YouTube

Jung, Mama Grizzlies, Sarah Palin

by Stephen Parker, Ph.D (Article Selection and Commentary) on August 11, 2010


Arianna Huffington
August 1, 2010 06:11 PM
Sarah Palin, “Mama Grizzlies,” Carl Jung, and the Power of Archetypes

(excerpt)

It is not Palin’s positions people respond to — it’s her use of symbols. Mama grizzlies rearing up to protect their young? That’s straight out of Jung’s “collective unconscious” — the term Jung used to describe the part of the unconscious mind that, unlike the personal unconscious, is shared by all human beings, made up of archetypes, or, in Jung’s words, “universal images that have existed since the remotest times.”

Unlike personal experiences, these archetypes are inherited, not acquired. They are “inborn forms… of perception and apprehension,” the “deposits of the constantly repeated experiences of humanity.” This is the realm Palin is working in — I’m sure unintentionally — and it’s why she has connected so deeply with a large segment of the public. In fact, her evocation of mama grizzlies has a particularly resonant history in the collective unconscious.

According to the Jungian Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, “The bear has long fascinated mankind, partly because of its habit of hibernation, which may have served as a model of death and rebirth in human societies.”  (Source)

Book: the Roots of Coincidence

by Stephen Parker, Ph.D (Article Selection and Commentary) on August 10, 2010

The 1983 album Synchronicity was inspired by Arthur Koestler’s The Roots of Coincidence , which has substantial material about Jung’s idea of synchronicity.Koestler (1905-1983) wrote numerous essays, novels, and autobiographies. In this later years, he developed Parkinsons disease; he and his wife eventually deliberately overdosed on barbituates and alcohol. The passage below is part of his suicide note:

I wish my friends to know that I am leaving their company in a peaceful frame of mind, with some timid hopes for a de-personalised after-life beyond due confines of space, time and matter and beyond the limits of our comprehension. This ‘oceanic feeling’ has often sustained me at difficult moments, and does so now, while I am writing this. (Source)

Wikipedia: Arthur Koestler

Sting and the Police:    Every breath You Take

Digital Fusion the and the Making of the Red Book

by Stephen Parker, Ph.D (Article Selection and Commentary) on May 20, 2010

From the website Digitalfusion News:

The next morning, the Red Book arrived via black sedan among much security.

Although the dimensions were well known, it seemed larger and heavier than expected.

As it was unwrapped for the first time a hush and reverence filled the room becoming of the historic work.

As the Red Book was gently opened the condition was outstanding and the color and hand drawn art work was stunning. (more)

The list price for the Red Book on Amazon is $195.00 (What a bargain since it is so much less than $200!) They actually discount it at $122.95. It is a beautiful book and obviously costs more to make than your average paperback. However, this does seem a bit lit Big Pharma making money off of over-pricing drugs that can save lives (or, perhaps in this case, souls). I suspect that Carl would not be pleased.

A professionally done video of the making of The Red Book, with images from the book can be found on Youtube. It is actually quite impressive to see The Real Thing. Jung was not messing around when he did this; he clearly thought big. The opening of the book is compared to a religious experience.

At the end of the video, the headline reads, “From the author of Memories, Dreams, and Recollections”. Really? Jung wrote that too?

sparker