There is a lot of interest in today's culture about the idea of Persona
and the psychological mapping of one's inner world. In fact, the
interest is so strong that the superstar Korean Pop band, BTS, has taken
Dr. Murray Stein's concepts and woven them into the title and lyrics of
their latest album, Map of the Soul: Persona.
What is our persona and how does it affect our life's journey? What
masks do we wear as we engage those around us? Our persona is ultimately
how we relate to the world. Combined with our ego, shadow, anima and
other intra-psychic elements it creates an internal map of the soul.
T.S. Eliot, one of the most famous English poets of the 20th
Century, wrote that every cat has three names: the name that everybody
knows, the name that only the cat's intimate friends and family know,
and the name that only the cat knows. As humans, we also have three
names: the name that everybody knows, which is the public persona; the
name of that only your close friends and family know, which is your
private persona; and the name that only you know, which refers to your
deepest self. Many people know the first name, and some people know the
second. Do you know your secret name, your individual, singular, unique
name? This is a name that was given to you before you were named by your
family and by your society. This name is the one that you should never
lose or forget. Do you know it?
Murray Stein, Ph.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the
International School of Analytical Psychology Zurich (ISAP-ZURICH). He
is a founding member of The Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts
(1977) and of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts (1980). He was
president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology
(IAAP) from 2001 to 2004 and President of ISAP-ZURICH from 2008 to 2012.
He has lectured internationally and is the author of Jung's Treatment
of Christianity, In MidLife, Jung's Map of the Soul, Minding the Self,
Outside Inside and All Around and most recently The Bible as Dream
and Jung's Red Book for Our Time Volume 1, 2 and 3 (co-edited with
Thomas Arzt). He lives in Switzerland and has a private practice in
Zurich.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Notes on the Lyrics of BTS's Map of the Soul- Persona Music Album
Introduction
1: Beginning Thoughts
2: Persona
3: Shadow
4: Ego
5: Ego, the Sextant of Psychic Life
6: Maps, Perception, & Apperception
7: Breakthroughs & Midlife
8: Signs and Symbols
9: Your Face, Your Name, Your Self
10: Personal and Collective Unconscious
11: Individuation: Finding your Path
12: Complexes
13: Love Yourself, Know Your Name, Speak Yourself
Afterword
