WA Jung Library
83 Archdeacon St, Nedlands
Library video with Olive Mason
About the library
Since 1964...
The CG Jung Society of Western Australia has a library which is housed privately and open for the benefit of members. The library was set up in 1964 with a gift of books from the Kristine Mann Library of the New York CG Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology. At that time the New York Foundation was publishing books written by some of the senior Jungian analysts who had been trained by Dr Jung. Mrs CW Dunn of New York very generously sent new copies to us as gifts. We bought the English translations of volumes of Jung's Collected Works as they became available, including Mysterium Coniunctionis which was published in 1963. These were of course all quality hardback copies.
Includes Mrs Rix Weavers donated collection of journals
At that time we also began purchasing the relevant journals that were available. Later Mrs Rix Weaver donated her collection of journals to the library and we now have almost complete sets of these. We have the first Spring journal published in 1941 (during wartime). The first edition of the Journal of Analytical Psychology was edited by Michael Fordham and published in 1956. Our collection starts with Volume 1 Number 2 and we have most of the volumes published since then.
A special thanks to:
Dr Donald Broadribb was a Jungian Analyst and Life Member of the Society, and his wife has kindly donated many of his books to our Library.
George Tripp and Rob Routley also generously donated a large selection of books to the Jung Society Library.
And there have been other individual donors. We are much indebted to them.
What we have:
The library offers the full spectrum of Jungian thought including current Jungian Journals as well as a wide range of Jungian topics by individual author. Books on mythology, symbols and alchemy as well as Reference books and Anthologies can aid in individual research and enjoyment.
In addition to the books, the library has a collection of audio tapes - mostly of lectures given locally. We also have a few videos. Members can borrow up to 4 books, 2 tapes and 1 video for one month. Renewal can be made by telephone (if the item is not required by another borrower). Please return the books on time.
Contact and visit
The Library, at 83 Archdeacon St, Nedlands, is open on the first Sunday of each month from 2pm - 5pm.
You do not have to be a Library Member to visit the library and have a look. Society and Library Membership is required if you wish to borrow books.
Library Members unable to attend on the first Sunday of the month may visit the library by appointment.
Please contact Olive Mason (Librarian) on 9386 5968 to arrange a mutually suitable time or
email olivemason27@gmail.com
In the library
In 1913, following his split from Freud and amidst personal turmoil, Jung had what he called a “confrontation with the unconscious”. It was as if “an incessant stream of fantasies had been released” (MDR 1983, p 200). It was an extremely difficult time for Jung, and he says, “Only by extreme effort was I finally able to escape from the labyrinth.” He knew this was the “same psychic material which is the stuff of psychosis.” “But it is also the matrix of a mythopoetic imagination which has vanished from our rational age.” (MDR, 1983, p drawings. All of this is reproduced in the recent publication of The Red Book, along with the English translations. Until recently very few people had seen the book. Since 2001 historian Sonu Shamdasani has worked for Jung’s heirs to prepare the book for publication, with the support of the Philemon Foundation.
Jung considered his descent a voluntary “experiment”, and recorded his fantasies. He transferred them to a red leather book using a highly structured literary form and language, writing in an elaborate Gothic Script and embellishing it with paintings and drawings.
All of this is reproduced in the recent publication of The Red Book, along with the English translations. Until recently very few people had seen the book. Since 2001 historian Sonu Shamdasani has worked for Jung’s heirs to prepare the book for publication, with the support of the Philemon Foundation.
Many Jung Society members and friends will have seen some of the images and text from The Red Book on the Zurich exhibition panels which the Society displays from time to time. The publication of this book is an exciting event and you can see it in the library.
C.G. Jung Society of WA, LIBRARY
Active Imagination
BOOKS
Chodorow, Joan: Jung on Active Imagination, “an excellent collection of Jung’s writings on active imagination”.
Dallett, Janet: Active Imagination in Practice, pages 173-191 of Jungian Analysis edited by Murray Stein. Janet Dallett makes the interesting statement “that active imagination is most meaningfully defined as a dialogue with the gods… which also includes what traditionally are called devils”.
Hannah, Barbara: Active Imagination – Encounters with the Soul - using historical and contemporary case studies, Hannah traces the human journey toward personal wholeness. She outlines the steps, pitfalls and successes of this method of encountering the unconscious.
Johnson, Robert: Inner Work –has a sectjon of 65 pages on Defining and Approaching Active Imagination including a very personal account of what he calls HORSE-TRADING. I found his article to be practical, easy to read and down to earth. In an interview with Robert Henderson [Spring Journal #68, 2001] in answer to a question about whether he practised contemplation, Robert Johnson answered: “Active imagination is one of the best tools for inner work … what the early church fathers were talking about when they spoke of prayer - a dialogue concerning something that holds energy for you.”
Raff, Jeffrey: Jung and the Alchemical Imagination. This book uses alchemy to understand the three cornerstones of Jungian spirituality – the self, the transcendent function and active imagination.
Von Franz, M.L’s Psychotherapy has two chapters relating to active imagination which give the reader much food for thought.
Weaver, Rix: The Wise Old Woman. Prof. Dr med. C.A. Meier of Zürich was the analyst who supervised the active imagination which Rix unfolds in this book. Dr Meier’s introduction reads in part: “Mrs Weaver’s presentation … is accompanied by a brilliant and comprehensive commentary that makes it easy for the reader to understand the nature and importance of the method.”
Weaver, Rix: Spinning on a Dream Thread – Professor Morton Kelsey in his forward says “For a person interested in active imagination or in the development which it fosters, this book is a veritable mine of suggestions and clues.”
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Spring 1982, Tina Teller: Beginnings of Active Imagination – an account of her analytic experiences under C.G. Jung and Toni Wolff during the years 1915-1928.
Psychological Perspectives, vol 56 issue 3/2013 (The Veil), Robin Robertson: Active Imagination: Talking with the Shadow – part of an article entitled Inner Voices.
DVDS
Hillman, James: Jung and Active Imagination – considers the history and theory of active imagination and offers examples for scrutiny and discussion.
Stein, Murray & Paul Brutsche:
Active Imagination & the Use of Images in Jungian Analysis.
News from the library
Most recently we have been acquired two interesting publications:
The Jung-White Letters.
This is the real-life story, seen through their exchange of letters, of two men whose characters prevented them from realising the full potential of their relationship. It is a story of friendship, misunderstanding, betrayal and the struggle between fulfilling a public role and personal belief.
The library also has a 2 DVD set which includes a 90 minute performance based on a careful selection of these letters. It is an unforgettable experience of drama and intellectual stimulation of this rich and multifaceted relationship. The donor who gave us the Jung-White Letters also gave the Society (among other things) a copy of Jung’s seminar on Children’s Dreams, and, The Golden Bough.
The Red Book, Readers’ Edition.
This edition accompanies the original volume (A3, with illustrations) and enables one to read an English translation while looking at the relevant illustrations in the “original” large volume.
Not surprisingly, recent journals have been devoted to the Red Book and many journals to which we subscribe have also devoted at least one edition to the Red Book.
Recently we have been given a number of books:
Jung and Film 11 edited by C. Hauke and L. Hockley which includes and article by Andre Zanardo—Love, Loss and imagination and the Other in Soderbergh’s Solaris. This book, the second in a series but a ‘stand alone’ comes highly recommended. Donated by Andre.
Dream Psychology by Maurice Nicoll first published in 1917, perhaps the first book published on dreams from Jung’s point of view. Donated by a friend in Melbourne.
The Bull: Eros and Logos in Fairy Tales by Rix Weaver transcribed by Ian Laird of New Zealand from Rix’s notes and tapes made of workshops given by Rix. Who remembers Fair, Brown and Trembling, the workshop given in 1988. This small volume has been published by Ian. He has also sent us a copy of his own workshop series featuring The Bluebeard Motifs in Fairy Tales.
Becoming Whole: Jung’s Equation for Realizing God by Leslie Stein. This is a vey impressive hard covered volume published this year. The ‘equation’ appears towards the end of Aion (par 410) following a whole series of diagrams depicting quaternities. The book was launched at the Ruben Museum and dedicated to Rix Weaver. It includes chapters ion Ibn Arabi, the Kabbalah and the works of Sri Aurobindo. Les and Miriam and their daughter were living in Brooklyn and Les was able to use the extensive collection of Ibn Arabi’s writings contained in the library of Columbia University (his Alma Mater). They now live in Sydney.
Carl Jung:Wounded Healer of the Soul by Claire Dunne. This was a gift from Watkins Publishing. The book was first published by Parabola Books in 2000 and at that time Claire donated copies to the Jung Societies in Australia. (She lives in Sydney). The book is a treasure trove of quotes from Jung and was acclaimed by Robert Johnson as ‘Excellent, the best biography of Jung yet!’ Dr Murry Stein wrote ‘Claire Dunne has managed in this beautiful book, to capture the essential features of Jung’s life and its meaning as a solid achievement.
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