Carl Gustav Jung merged Eastern mysticism with Western psychology,
brought scientific respectability to religion, laid the foundation for
'the New Age, ' and is second only to Freud in influence and importance
in the world of psychoanalysis. Many consider him a genius, but many
others disagree.
Scholar and clinical psychologist Jon Platania, PhD, presents Jung as a
somewhat opportunistic and dissociated character whose most famous
historical events were his break with Freud and his questionable sojourn
with the psychological elite of the German Third Reich. On the other
side of Jung's complex genius, there is a deeply spiritual man who laid
the groundwork for a more optimistic approach to our modern
understanding of the human psyche in both theology and psychology. He is
remembered by many as the Swiss Doctor of the Soul.
Dr. Platania then takes us on a tour of the work that made Jung one of
the pillars of modern psychology. And what a body of work it is. Jung's
open-mindedness was astonishing. Wherever he went--Calcutta, Egypt,
Palestine, Kenya--Jung learned something that expanded his views. His
open-ended psychology incorporated Yoga, meditation, prayer, alchemy,
mythology, astrology, numerology, the I Ching--even flying saucers! He
taught us that psychology and religion can not only coexist peacefully
together, but that they can enhance us, inspire us, and help us complete
ourselves.
Freud, for all of his brilliance, reduced us to little more than vessels
of hormones with high IQs. Jung, for all of his flaws, gave us back our
souls.
