Psychology & The Cross

Eighty years ago this month the Berlin-born Jewish German cabaret singer and actress of silent movies Dora Gerson (1899-1943) was murdered with her family in Auschwitz. This episode is done in her memory and includes two of her most famous songs Vorbei and Die Welt ist Klein Geworden. The story is read by Katharina Albrecht.Sources: Jacques Klöters Facebook post in Dutsch, 16 Nov. 2020 http://www.musiques-regenerees.fr/GhettosCamps/Camps/GersonDora.html

"We never know what comes forward in a soul when the worst of the worst happens."   Episode description:Ever since I first read the diaries of Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) I wanted to understand better her relation to the psychology of C.G Jung. A few episodes ago I had a conversation about Jungian Analyst and hand-reader Julius Spier, who was Etty's analyst. In this episode, we shift the attention to Etty Hillesum and as our guide, we have Barbara Morrill. Barbara Morrill is a clinical psychologist in private practice and an Associate Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She will help us look at the life and individuation of Etty Hillesum through a lens inspired by Jung’s psychology, and to help us better understand his psychology's influence on her thinking and writing. Interweaved into this conversation are read excerpts from the diaries of Etty’s Hillesum beautifully brought to life by Katharina Albrecht.Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: Ketsa - Reborn.

In February 1961, four months before his death, C.G Jung was interviewed at his home in Küsnacht by Kaarle Nordenstreng, a freelance journalist for the Finnish Broadcasting Company. This is an edited version of a rather comical interview in which the two discuss Jung's late book 'The undiscovered Self' (Gegenwart und Zukunft), National Socialism, Jung's legacy in the public domain as well as his distrust of modern machines. Musical interpretation and Finish tango selection by The PsychiatryPhoto taken by Kaarle NordenstrengRead more about the interview and access a full version here

A read excerpt from chapter XIV, "Divine Folly" of Jung's Red Book, Liber Secundus. In this chapter, Jung picks up Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471) book The Imitation of Christ. He starts his working through of this fundamental concept of Christianity and presents a radical rendering of it. Text and picture sources: The Internet Archive 

Are you interested in a more intimate and in-depth exploration of the intersection of Jungian psychology and Christianity? Maybe you should consider joining the online course starting on January 10th? We will meet online for four weekly learning sessions and lectures related to Jung and Christianity.There will also be room to discuss what we have learned between the sessions and an exchange of ideas. For more information about the course and early-bird registration go to this link.This online course will cover: Session 1: Following the footsteps of a Protestant. In our first learning session, we go in-depth into Jung’s childhood experiences and the Christian tradition he grew up in and how it informed his psychological project. Date: 10 Jan 2023 8:00-9:15pm CET (Central European Time)Session 2: Jung's Red Book & rendering of the Imitation of Christ. An in-depth study of Jung’s wrestle with Christ in the Red Book and his radical reformulation of the Christian concept of the imitation of Christ. Date: 17 Jan 2023 8:00-9:15pm CETSession 3: Christianity’s repression of the unconscious. With C.G Jung’s 1923 Cornwall seminars as a starting point we learn how Jung viewed Christianity's effect on the unconscious. Date: 24 Jan 2023 8:00-9:15pm CETSession 4: Jung’s vision of dreaming the myth onward. In our last session, we will discuss Jung’s later writings on Christianity with an emphasis on Aion and Answer to Job. Date: 31 Jan 2023 8:00-9:15pm CET

"The opposite of sin is faith in which one responds, you might say, appropriately to the call that comes to one. So faith is a kind of response. Faith is a passion. It requires grace. It requires divine assistance."Episode description:If there would be a Christian type of depth psychology, a part of its foundation would most likely be founded on the insights about the human self articulated by Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Our guest in this episode, Professor C. Stephen Evans, has not only imagined but also articulated important parts of the foundations of such a Christian psychology of depth in his book Søren Kierkegaard’s Christian psychology - Insights for counseling and pastoral care. In this episode, Dr. Evans helps us outline Kierkegaard’s view of the human self and his understanding of anxiety, despair, and self-deception's role in psychological development. He helps us understand how conscience and sin relate to individual psychology in Kierkegaard's psychology. Perhaps most importantly, he shows us how love and forgiveness are the foundations of a Kierkegaardian practice of depth psychology.  Dr. Evans is a world-leading expert on Søren Kierkegaard. He is a Professor of University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. A professorial research fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia. He has also published extensively on subjects including philosophy of religion and the relationship of psychology and Christianity. His latest book is Kierkegaard and spirituality: Accountability as the Meaning of Human Existence (Kierkegaard as a Christian thinker).Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: Ketsa - No light without darkness, Essence and Reborn.

"The six million dollar question is, what is this God that Jung is talking about? What is Yahweh? In effect, he's putting Yahweh on the couch.  That's the entire genius of what Jung's doing, is putting God on the couch. As also if one were to look at it from a faith perspective, that's the entire problem is, you don't put God on the couch."Episode Description:The key questions examined in the Biblical Story of Job are: How can the suffering and injustice in the world be reconciled with the image of God that was taught to us? If God is good, where does evil come from? These questions and more Jung took on to examine in his provocative and much-debated work Answer to Job. To help us understand and unpack this work of Jung, I have invited again Jungian scholar Paul Bishop. Paul has written the most extensive commentary on the book, released in 2002 by Routledge as Answer to Job - A commentary. Through this conversation, Paul helps us to contextualize this book in Jung’s overall psychological oeuvre and to understand the main arguments Jung raises in defense of Job. We discuss the reception of the work and Martin Buber's critique of Jung as a Gnostic and his powerful reaction to this “accusation”. We discuss how to understand Answer to Job in view of the publication of Jung’s Red Book. Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: Ketsa - Dawn's dew & Enough.Ps. I highly recommend you to seek out the latest publication by Paul Bishop, it’s entitled, Nietzsche's the Anti-Christ: A Critical Introduction and Guide (Edinburgh Critical Guides to Nietzsche) which was released by Edinburgh University Press earlier this year.

Church music 2029. A musical interlude by The Psychia†ry. 1. Move into our own - Nicole Mitchell 2. This and that and the other - African Head Charge 3. The carnival of the Animals R.125 The Swan - Camille Saint-Saens 4. Helgmalsrigning - The Psychiatry 5. Coconut - Mango 6. Sickness unto Death - The Psychiatry 7. Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten Arvo Pärt 8. Vorbei - Dora Gerson9. Inat - Impérieux 10. Delicado - Rudi Lakatos 11. Awakening - The Psychiatry

This is a sample of a video recording with Jungian Analyst Robert A. Johnson (May 26, 1921 – September 12, 2018) author of books such as Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche. The interview was conducted by J. Pittman McGehee in San Diego in 2002. For the full three-hour video visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=M0raXj8AM6M

Edited recording of live Q&A and summary of season 2 of Secular Christ with Sean J McGrath.