Recollections of Jungian Analysts

Cover image from a silhouette by Meir Gur Arieh An introduction on YouTube to  Jacob and Esau - on the collective symbolism of the brother motif  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: ...

Excerpt from the Introduction With the recent publication of the correspondence between C. G. Jung and Erich Neumann, the personality and significance of Neumann for analytical psychology heaves into view more sharply than ever before.  Although Neumann’s classic works, such as  The Great Mother  and  The Origins and History of Consciousness , have been widely read and appreciated inside and outside of Jungian circles, his full range of works and his vibrant personal qualities as an intellectual leader in the field fell sadly into the shadows following his early death in 1960 at the age of only fifty-five.  Had he lived another thirty years to the ripe old age of eighty-five as Jung did, his name and contributions would be far more widely recognized among his analytic colleagues and in the world at large. Now with the publication of the extensive correspondence between Neumann and Jung and thoughtful contributions by scholars such as those include...

With the publication in 2015 of the important correspondence between C.G. Jung and Erich Neumann (edited by Martin Liebscher), there has been something of a Neumann renaissance. A major international conference was held in 2015 at Kibbutz Shefayim, with participants from more than 25 countries, and in 2016 a conference was held at the Pacifica Institute in California. Neumann’s slim but brilliant book,  Jacob and Esau: On the collective symbolism of the brother motif,  was recently published by Chiron in collaboration with Recollections. The Shefayim lectures, with additional contributions, has also been published by Chiron/Recollections in a volume edited by Erel Shalit and Murray Stein,  Turbulent Times, Creative Minds: The relationship between Erich Neumann and C.G. Jung . Ann Conrad Lammers Soon, in late 2018 or early 2019, Routledge will publish Neumann’s major treatise on  The Roots of Jewish Consciousness  in an impressive two-volume set...