You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 44.203.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪ST47‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a web host's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and they should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 23:54, 31 July 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪AntiCompositeNumber‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: Visit the FAQ if you are affected .
- Start of block: 13:55, 18 August 2022
- Expiry of block: 13:55, 18 July 2025
Your current IP address is 44.203.232.145. The blocked range is 44.203.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((More citations needed|date=August 2020))((italic title))
'''''Psychology and Alchemy''''', volume 12 in ''[[The Collected Works of C. G. Jung]]'', is [[Carl Jung]]'s study of the analogies between [[alchemy]], [[Christian dogma]], and [[symbol|psychological symbolism]].<ref name='PUP12'>((cite web | url = http://press.princeton.edu/titles/696.html | title = Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 12: Psychology and Alchemy | access-date = 2014-01-20 | publisher = Princeton University Press))</ref>

Alchemy is central to Jung's hypothesis of the [[collective unconscious]]. This book begins with an outline of the process and aims of [[psychotherapy]] as seen by Jung. It then moves on to work out the analogies mentioned above and his own understanding of the [[analytic psychology|analytic process]]. Jung reminds us of the dual nature of alchemy, comprising both the chemical process and a parallel mystical component. He also discusses the seemingly deliberate mystification of the alchemists. Finally, in using the alchemical process to provide insights into [[individuation]], Jung emphasises the importance of alchemy in relating to us the transcendent nature of the [[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]].<ref name='Routledge'>((cite web | url = http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/catalogs/jung_and_analytical_psychology_2013_online_catalog/4/ | title = Collected Works of C.G. Jung | access-date = 2014-01-20 | publisher = (Click on this book's title to see the details). [[Routledge]] | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140116133717/http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/catalogs/jung_and_analytical_psychology_2013_online_catalog/4/ | archive-date = 2014-01-16 ))</ref>

In Psychology and Alchemy, Jung makes the case that the philosopher's stone is a latent reality that exists within the self rather than an external object, and that the alchemists were attempting to communicate this internal dialogue—a conversation between the various components of the human psyche—through the use of esoteric symbols and terminology of the day. <ref>((Cite web |date=2020-01-31 |title=Carl Jung Was Not a Mystic |url=https://areomagazine.com/2020/01/31/carl-jung-was-not-a-mystic/ |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=Areo |language=en-US))</ref>

Detailed abstracts of each chapter are available online.<ref name='IAAP12'>((cite web | url = https://iaap.org/resources/academic-resources/collected-works-abstracts/volume-12-psychology-alchemy/ | title = Abstracts: Vol 12: Psychology and Alchemy | access-date = 2014-01-20 | publisher = International Association for Analytic Psychology))</ref> (Cover art by Mohammed Derbala)

==Overview==
((unreferenced section|date=January 2014))
In this book, Jung argues for a reevaluation of the symbolism of [[Alchemy]] as being intimately related to the psychoanalytical process. Using a cycle of dreams of one of his patients he shows how the symbols used by the Alchemists occur in the psyche as part of the reservoir of mythological images drawn upon by the individual in their dream states. Jung draws an analogy between the Great Work of the Alchemists and the process of reintegration and individuation of the psyche in the modern psychiatric patient.

In drawing these parallels Jung reinforces the universal nature of his theory of the archetype and makes an impassioned argument for the importance of spirituality in the psychic health of the modern man. Lavishly illustrated with images, drawings and paintings from Alchemy and other mythological sources including [[Christianity]] the book is another example of Jung's immense erudition and fascination with the eso- and exoteric expressions of spirituality and the psyche in religion and mysticism.

Influenced by pioneering work by [[Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)|Ethan Allen Hitchcock]] and [[Herbert Silberer]] (who was in turn influenced by Jung), ''Psychology and Alchemy'' is a seminal work of reevaluation of a forgotten system of thought which did much to revitalise interest in Alchemy as a serious force in Western philosophical and esoteric culture.

Also interesting about this book is that the patient whose dreams are being analyzed in the second section is the physicist [[Wolfgang Pauli]], who would go on to collaborate with Jung on such ideas as the acausal connecting principle of [[synchronicity]]. The dreams are interpreted as a series to elucidate the meanings of recurring motifs and symbols, with the series culminating in the vision of a 'world clock', which is actually several clocks on different planes operating on different scales and colours as a symbol of Pauli's unconscious apprehension of some grand cosmic order. Three of the best of these dreams were also mentioned by Jung in his Terry lectures ''Psychology of Religion''.

==Content==
((unreferenced section|date=January 2014))
The fundamental thesis Jung is advancing about the relationship between Alchemy and Psychology is that for pre-scientific humans there is not a sharp distinction between subject and object and thus this leads them to unconsciously [[Psychological projection|project]] their own inner states onto external objects (especially objects that are mostly unknown to them), so a reflective analysis of alchemical symbols becomes revelatory about the unconscious psychic life of this time period. Prior to this rational segregation of experience the world was a totally different one, phenomenologically, as people did not distinguish between the qualities of the object they were perceiving and their own values, emotions, and beliefs. It is partly for this reason that the alchemists cannot say aloud exactly what the [[philosopher's stone]] really 'is' and why there are so many different symbols for the work.

For the alchemist trying to understand matter and develop base metals into their purest form, gold, substances are grouped as being alike based on their perceived value. Jung documents as these alchemists collectively come to understand that they themselves must embody the change they hope to effect within their materials: for instance, if they hope to achieve the philosopher's stone that can redeem 'base' or 'vulgar' metals, then the alchemist too must become a redeemer figure. It became apparent to the alchemists that they were trying to redeem nature as Christ had redeemed man, hence the identification of the ''Lapis Philosophorum'' with Christ the Redeemer. The [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|Opus]] (work) of alchemy, viewed through this interpretation, becomes a symbolic account of the fundamental process the human psyche undergoes as it re-orients its value system and creates meaning out of chaos. The opus beginning with the [[nigredo]] (blackening, akin to depression or nihilistic loss of value) in order to descend back into the manipulable ''[[prima materia]]'' and proceeding through a process of spiritual purification that must unite seemingly irreconcilable opposites (the coniunctio) to achieve new levels of consciousness.

==Part I. Introduction to the Religious and Psychological Problems of Alchemy==
((unreferenced section|date=January 2014))
Jung sets out the central thesis of the book: that Alchemy draws upon a vast array of symbols, images and patterns drawn from the [[Collective Unconscious]]. Jung defends his exploration of the [[Psyche (psychology)|Psyche]] and [[Soul]] against various critics who have accused him of being both religious and anti-religious depending on their point of view. He argues for a deeper understanding of the Western spiritual traditions e.g. [[Esoteric Christianity]] and Alchemy alongside an examination of the Eastern ones e.g. [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]] etc. Jung diagnoses the spiritual laziness of the West in not truly embracing the Christian [[Myth]] as an inner journey of transformation. Alchemy, he argues, is a 'Western [[Yoga]]' which was designed to facilitate this. The book will begin with a description of a whole cycle of dreams described by an unnamed patient (to protect confidentiality) which will be interpreted in their archetypal and mythological sense by Jung. This is designed to illustrate the existence of Jung's theory of the [[Collective Unconscious]] and the psychological goal or [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|Great Work]] of psychic and spiritual integration or wholeness through the individuation process
that affects the mind state.

==Part II. Individual Dream Symbolism in Alchemy==
((unreferenced section|date=January 2014))

Jung sets out his agenda and explains his method. The text that follows will contain several cycles of dreams recounted by a patient to a student of Jung. Each dream will be described and then analysed and interpreted with reference to Alchemical imagery and psychoanalytic theory. Jung is at pains to explain that the patient knew nothing of Jung's interpretations and so was not influenced in any way during the dream process.

Jung details an entire cycle of the patient's dreams, summarising the details of each then interpreting them in terms of their parallels with alchemical imagery to reveal their psychological content.

==Part III. Religious Ideas in Alchemy==
((unreferenced section|date=January 2014))

* Chapter 1 - Basic Concepts of Alchemy
* Chapter 2 - The Psychic Nature of Alchemical Work
* Chapter 3 - The Work
* Chapter 4 - The Prima Materia
* Chapter 5 - The Lapis-Christ Parallel
* Chapter 6 - Alchemical Symbolism in the History of Religion<!-- Removed quote (no citation): It is not without importance for us to appreciate the high value set upon the mandala, for it accords very well with the paramount significance of individual mandala symbols which are characterized by the same qualities of a ---so to speak---"metaphysical" (fn4 ...the term "metaphysical:I am only using it figuratively, in the psychological sense, to characterize the peculiar statements made by dreams.) nature. Unless everything deceives us, they signify nothing less than a psychic centre of the personality not to be identified with the ego. -->

===Quotations===
((Blockquote|text=The real mystery does not behave mysteriously or secretively; it speaks a secret language, it adumbrates itself by a variety of images which all indicate its true nature. I am not speaking of a secret personally guarded by someone, with a content known to its possessor, but of a mystery, a matter or circumstance which is "secret," i.e., known only through vague hints but essentially unknown. The real nature of matter was unknown to the alchemist: he knew it only in hints. In seeking to explore it he projected the unconscious into the darkness of matter in order to illuminate it. In order to explain the mystery of matter he projected yet another mystery - his own psychic background -into what was to be explained: Obscurum per obscurius, [[ignotum per ignotius]]! This procedure was not, of course, intentional; it was an involuntary occurrence.
<br/>
I am therefore inclined to assume that the real root of alchemy is to be sought less in philosophical doctrines than in the projections of individual investigators. I mean by this that while working on his chemical experiments the operator had certain psychic experiences which appeared to him as the particular behaviour of the chemical process. Since it was a question of projection, he was naturally unconscious of the fact that the experience had nothing to do with matter itself (that is, with matter as we know it today). He experienced his projection as a property of matter; but what he was in reality experiencing was his own unconscious. In this way he recapitulated the whole history of mankind's knowledge of nature.... Such projections repeat themselves whenever man tries to explore an empty darkness and involuntarily fills it with living form.|author=|title=Part 3, Chapter 2.1|source=))((Blockquote|text=When the alchemist speaks of Mercurius, on the face of it he means quicksilver (mercury), but inwardly he means the world-creating spirit concealed or imprisoned in matter. The dragon is probably the oldest pictoral symbol in alchemy of which we have documentary evidence. It appears as the [[Ouroboros]], the tail-eater, in the [[Codex Marcianus]], which dates from the tenth or eleventh century, together with the legend 'the One, the All'. Time and again the alchemists reiterate that the opus proceeds from the one and leads back to the one, that it is a sort of circle like a dragon biting its own tail. For this reason the opus was often called circulare (circular) or else rota (the wheel). Mercurius stands at the beginning and end of the work: he is the prima materia, the caput corvi, the nigredo; as dragon he devours himself and as dragon he dies, to rise again in the lapis. He is the play of colours in the cauda pavonis and the division into the four elements. He is the hermaphrodite that was in the beginning, that splits into the classical brother-sister duality and is reunited in the coniunctio, to appear once again at the end in the radiant form of the lumen novum, the stone. He is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison and yet healing draught - a symbol uniting all the opposites.|author=|title=Part 3, Chapter 3.1|source=))((Blockquote|text=Now, all these myth-pictures represent a drama of the human psyche on the further side of consciousness, showing man as both the one to be redeemed and the redeemer. The first formulation is Christian, the second alchemical. In the first case man attributes the need of redemption to himself and leaves the work of redemption, the actual opus, to the autonomous divine figure; in the latter case man takes upon himself the duty of carrying out the redeeming opus, and attributes the state of suffering and consequent need of redemption to the [[anima mundi]] imprisoned in matter. In both cases redemption is a work. In Christianity it is the life and death of the God-man which, by a unique sacrifice, bring about the reconciliation of man, who craves redemption and is sunk in materiality, with God. The mystical effect of the God-man's self-sacrifice extends, broadly speaking, to all men, though it is efficacious only for those who submit through faith or are chosen by divine grace; but in the Pauline acceptance it acts as an apocatastasis and extends also to non-human creation in general, which, in its imperfect state, awaits redemption like the merely natural man.|author=|title=Part 3, Chapter 3.3|source=))((Blockquote|text=From this point of view, alchemy seems like a continuation of Christian mysticism carried on in the subterranean darkness of the unconscious.... But this unconscious continuation never reached the surface, where the conscious mind could have dealt with it. All that appeared in consciousness were the symbolic symptoms of the unconscious process. Had the alchemist succeeded in forming any concrete idea of his unconscious contents, he would have been obliged to recognize that he had taken the place of Christ - or, to be more exact, that he, regarded not as ego but as self, had taken over the work of redeeming not man but God. He would then have had to recognize not only himself as the equivalent of Christ, but Christ as a symbol of the self. This tremendous conclusion failed to dawn on the medieval mind.|author=|title=Part 3, Chapter 5.1|source=))

==Editions==
* Jung, C. G. 1968. ''Psychology and Alchemy'', Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ((ISBN|978-0-691-09771-8))
* Jung, C. G. 1980. ''Psychology and Alchemy'' (2nd ed.), Collected Works of C. G. Jung. London: Routledge. ((ISBN|978-0-415-03452-4))
* Jung, C. G. 1980, Psychology and Alchemy Arabic version 2023 Translated by Salma Elsharkawy From ElRawy publishing house (Cover art by Mohammed Derbala)

==References==
((reflist))

((Alchemy))
((Jung|state=expanded))

((DEFAULTSORT:Psychology and Alchemy))
[[Category:Alchemy]]
[[Category:Works by Carl Jung]]
[[Category:Princeton University Press books]]
[[Category:Routledge books]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Psychology and Alchemy (edit)
Template:Alchemy (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Carl Jung (edit)
Template:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Comma separated entries (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:ISBN (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Jung (edit)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Unreferenced (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Unreferenced section (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Template:Yesno-no (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno-yes (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Catalog lookup link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Check isxn (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Separated entries (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Psychology and Alchemy.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_and_Alchemy"