousness.' pg 209
The visions themselves are interactions between Jung and voices or figures that he named his soul, gods and other archetypical figures.
To this my soul spoke a word that roused my anger: 'My light is not of this world.' I cried, I know of no other world. The soul answered, Should it not exist because you know nothing of it? pg 240
As he stated in the preface, Jung felt as if his 'confrontations with his subconscious' affected his work for the rest of his life. It is a fascinating, little-examined side of a man who has had a huge effect on psychology and is credited, by some, as being one of the leading figures of the New Age movement.
The road to publication for this book is a story in itself. At first, Jung's family carefully kept The Red Book in a safe deposit box to protect it as they recognized its value as a one-of-a-kind creation. They also believed that Jung wouldn't have wanted its contents made public as he hadn't left any specific instructions in his will about it.
However, researchers and scholars have since examined the text and found parts where Jung addresses, my dear friends, leading to the opinion that he did intend to share it with a wider audience. They also point to its importance to Jung's following works as another reason why it should be published.
Whatever their reasoning, I'm so very glad his family and foundation made the decision to publish. This book is a treasure.
Curiously, The Red Book ends in an incomplete sentence.
Here it is:I knew of nothing better than to write them down in a 'precious,' that is to say, costly book and to paint the images that emerged through reliving it all- as well as I could. I knew how frightfully inadequate this undertaking was, but despite much work and many distractions I remained true to it, even if another/possibility never... epilogue
I wonder what he was going to write next.
Though I didn't use Jung's method of active imagination, I too have undertaken lengthy 'confrontations' of my subconscious and have come back with pages of material that read, in some ways, quite similar to this book.
Perhaps, one day, I will also find the courage to publish it.
Highly recommended for any readers interested in Carl Jung's methods, archetypes or dream interpretation. Psychology, Science, Health What dead souls lie under your sunken tired eyes? What true selves have you let die within yourself? -Carl Jung
I’ll bring this book with me in my heart for the rest of my life. Some of the time I think I needed to be able to read Jung's mind, but eventually the bits that came together were lovely. This book, by carl jung is about his own journey through depression while trying to treat himself, and hover over his own psychosis without letting it take over his mind completely. What a gift to be able to get into the mind of a psychiatrist. This book was more of a journal where Jung recorded his spiritual meanderings. Some of the time I felt sympathy for him, his poor mind would not give him a break, other times I could relate, and felt love for his deep endeavors. If you read this, take your time, peruse it with care, if you look everything up as you go along (because you will need to) it will be worth it. It will change your brain chemistry. Psychology, Science, Health I have no idea how to rank this book, nor am I even quite sure what the hell I read.
Although I know a little German, I read the accompanying English text. However one thing is certain, the experience was powerful, and the impact of the combination of the hand lettering, calligraphy and the careful illuminations with a bewildering flood of psychic imagery is something not to be forgotten.
Here's a sample:
The noise of the days of the world falls silent and the warming fire blazes inside.
Sitting at the fire, the shades of those gone before wail softly and give news of the past.
Come to the solitary fire, you blind and lame ones and hear both kinds of truth: the blind will be lamed and the lame will be blinded, yet the shared fire warms both in the lengthening night.
An old secret fire burns between us, giving sparse light and ample warmth.
The primordial fire that conquers every necessity shall burn again, since the night of the world is wide and cold and the need is great.
The well protected fire brings together those from far away and those who are cold; those who do not see each other and those who cannot reach each other, and it conquers suffering and shatters need.
The words uttered at the fire are ambiguous and deep and show life the right way.
The blind shall be lamed, so that he will not run into the abyss, and the lamed shall be blind, so that he will not look at things beyond his reach with longing and contempt.
Both may be aware of their deep helplessness so that they will respect the holy fire again, as well as the shade sitting at the hearth, and the words that encircle the flames.
Psychology, Science, Health This was described when I ordered it as a facsimile edition of Jung's notebooks.
That is not at all the case. It is a typed and annotated version of his text, without the pictures. Since both Jung and the editor are discussing the images, trying to read a book about pictures one hasn't seen seems fairly pointless. The only use I can see for this volume is as a neatly printed read-long for someone who does have a facsimile edition. Psychology, Science, Health Already the Book has broaden my feel for a man whose works i spent 10 years reading. This is 2/3 of the collected works. My dreams intensified by just looking at the paintings of really a remarkable and underrated visual artist. It might be the sequel to Blake's 'Island in the moon' in spirit and not an reference to the style. It changes the meaning of that Blake's work for me. CGJ has always been a path of precognative and synchronistic experience. I don't see how it cannot alter the reader or even the world. It might be the last book of this kind. Psychology, Science, Health
كتاب عظيم..
ستبدو وكأنها كتابات شخص في مستشفى المجانين لمن لم يستوعبه ويفهمه.
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الكتاب الأحمر عبارة عن مخطوطة غير منتهية، وليس من الواضح تماماً كيف أراد يونغ إكمالها، أو كيف سينشرها لو أنه قرر القيام بهذا.
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يقدم الكتاب الأحمر سلسلة من المخيلات الفعالة مع محاولة يونغ لفهم معناها وفهم نفسه ودمج مكونات الشخصية وتطورها.
كما يناقش يونغ عدة مواضيع أخرى في هذا العمل كطبيعة معرفة الذات، وطبيعة الروح وعلاقات التفكير والشعور والأنماط السيكولوجية، وعلاقة الذكورة والأنوثة الداخلية والخارجية، العزلة، قيمة الثقافة والتعلم، الجنون، الموت، وعلاقة السحر بالمنطق، وغيرها..
فالموضوع الإجمالي للكتاب الأحمر هو مصالحة روح الزمن مع روح الأعم��ق.
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بمعنى آخر، الكتاب الأحمر عبارة عن مواجهات يونغ الخيالية مع شخصياته الداخلية، واختباراته مع نفسه بما أصبح معروفاً بـ مواجهاته مع اللاوعي من حقبة تمتد ستة عشرة سنة، بدءاً من قبل الحرب العالمية الأولى وما بعدها، فهو يروي المعركة بين عالم الواقع وعالم الروح وهو يعيد تخيل الأشياء التي تحيّر كل من يحاول العثور على معنى للحياة ويوضحها، وقد صاغها بكل جمال الخطابة بطريقة مباشرة وبسيطة ورومانسية مثيرة للعواطف. Psychology, Science, Health أبعدت ذاتي عن الأشياء والبشر، وهكذا بالضبط أصبحت فريسة لأفكاري، نعم، أصبحت أفكاري بالكامل. كارل غوستاف يونغ
كارل غوستاف يونغ هو أحد أهم المؤسسين لحركة التحليل النفسي مع فرويد وأدلر.
يعد الكتاب من أهم الإنتاجات الفكرية الملهمة والمؤثرة في التاريخ الاجتماعي الفكري للقرن العشرين. (علم أكوان سيكولوجي لاهوتي.)
كما لا يمكن فهم أعمال يونغ دون دراسة الكتاب الأحمر الكتاب المركزي في مجموعة أعماله الكاملة. تعتبر الكتب السوداء ليونغ اشتقاق جزئي لعمله في الكتاب الأحمر.
في بداية دراسته للطب، عكف يونغ على قراءة أعمال خارجية لعدد من الفلاسفة والروحانيين والأدباء ، تأثر بشوبنهاور، وسويندبرغ، إكهرت، غوته ،دانتي و نيتشه اذ ترك كتابه هكذا تكلم زرادشت انطباعا قويا لديه اذ شعر بأن شخصيته تتوافق معه كما ذكر.
كان من الواضح جداً أثر دانتي، ونيتشه الذي غلب على فكره وخطابه، وأسلوبه في الكتابة، كما أن الأساطير لعبت دوراً محورياً في بلورة أفكاره.
(شهد النصف الثاني من القرن التاسع عشر ظهور الروحانية الحديثة وجذبت اهتمام علماء النفس بمن فيهم فرويد وبلولر وآخرون.)
كما شهدت نهاية القرن التاسع عشر انفجاراً في الثقافة العلمية في فرعي علم الأديان المقارن وعلم النفس الإثني المؤسسين حديثاً. وبالنسبة لكثيرين مثلت هذه الأعمال تعديلاً هاماً للنظرة العالمية للمسيحية.
عمل يونغ وبشكل مكثف على لاهوت القرون الوسطى+ إبحاره في الغنوصية الباطنية والمسيحية وبدى ذلك في فكره حول الخلاص والتحرر أو التوحد مع الله + كنه النفس. إلى جانب اهتمامه ب التحولات التاريخية للمسيحية، وتاريخية الأشكال الرمزية. ساهمت تجاربه الذاتية في تغيير عمله التحليلي.( التعمق في سيكولوجية الخيمياء ، وسيكولوجيا العقيدة المسيحية.)
شهد الكتاب مواجهات يونغ الخيالية مع شخصياته الداخلية شخصيات اللاوعي./ وهي محاولة يونغ باستيعاب المعنى السيكولوجي للأخيولات .
الذي تميز ب تعددية الأصوات بين فصل وآخر مع غلبة المفاهيمية كقالب + الكتابة بطريقة تكهنية أو رومانسية مثيرة للعواطف . و بالنسبة للغة شهدت تحولات كبيرة ولا خطية وفق التحولات النفسية والفكرية التي خاضها يونغ في عزلته خلال عملية الكتابة التي دامت ست عشرة سنة. بدت وتيرة الأنا متذبذبة؛ تصعد وتخبو بين المتناقضات والأقطاب؛ تنمو تضمحل وتنضج! تلمس بين فنية وأخرى عذابات يونغ، فوضاه وتمزقاته الدفينة وولادته بعد كل صراع مرير مع فكره وذاته وهذيانه الباطني الواقع بين الشك واليقين.
استخدم يونغ في سبر أفكاره عدة تقنيات أميزها
مبدأ الانقلاب الضدي ( الإينانتيودروميا) الذي يقول : كل شيء يتحول إلى نقيضه، والذي ينسب إلى هيراقليطس. + عقلنة الخيال وأنسنته وكذا هالة الرمزية. تعدد الأنظمة الفكرية أثرى العمل ومنحه أبعاد سيكولوجية وفنية مختلفة.
باختصار هذا الكتاب هو محاولة يونغ لفهم ذاته باستبطان كل ما يثير النفس ويخلقها من الداخل والخارج ووفق النسيج التاريخي الزمني التي تعاصره ! هو محاولة لفهم الشخصية الإنسانية عامة فكرة أن الإنسان متعدد وذو ماهية لحظية.
لقد عانى يونغ في محاكاة النفس وتهذيبها واستطاع أن يثبت عبر الكتاب الأحمر بأن شدة الوعي هي في اللاوعي!
كارل يونغ يكتب وكأنّه يفرّغ نفسه. قراءة هذا الكتاب يجعلك تفكر وبشكل مهووس بالفرق بين ( الشيء كما هو) و ( الشيء كما يدركه الوعي). This is literally gonna blow your mind
ملاحظة هامة: هذا الكتاب مخطوطة غير منجزة ، كما أنه من غير الواضح للمنوطين بهذا العمل كيف كان يونغ ينوي إكما��ها. Psychology, Science, Health Only a few books read in a lifetime actually change you. Can you honestly say you are a different person after the work is absorbed? I feel that my cells have been re-charged with a new vitality.
The Red Book is a lovingly inscribed and illustrated account of a deep inner journey into the heart of god, spirituality, mythology, and primarily the depths that Jung called the Shadow. Within only a few pages I was struck by many synchronicities - (another term coined by Jung) - specific details that connected with scary precision to my own recent ideas, dreams, and other reading.
I put aside writing and other projects and devoted my spare time to The Red Book. Some of the text is heady, analytical stuff to slog through, but much of it is hilarious. Jung's encounters with his soul, Salome, and other mythic beings inside his unconscious read like epic spats, with lots of grumbling and cajoling.
Inspired by Jung's process of 'active imagination,' I opened my mind and heart to encounter what I might find in my own deep unconcious. Fascinated, frightened and yet determined to uncover what was lurking inside, driving my judgments and conflicts, I spent 4 months in my own 'depths.' This process opened a deep, sobering vein of understanding and growth. It's the best work I've ever done, without a therapist or guru - only The Red Book as a road map.
Jung took on his courageous work nearly 100 years ago. I was struck by similarities between his time and ours, from interest in the metaphysical to unrest and uncertainty. It was the foundation of so much exploration - the collective unconscious, mandalas, anima/animus, etc. - Jung's great ideas that our generation takes for granted.
I will celebrate his contribution by living my own life, my way. And with the hope that the jewels I found in my journey will make a difference, too.
Psychology, Science, Health 12.1.09
I couldn't sleep last night, as inspired as I was having begun to read Carl Jung's Liber Novus, his Red Book. My first impression is that this is a massive tome; at 16x12x2'' it is easily the largest book I've ever laid hand on, and just turning the pages takes a substantial effort. But it's well worth it.
The Liber Novus is Jung's account of his decades long process of psychological and subconscious self experimentation, through a technique called active imagination; a process that he claimed was the seeds to all his work. Written first in a series of Black Books, this masterpiece was later painstakingly copied into a red leather-bound book, though never finished. And by copy I mean create an entire illuminated manuscript, complete with exquisite calligraphy and full color mandala and dream illustrations, that Jung worked on till his fascination with alchemy took hold, and then sat in a box until long after he died.
This first edition presents not just a translation of the text (by Jung scholar Sonu Shamdasani), but a full facsimile of the original folio plates, which have been kept in a safe deposit box unlooked at for the last 80 years and so are in excellent condition. The edition also includes critical apparatuses; a historical essay to contextualize the significance of the Liber Novus in Jung's life and work (and was the main thrust to convince the Society for the Heirs of Jung to finally let the book be published), as well as paratextual citations to highlight the variety of references in the manuscript itself, which should make the read that much more insightful.
Flipping through the folio I was struck by the richness of the illustrations, some of which I would consider masterpieces in themselves, filled with fractals, swirling colors, archetypal situations, and a surreal dream-sense that was apparently under-appreciated by the Surrealists. The calligraphy is in German, which I unfortunately don't speak, and can only comment on the precise appearance of.
As for the text itself, that will be my next attempt. I will say that it begins with the title: The way of what is to come, along with some prophetic quotations from Isaiah, and much of it is in dialogue form between Jung and his spirit guide (in the tradition of Mephistopheles), placing the work as a modern take of the tradition of revelatory literature, which isn't so far off considering the inclusion of Jung's dreams prophesying the World Wars.
On the whole, the book seems to be Jung's attempt to reconcile the scientific with the mythic and spiritual, the personal with collective, and as such could not be more timely than to finally see the light of people's eyes. As a writer interested in the use of dreams and personal narratives, as well as having taken this process to my own experimental, revelatory, self-mythology and understand the danger of attempting vs. the incredibly potent imagery that can come out of such a process, I suspect the Liber Novus may have far reaching cultural effects that we could only begin to imagine.
12.11.09
I finally started reading the text of Jung's Red Book last night, and it is as revelatory, revolutionary, and vitally important as I suspected it would be, not just in terms of Jung's psychological theories but in taking a stance for a broader spiritual approach to reality that is even more lacking now than when Jung was writing. Reading this is like reading Blake, I want to quote every passage (as they are almost all brilliant), but if my cat will get off the tome I'll look at some of the important symbols and themes that Jung was attempting to articulate.
The spirit of the times vs. the spirit of the depths - Jung makes a distinction between the spirit or stance of the time in which he lives vs. the spirit of a greater, ancient, and universal reality that is entirely overlooked by the present, and is striving to come forth through Jung. This is historical consciousness vs. the mythic subconsciousness, and Jung frames the Red Book as a way of getting past all the small-minded, violent, materialistic impulses of his age (including a harsh criticism of Christianity), while recognizing that this present world may entirely ignore his warning and call for an understanding of the subconscious.
The supreme meaning - Jung claims that God and gods are only images of an eternal supreme meaning oscillating between meaning and absurdity, and it is this supreme meaning that men must come to recognize as a solution to the spirit of the times. This is entirely consistent with my concept of ultimate significance, in that the supreme meaning is more truly real than the images we conceive of it through.
Dreams and epiphanic visions - Jung recounts a number of visions prophesying the world wars as well as his own future work. He claims an uncontrollable compulsion to record these dreams, though he never did before. Similarly, a number of the passages Jung claims are actually the spirit of the depths or his soul speaking through him as a medium.
The soul - Much of the early part of this book is Jung's attempt to reconnect with his soul. This is the formation of his archetype of the anima/animus, but it is not made explicit in his academic writings that the archetype is not just an image but one's actual, living soul, which encourages us to live and do everything we dream of living and doing. The soul is one's God and opposite, which perfects us in the supreme meaning. The soul is not part of us, we are only the expression and symbol of our soul in the world.
The desert - Though Jung's academic writings discuss the archetypes they do not discuss (as far as I've read) the importance of subconscious locations. In particular Jung discusses here the image of the desert, which is the conception of oneself and soul that one must journey into and rejuvenate in order to overcome the spirit of the times. Jung believes he saw a desert because his soul had been withered (and perhaps those in touch with their souls experience a garden). From my own explorations of the subconscious I also found this desert of the soul as the location for the deeper, mythic realities I had to contend with outside of the city (the symbol for the everyday world and times). As my own process continued, this desert was first flooded and became a garden before the entire inner world was set to flames so that a new internal reality could form. I am curious how these locations change through Jung's process in the remainder of the Red Book, as I find such psychogeographies an essential compliment to the character archetypes.
The descent into hell - Jung has a vision in which he realizes that he must descend to hell in order to individuate himself and find the supreme meaning. Such descensus avernum are common in mythic and revelatory literature and serve as another example of the importance of place as symbol for Jung's theories. Jung equates this descent with the possibility of going mad, and sees himself as a sacrificed hero who must overcome that potential madness for a more divine madness lacking in the spirit of the times. This section (and the titles of the other sections) suggest that Jung is on a hero's journey comparable to that described by Joseph Campbell. This hell is all the absurd meaninglessness of our times that we must go through in order to construct our own meaning of events, which is the supreme meaning. Psychology, Science, Health An interrupted read--this book is so personal and ephemeral, a blakean diary of personal discovery, completely inside one man's symbol system, written for himself. I'm about a third of the way through the body of the text--there's also a long introduction. It's already inspired me to go back to keeping a dream journal, to think of what my own 'red book' would be. Dream life has become extremely active. But it lacks any quality of suspense or forward motion. I have a friend who has the big book--the facsimile Red Book, 18 by 12, weighing in at 8 pounds, with all the illustrations Jung painted to accompany the hand-lettered journal--she has to keep it on a footstool it's so big. This is the translation of the text, which is fascinating and boring and strange, by turns, just like Blake's longer poems. Meeting the soul, meeting the anima/animus, it's the laboratory of Jung's own theories--and like a live album, there's a lot of drum solos. Yet its remarkable to see the naked material arising, see him struggle with the contents of his own psyche before it's all processed and theorized. Psychology, Science, Health
Carl Gustav Jung lavorò al Libro rosso dal 1913 al 1930 e ancora in tardissima età lo definì l'opera sua capitale. L'opera in cui aveva deposto il nucleo vitale e di pensiero della sua futura attività scientifica. Eppure non volle mai autorizzarne la pubblicazione, e dopo di lui anche gli eredi si attennero alla consegna. Così solo oggi, a ottant'anni dalla sua conclusione e a mezzo secolo dalla morte del suo autore, questo testo straordinario esce dal caveau della banca svizzera in cui era conservato. Il Libro rosso è il libro segreto di Jung, scrigno privato di un'anima che lì si cela nella sua nudità, e che un comprensibile pudore ha inteso proteggere da sguardi curiosi, e si situa al centro di una straordinaria sperimentazione artistica e psicologica che ne fa un unicum nel panorama novecentesco. Quella che Jung chiamerà più tardi immaginazione attiva e che fu ampiamente utilizzata in questo volume, è appunto lo strumento inedito di cui egli si servì, nel corso della sua discesa agli inferi, per suscitare i contenuti archetipici della psiche e oggettivarli attraverso il dialogo interiore, la scrittura, la pittura, la scultura. Prefazione di Ulrich Hoerni. Il Libro Rosso. Liber Novus