“I first became aware of the image of the black sun while reading Jung’s alchemical works and later in a more personal way in my analysis of a woman whose encounter with the black sun was dramatic and life changing. What I initially thought was a rare and obscure phenome- non proved to be far more widespread than I had imagined. I have since found it to be linked to the deepest issues of our mortality and to both tragic and ecstatic possibilities. “
Opening Paragraph of The Black Sun, by Stan Marlan
While I was working intensely on a forty day blog project about the journey of surviving a heart attack, my wife gave me Stan Marlan’s The Black Sun. She apologized, saying that she had meant to give it to me earlier for my birthday, but had misplaced it. By coincidence — or by synchronicity — she gave it to me when I had just started trying to understand an image where there was a black sun.
Right then and there, I decided to call the author — Stan Marlan — for a consultation; to my surprise he was open to the idea and made himself available.
His view of the world is such that when the Unconscious calls, he listens. He truly believed that his role was to be of service to the processes of the unconscious. His attitude was eye-opening to me about the deeper processes that are honored within Jungian analysis (when it is done right).
