Psychology & The Cross

What's the point of a Christian community? Why is community important for a contemporary contemplative Christian? In the final episode of the second season of Secular Christ, Sean McGrath turns to the question of community. We discuss its importance in the contemplative tradition and its absence within psychoanalysis and Analytical Psychology. We discuss the necessity also for a communal symbolic life, Christian eschatology, reaching the razor's edge of contemplative Christianity with the question: what is our attitude to be in a world that is passing away?For those of you who enjoyed this season, we would like to invite you to a live Q&A and summary with McGrath. The date is set to Sunday 13th of November at 5 pm CET and we will meet on Zoom first for a lecture and then for questions and discussions. Please RSVP to j.lusensky@gmail.comMusic in this episode by Xylo-Ziko - Eventide & Peril. Licensed by Creative Commons.

Sean McGrath received an email from a young person who has been listening to Secular Christ asking: How can I keep growing spiritually through the Christ image, any words of wisdom that helped you along your path of living the contemplative life? This was Sean's reply.

In the third episode, McGrath takes on the self-help industry and how its ideological spokespersons such as Jordan B. Peterson misses the point of grace and self-transformation through self-surrendering. He discusses how to understand the Lord's Prayer (previously discussed with Donald Carveth) and how contemplative Christianity offers a different path of shadow integration and individuation through the kenotic and Buddhistic orientation of self-emptying.Share your feedback and subscribe on YoutubeContact: feedback@cross.centerMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

In the second episode of Secular Christ, McGrath explores the symbolic structures that underlie our search for truth and meaning. He contrasts the "going east" with a return to the "western symbolic" in order to connect with our spiritual and religious mother tongue. He examines how 2000 years of Christianity is a part of the problem and is accelerating a perversion as well as the possible political and personal remedy, by finding back to a more authentic and contemplative Christianity. Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

In the second season of Secular Christ, Dr. Sean J. McGrath continues his conversation with Jungian Analyst Jakob Lusensky about the contemplative life in a Secular Age. In this episode McGrath introduces the concept of "Christ nature" and contrasts it with Buddha Nature before he turns to Paul and the Colossians and the Gospel of John to ground it in scripture.Share your comments and subscribe on YoutubeMusic in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org. Artist. Ketsa - Brook.

An audio clip from C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, in which he explains Rudolf Otto’s classic work, The Idea of the Holy and the numinous. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlhBcsgIylA&t=6s

In this extra material for episode 13 of Psychology & The Cross Donald Carveth and Sean McGrath discusses:* How it's possible to believe in God although he does not exist* Examines the Buddhist concept of provisional names* Offers a critique of religious hubris* Agrees that mystical or numinous psychedelic experiences are necessarily not what is needed in order for religion to become a sustainable "Erfahrung" (not "Erlebnis") and pattern in ones life.#Erfahrung #Religion #Psychoanalysis

“Somewhere Jung says that the only evil is unconsciousness  and this, I think touches to your work Don, that this growth in consciousness, which psychoanalysis aims towards, has to be understood as a moral drive towards  the good.”Episode description:What’s the role of conscience, ethics, and morals in psychological development and individuation? To investigate this question we invited again the Toronto-based psychoanalyst Donald Carveth (Episode 12) and Philosophy & Theology professor Sean McGrath (Episode 3) for a conversation. As a base for our discussion, we have read the important 1958 Jung essay ‘A psychological view of conscience’. You can access it through our new Substack page. Donald Carveth is the author of the book "The still small voice: Psychoanalytic reflections on guilt and conscience” (Routledge, 2013). He runs a popular Youtube channel on psychoanalysis and also make some of his readings available on his website https://www.doncarveth.com/Sean McGrath is a  Canadian philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is known for his published work in the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. Major single-authored works includes for example 'The Dark Ground of Spirit: Schelling and the unconscious'. There is also a separate podcast series, Secular Christ where Jakob Lusensky discusses questions related to Christianity today. Jakob Lusensky is a Jungian psychoanalyst with a private practice in Berlin and the host of this podcast.Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: "Falling Angels" and "Golden teacher" by Ketsa.

For those of you who listened to the last episode of Psychology & The Cross and got interested in learning more about Julius Spier and Etty Hillesum, we’re now making a previously unreleased essay by Alexandra Nagel available on our new Substack account. The essay is titled Julius Spier read the Bible for guidance (Etty Hillesum followed him) and outlines how reading the Bible and Christian writers influenced the spirituality of Spier and then of course also Etty Hillesum. In addition, here are two letters were written between Julius Spier and Etty Hillesum, the first one from Spier, sent on the 12th of August 1941. Thank you to Wolfgang Heine and Barbara Morrill for the readings of the letters.Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: Ketsa - Crystal life.

“Julius Spier is a hand reader, and hand reading in itself is looked down upon, dismissed, forgotten, ignored by regular science. Jungians have not paid attention to Julius Spier.” Episode description:This episode is dedicated to the Jungian hand reader Julius Spier (1887-1942). Until now Spier is most known for being the analyst and lover of brilliant Jewish diarist Etty Hillesum, whose writings before being sent to Auschwitz continue to inspire religious seekers around the world. Few people know of Spier’s relationship to C.G Jung, how he developed a psychological study of inquiry combining Jungian psychology with hand reading, and how there were Jungians trained in his technique and practicing it until the late 1900s (Albert Einstein had his hands read by Spier).Our guest for this episode is Alexandra Nagel (PhD), a Dutch historian of western esotericism and the scholar who singlehandedly is bringing Julius Spier’s important contributions and fascinating life story to public attention. A few years ago she finished her dissertation on Spier at the Institute of Philosophy at Leiden University. For more information about Julius Spier, I recommend the following papers by Alexandra Nagel.Jung, Julius Spier, and Palmistry (Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche 14. No. 1 (2020): 65–81.)Etty Hillesum, A Devoted Student of Julius SpierThe Hands of Albert Einstein: Einstein's Involvement with Hand Readers and a Dutch PsychicAnother must-read are the diaries of Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941-1943Thank you to Barbara Morrill for the beautiful reading of Etty Hillesum’s letter to Julius Spier. Music played in this episode is licensed under creativecommons.org: Ketsa - Crystal life.