Erich Neumann:Jacob and Esau - on the collective symbolism of the brother motif


Cover image from a silhouette by Meir Gur Arieh


An introduction on YouTube to 


Encouraged by Jung, in his book on the collective symbolism of the brother motif, Neumann began outlining ideas that he eventually would develop in some of his major works, such as Depth Psychology and a New Ethic. Neumann uses the story about Jacob and Esau to illustrate the polarities in the human soul, between introversion and extraversion, profane and sacred, the moon and the sun, both in Jewish tradition and universally, and the need to integrate the shadow, as illustrated in Jacob seeing both God’s face and his hostile brother in his struggle with the angel. In Jungian terms, we see the inevitable conjunctio of Self and Shadow. 
The book can be seen as a brilliant midrash, retelling and interpretation of the Biblical motif of the brothers.

Etching by Jacob Steinhardt
Erich Neumann: Jacob and Esau - on the collective symbolism of the brother motif  on Amazon

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