C. G. Jung’s Rebirth (Eranos 1939) Reading Group
We will be reading C. G. Jung’s presentation on the psychological and spiritual theme of rebirth, which he delivered at the Eranos conference in Ascona in 1939. The Eranos conferences were founded in 1933 by Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn as a response to crisis and as “a challenge of modernity”. The theme in August 1939, weeks before the outbreak of World War II, was “The Symbolism of Rebirth in Religious Representations of Various Epochs and Places”. Barbara Hannah has described the almost unbearable tension in Europe at the time, which led to a dramatic conference amid ominous, violent thunderstorms. Jung had not prepared a written paper, but was so stimulated that he improvised two lectures on the “Psychology of Rebirth” as his closing statement. The text we will be reading has been reconstructed from the shorthand notes taken by Jung’s students.
Jung speaks about rebirth as an archetype through an exploration of Qur’anic mysteries based on his collaboration with the theologian and scholar of Islam Louis Massignon. He addresses the psychological problem of duality, and discusses his dream of a Prince in Tunis, which he had had nineteen years earlier in North Africa. Through close reading and discussion, we will explore Jung’s personal visionary theology and its application to a psycho-spiritual reading of the signs and conflicts of his time, considering what these insights may offer amid the turmoil of our own.
A PDF of the reading text will be provided to participants, as the publication is out of print.
This is a committed group: please book with the intention of attending the full cycle. Individual sessions cannot be booked, and joining after the reading group has begun is not possible.
MAX NOAK is a theologian and Jungian psychotherapist with a private practice based in London. Originally from East Germany, he has an interest in how our ancestors shape our souls. Max received instruction in contemplative prayer from the Jesuit Franz Jalics. The experience of mystical prayer led to a plunge into the unconscious, that paved the way to training as a psychotherapist.
Dates 2027: 12, 19 & 26 January; 2, 9, 16 & 23 February; 2, 9 & 16 March