Dr. Jung once expressed his sadness because he wasn’t sure if his message reached people and if they comprehended it. He was an extraordinary man with incredible imagination and insight into the world, people, and their inner unknown. However, his genius mind was too vast for many to understand, and he often felt alone. He also said that if a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely!

While translating and publishing the series about Mana-Personality, I often encountered Jung’s humble, honest, and profoundly wise words. I thought it would be great to share some of his explanations about his intentions and efforts to help us better understand his message.

His works, as we know, have become very popular now. I noticed it when I kept trying to buy more of his books (complete works 1, 2, 3, etc.). They are (for me!) quite expensive. Of course, I may have downloaded some of them from the internet, but as I prefer to hold the book in my hand, I reached for the collections he published in such small but fine pieces. One of them is this book, “The Relation Between “I” and the Unconscious”, which I have shared some translations. This time, I want to share with you the preface of this book to get to know him better. I found his explanation with such honest words fascinating and touching, and I hope you will feel the same way I did.

Preface to the Second Edition

This little book originally arose from a lecture that I published under the title ‘La Structure de l’Inconscient’ (cf. The Structure of the Unconscious, CW 7.) in the Archives de Psychology in December 1916 (vol. 16, p. 152). It was also published under the title ‘The Conception of the Unconscious’ in my ‘Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology’ (2nd ed., 1917). I mention this fact because I want to show that the present work is not a one-off phenomenon but the expression of an effort that has extended over decades to understand the peculiar character and course of the > drame intérieur <, the process of transformation of the unconscious soul, and to present it – at least in its main features. This idea of ​​the independence of the unconscious, which distinguishes my view so fundamentally from that of Freud, dawned on me as early as 1902 when I was studying the psychological development of a young somnambulist (cf. On the Psychology and Pathology of So-called Occult Phenomena, GW 1.).

In a lecture at the Zurich town hall, >The Content of Psychosis< (CW3), I approached this idea from a different angle. In 1912, I presented some of the main parts of the process using an individual example, and at the same time, I showed the historical and ethical parallels of this apparently universal psychic process (cf. Transformations and Symbols of the Libido, 1912. See also the 1952 version, which was extensively revised and expanded by Jung: Symbols of Transformation, GW 5.). In the essay mentioned above, La Structure de l’Inconscient, I attempted for the first time to give a summary of the whole process. It was a mere attempt of whose inadequacy I was only too convinced. The difficulties of the material were so great, however, that I could not imagine that I could do them any justice by the explanations in a single essay. I, therefore, left it at the ‘preliminary report’, with the firm intention of taking up this subject again at a later opportunity. Twelve years of further experience enabled me then in 1928 to thoroughly revise my formulations of 1916, and the result of these efforts was this present little book. This time, I tried mainly to describe the relationship of ego consciousness to the unconscious process. Following this intention, I have been particularly concerned with those phenomena which can be described as reactions of the conscious personality to the influences of the unconscious. In this way, I have attempted to approach the unconscious process indirectly. However, these investigations have not yet reached a satisfactory conclusion, as the answer to the main question of the nature and essence of the unconscious process has not yet been found. I did not dare tackle this difficult task without the greatest possible experience. Its solution is reserved for the future.

The reader of this booklet will forgive me if I ask him to regard it – when he reads it – as a serious attempt on my part to intellectually grasp a new and as yet unexplored area of ​​experience. It is not a matter of a sophisticated system of thought but of formulating psychic experience complexes, which have never before been the subject of scientific consideration. Since the soul is an irrational given and cannot be equated with a more or less divine reason according to the old model, it is not surprising that in psychological experience, we very often come across processes and experiences that do not correspond to our reasonable expectations and are consequently rejected by our rationalistic consciousness. Such an attitude is, of course, unsuitable for psychological observation because it is highly unscientific. One must not try to dictate to nature if one wants to observe its undisturbed workings.

I am trying to summarize 28 years of psychological and psychiatric experience, which is why my little book can make a specific claim to being taken seriously. Of course, I could not say everything in this one presentation. The reader will find a continuation of the last chapter in the book >The Secret of the Golden Blossom< (see the commentary on The Secret of the Golden Blossom, GW 13.), which I published together with my late friend Richard Wilhelm. I did not want to omit to refer to this publication because Eastern philosophy has been concerned with inner psychological processes for many centuries and is, therefore, of inestimable value for our psychological research precisely because of the much-needed comparative material.

In October 1934 Carl Gustav Jung

In the end, here is a short description of uttering one’s acknowledgement based on knowing and believing. Socrates said, “I know that I don’t know!” Let’s hear Dr. Jung’s words about this!
Thank you all for being there.🤗🙏💖

Today, I’m sharing an exceptional article by Marie Grillot about the excellent painter Alaa Awad, who combines the new age with the old style of ancient Egyptians.

Awad is an Egyptian artist famous for his public murals in Cairo and Luxor. He gained recognition for his murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo, Egypt, during the 2012 Egyptian Revolution, which attracted significant media coverage. His public murals and paintings depict the Egyptian people’s history, dignity, and charisma. Additionally, he has showcased his oil paintings and outdoor public murals internationally in solo exhibitions.

Above an ancient mural fresco, below an impressive perception by Awad.

“The West Bank of Luxor” in Paris, with the paintings of Alaa Awad!

via égyptophile

“Alaa Awad, here is a new talent that Egypt offers us, and not the least. This young artist, who grew up in Mansoura and teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, has been steeped since childhood in the prestigious heritage bequeathed by the Pharaonic civilization. By that, he will draw all his inspiration, developing his art where great finesse and extraordinary sensitivity are combined.” Could one dream of a more beautiful presentation than that of this other “Theban”? Christian Leblanc

Alaa has masterfully and grandiosely expressed his street art in Egypt, the USA, Germany, and Denmark. Whether he is painting a room at the Street Art City in Lurcy-Levis (France) or the Cairo windows of a “Bulgari” boutique, his art explodes as much as it fascinates.

In the old Gournah, on the west bank of Luxor (the “West Bank”), he set up his studio at the edge of the arable land, facing the Theban mountain. This environment is flooded with this exceptional light, which offers itself to him in an infinitely rich palette, ranging from the shades of the fields to the pink tones of the Theban peak, from the white Galabeyas of the Gournawis to the black dresses of the women.

A stone’s throw away rises the majestic temples of millions of years of the greatest Pharaohs. A stone’s throw away, the eternal homes of artisans, nobles, queens and sovereigns hide in their entrails the most beautiful scenes of funerary art…

So many sources of inspiration could kill inspiration by an excess of sensations, but NO, it is only sublimated!

If Alaa admires his “current” masters, the great Egyptian artists, and also Gauguin, Van Gogh and Rodin, he has unlimited respect and esteem for the Pharaoh’s artisans… For those who engraved the walls of temples, painted the walls of tombs in the faint light of oil lamps, decorated sarcophagi, or sculpted statues…

With his intelligent, deep and concentrated gaze, he seems to read all this, penetrate it, and, perhaps, finally, understand “the codes”…

And he restores it with his own sensitivity, with his personal interpretation imbued with his references to street art.

“From themes with a funerary consonance to those reproduced on the walls of temples, a whole repertoire will serve as a guide to reinterpret and even update these age-old scenes in a shimmering of colours and an exuberance of movements.” (Christian Leblanc)

The mourners at Ramose’s tomb are as thin and slender as top models. They are dressed in brightly coloured clothes; their legs are thin, and their arms and fingers are disproportionately long. Hairstyles like stars, their eyes made up in black sometimes let golden tears flow.

His “Isis”, the “mother” of the goddesses, against a backdrop of a starry sky, with eyes heavy with kohol and his “Hathor”, with their benevolent physiognomy, overflows with colour and vitality.

Alaa is an artist with a rich and powerful palette. Véronique Sedro, Egyptologist and writer, felt this very well: “The artisans and artists of Pharaonic Egypt used natural pigments: multiple ochres, black, but also white, solar yellow, celestial blues and deep blues and this inimitable turquoise like the stone that bears her name. When I entered Alaa Awad’s studio in Luxor, my eyes immediately stopped on her palette. A painting in itself, a palimpsest of her works. A large square of wood where painting knives rested on a firework of thick colours.”

Alaa likes to draw parallels between the history of yesterday and that of today, between the reminiscences of a past, distant or more recent, combined with a subtle interweaving of religions or cultures…

Thus, its processions of sacred boats of the Opet festival “rejoin” the celebration of the local saint, Abou el-Haggag. Its buffaloes from the Gournah cattle market seem to come straight from certain nobles’ tombs.

So, the “current” daily life is a source of inspiration. It could be the long procession of workers on the excavation sites who tirelessly work on the mountainside, handle their shovels, or carry black leather bags filled with rubble.

It can also be festivals and traditions. The “tahtib” – the stick dance – is again a reference to antiquity, as proven by the scenes from the tomb of Kheruef. Or the “Mermah”, a morning event during which the gournawis mount their horses and challenge each other with sticks in an immemorial ritual misted with sand dust…

Alaa likes to paint the men of the village in Galabeya and turban and the women with big dark eyes and long black hair covered with a black Malaya.

If horses are very often represented in his paintings, we also sometimes find extraordinary creatures, like those from Nagada’s palettes … or even the Burak, which is “according to Islamic tradition, a fantastic steed, mount of the prophets”: a winged horse with a woman’s head.

And his favourite subject is perhaps the “Zarqa al Yamama,” a “blue-eyed woman with an ability to predict events before they happen”—in a word, an Egyptian Cassandra. He gives her a face and a look of beauty that is as mysterious as it is attractive and covers her hair with scarves that one would wish a couturier could create…

Alaa est un artiste totalement – et fièrement -“égyptien” : “Du street-art à ses toiles néo-pharaoniques, de sa technique de l’acrylique et du pinceau, son œuvre, d’une indéniable élégance, s’adresse d’abord au peuple égyptien avec qui il partage ce si fabuleux héritage culturel que bien des coutumes et des traditions perpétuent encore jusqu’à présent”nous dit Christian Leblanc. Quant à Véronique Sedro, elle nous confie : “A travers lui j’ai identifié l’âme égyptienne”.

At the same time, La Villette welcomed Tutankhamun, Alaa Awad arrived in Paris and was invited to participate in the Cultural Year France—Egypt 2019.

His exhibition – which could not have any other title than “The West Bank Luxor” – will be held at the Egyptian Cultural Center – 111 Boulevard Saint-Michel – 75005 Paris, from Saturday, March 23 to Saturday, March 30, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (except Sunday and Monday).

Marie Grillot

Serbia and its Pride! The first Attitude!

Let’s take a break, me included!!

This year, we planned to spend our holidays in the summer instead of spring or autumn like in previous years. Due to my limited budget, we aimed to make the trip as inexpensive as possible. However, a significant reason for undertaking this journey was to visit our daughter-in-law’s birthplace and meet her family. First, we rented an apartment for just under three hundred euros a week to not burden our new family, and then we moved into their house.

Although Serbia is not the great country it once was, which we know as Yugoslavia, nevertheless, it has its quiet, beautiful corners with proudly reserved people. I believe the EU would rather have it apart because it fears the mighty military of the big country!

I know these people well because I worked with some colleagues during those years and found them intelligent, honourable, and insightful.

So! I am splitting this post in two because I have some nice pictures of the prominent Church in Belgrad, The Temple of Saint Sava, which I would like to make a separate post about. Have a lovely weekend, everybody, and thanks to all.

“Diamonds & Rust”

Joan Baez

Well I’ll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that’s not unusual
It’s just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I’d known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin’s eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you’re smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there

Now you’re telling me
You’re not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that vagueness now
It’s all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you’re offering me diamonds and rust
I’ve already paid

Translated from volumes published by Lorenz Jung based on the edition “Gesammelte Werke” dtv.de The Symbols of Transformation (1952) and Aion (1950)

With warm regards, I would like to share another section of Jung’s concept of the Mana-Personality (The past sections: here, here, here and here). In this part, he discusses a sequence of dreams and, in the case of neurotics, a series of fantasies and how these are concealed in our subconscious and brought to light through dreams. Another topic is the complex, which also was a crucial subject for Sigmund Freud. The complex is a natural component of everyone’s inner self that accumulates from childhood to adulthood, which nobody can avoid. We should strive to explore our inner selves to untangle their knots- this contributes to the effort of comprehending the unconscious and bringing it into consciousness.

I firmly believe Dr. Jung holds the key to the recovery and healing process for every individual and, consequently, our entire society. His effort to identify and explain the main problems, which are timeless and universal, is truly commendable and offers valuable lessons for us all.

The title image: Gianluca “Tenia” Gambino: The Voice of Redemption

Individuation
The Mana Personality (P5)

Since it is impossible for me to present the reader with such a series of images, some of which are very long, in detail, I would ask them to be content with the few examples and otherwise to trust my assertion that these are logically constructed, goal-oriented connections. I use the word “goal-oriented” with a certain hesitation, however. This word should be used with caution and with restrictions. In the case of mentally ill people, one can observe a series of dreams and, in the case of neurotics, a series of fantasies that run almost aimlessly within themselves. The young patient whose suicidal fantasy I mentioned above (The mentioned dream about his bride from the last post) is well on the way to producing a series of aimless fantasies if he does not learn to take an active part and consciously intervene. Only in this way can a direction be achieved towards a goal. The unconscious is a purely natural process, on the one hand, without intention but on the other hand, with every potential direction characteristic of every energetic process. But if the conscious mind actively experiences each stage of the process and at least understands it vaguely, the following image begins at the higher level achieved as a result, and this is how direction is created.

The next goal of dealing with the unconscious is to reach a state in which the unconscious contents no longer remain unconscious and no longer express themselves indirectly as anima and animus phenomena, i.e. a state in which the anima (and the animus) become a function of the relationship to the unconscious. As long as they are not this, they are autonomous complexes, that is, disruptive factors that break through the control of consciousness and thus behave like real troublemakers. Because this is such a well-known fact, my term ‘complex’ has also become common in everyday language. The more ‘complex’ someone has, the more obsessed he is, and if one tries to create a picture of the personality that expresses itself through his ‘complexes’, you may come to the conclusion that it must be a hysterical femininity – hence anima! But if he now becomes conscious of his unconscious contents, not as factual contents of his personal unconscious, but as fantasies of the collective unconscious, he gets to the roots of his complexes and thereby triggers his obsession. The anima phenomenon then ceases.

But that certain overpowering force that caused the obsession – what I cannot shake off must be superior to me in some way – should logically disappear with the anima; one should become >complex-free<, psychologically house-trained, so to speak. Nothing should happen that the “I” does not allow, and if the “I” wants something, nothing should be able to interfere. This would secure the “I”, an unassailable position, the steadfastness of a superman or the superiority of a perfect sage. Both figures are ideal images, Napoleon on the one hand and Lao Tzu on the other. Both figures correspond to the ‘extraordinarily effective’ concept, which is the term Lehmann uses in his well-known monograph to explain Mana (Lehmann: Mana, 1922). Therefore, I simply call such a personality a Mana Personality. It corresponds to a dominant of the collective unconscious, an archetype that has developed in the human psyche since time immemorial through appropriate experience. The primitive man does not analyse or explain why another is superior to him. If he is smarter and stronger than him, he has Mana; that is, he has greater power; he can also lose this power, perhaps because someone has stepped over him in his sleep or someone has stepped on his shadow.

To be continued! 🙏💖

Today, I would like to present something different. (There is always a worm inside me looking for variety!). After a long time, I looked into my Amazon Kindle collection and suddenly came across the book “Heart of a Sufi: Fazal Inayat-Khan – A Prism of Reflections”. I wouldn’t say I like to read books on PS or Kindle, so I overlooked this book in those days. Now, I have found it worth sitting and reading.

Fazal Inayat-Khan Fazal (July 20, 1942 – September 26, 1990), also known as Frank Kevlin, was a psychotherapist and poet. I didn’t know him before, and I must thank Ashen Venema, A great, wise friend (https://courseofmirrors.com/); I could get to know this brilliant Sufi. Now, under the motto “long story short,” I picked a part of this book written by Rahima Milburn, whose parents were taught Sufism by Fazal. I hope you will enjoy it.

If I thought I could change the world, I would try, but I am completely convinced, as most of us are, that I cannot. You eventually come to the realisation—and there is much maturity and existential self-possession in this realisation—that we can only change ourselves.
Fazal Inayat-Khan, Lecture, New Experiential Wisdom, 1989

In Roughwood

From “Heart of a Sufi: Fazal Inayat-Khan – A Prism of Reflections (English Edition  by Rahima Milburn (Author, Editor), Ashen Venema (Editor), Zohra Sharp (Editor) )”

I’m in Roughwood for the first time since the memorial last December. The first time, I was really touching the fact that you are dead. Dead? The word somehow doesn’t mesh with the reality. For you still are here. Not just your photos and your memories, but you. Your fragrance, your influence. No, YOU. Not just a semblance, an essence – really YOU. In this chilly sitting room, redolent with decades of incense and music, I find you in your silence, in your patience, and in the glad, unyielding faith you have in us. In me. That afternoon in the very early days, we talked here, and your eyes reached into me. To say follow your heart was infinitely more meaningful now I had located it. Or you had located it for me. I had dropped something, it seems. You stooped, picked it up, dusted it off and called after me, ‘Hey, you might be needing this.’ You blew on it to clean it, reached out your hand to give it, and now, in Roughwood, you do it once again.

Shadows of birds
swoop across the open windows.
In the distance, wood pigeons lament,
mourning throatily in the round.

Down this creaky hallway, you feel as we come in from out-of-doors and head for the kitchen. Here you are … passing in a hurry, going somewhere. The movement of you can be felt – that irresistible combination of childlike excitement and manly confidence pushing us, pulling us ever onwards. Never knowing what lies around the next bend but sure that if we could be true, it would be also. Urging me on … like that day you shooed me out of Roughwood to go sell books. ‘You never know how you might be spreading the message,’ you said. What a manipulator, I thought, not wanting to sell books or anything. And now, in Roughwood, you are doing it again. But now I see that it is true: endlessly down this path lies my challenge – the movement of you in me makes it so.

Overhead, almost in the clouds
in wide whistling circles,
the gliders swing.
Evidence.
One can soar – all is possible!

This morning, in the garden, you passed beneath the twin trees into that mystery foretold when under them long ago we sat and listened. That voice, wise, wily, winding ideas that mazed us turned the world inside out, flung us ready or not to the borders of reason. I can almost see that summer evening when, after a long hospital stay, you had us gather around. I was unbelieving you could actually have been ill but there you were, yellow to prove it. Speaking softly, slowly, you drew us back to the vistas of liberation. The promised land is one of joyful detachment, ongoing renewal and unquestioning love. You led us there – this brave troop beneath the cedars; brave because the one we followed was so alive, so sure, even when yellowed and frail. And now, in Roughwood, you are doing it again, doing it still. If we stop beneath these trees, with little effort, we can know the sublime, the simple, the outrageous, the evident, the effulgent light that is you.

Butterflies busy themselves
in Sitara’s garden, growing
as naturally as rain falls in England,
as unruly as his hair,
as magical as all we are
in whom he now lives.

Dead?
Slowly by slowly, I realise he has never been more alive.

Thank you! 🙏💖🙏

To be honest, I was never impressed by jewellery. I can’t distinguish the worth of one stone from the other, and I never understood why some people are so fascinated by them. After all, a stone is just a stone, right? But these pieces of jewellery are something extraordinary.😉

Khenmet, or Khnumit, was an ancient Egyptian king’s daughter of the Twelfth Dynasty, around 1800 BC. She is mainly known for her unrobbed tomb, which contains a set of outstanding personal adornments.

Princess Khenmet is only known from her burial next to the pyramid of Amenemhat II at Dahshur. On the West side of the pyramid were three underground galleries with each of two tombs. Four of these tombs, including those of Khenmet, Ita, and Itaweret, were found unlooted. The father of Khenmet is uncertain, but since she was buried in the pyramid complex of King Amenemhat II, it seems likely that she was his daughter.

As we delve deeper into these jewels, we realize they are crafted not just from gold for their lustre but also as symbols of destiny, well-being, and everlastingness.

Now, let’s enjoy reading another fascinating discovery of these treasures by Marie Grillot.🙏💖🙏

Two bracelet clasps of Princess Khnumit

Via égyptophile

Princess Khnumit was one of the many daughters of Amenemhat II, ruler of the 12th Dynasty (1932 – 1898 BC). According to some sources, she was also his son’s wife and successor, King Senusret II. She was buried in Dahshur, northwest of the White Pyramid (that of Amenemhat II).

It was the French Egyptologist Jacques que Morgan who discovered her tomb in February 1895.

“The sarcophagus had been put in place at the same time as the tomb had been built. Perhaps even the wooden coffin it contained had also been placed before the death of the personage so that on the day of burial, all that remained was to place the body and the offerings in the tomb.”

The discoverer also specifies that the princely mummy was once painted and covered with a bitumen coating. Its gilded mask was decorated with red, blue, and gold designs, and two eyes mounted in silver.”

Sumptuous jewels accompanied her for eternity: necklaces, bracelets, in gold, inlaid with carnelian, emerald and lapis lazuli… The chamber of offerings concealed a veritable treasure. “Terracotta vases filled with the debris of the offerings covered the paving in the middle of a bed of white dust accumulated by the centuries. To the right, along the wall located between the two doors, was a pile of bones of oxen and geese, the remains of the provisions that had been deposited near the dead. Along the eastern wall and almost in the middle was the closed perfume box; further away, a small square board, the bronze perfume burner and finally, the canopic box, which occupied almost the entire back of the room. All these objects were dust-covered, so I found it difficult to distinguish their details in the darkness. However, after removing the vases, I was astonished to find some gold jewels near the perfume box.”

The jewels that accompany the princess for her eternity are extraordinary, of such accomplished beauty and art that Jacques de Morgan would say: “I do not believe that, even today, a jeweller can achieve such great perfection, such truth of rendering and such beautiful designs as the obscure worker who, many centuries ago, chiselled in some street of Memphis these singular jewels with which Princess Khnoumit was to adorn herself.”

Among these jewels are these two bracelet clasps found in the sarcophagus. Although they are not among the most sumptuous or best known, they nevertheless deserve our interest.

They come in the form of a rectangular plate, nearly 4 cm high and just over 2 cm wide, bordered with gold. This “frame” is pierced with holes in which the threads of the rows of pearls are attached. Inside the sign, ‘SA’ stands out in lapis lazuli, decorated in its highest part with a small lion’s head, or panther, in gold.

In “Bijoux et orfèvreries”—Fascicule 2 -, the Egyptologist Émile Vernier provides the following details on the manufacture of the “SA” sign: “It is divided into six pieces by the lioness’s head and by cloisonné links; these links are made of three small strips, the middle one in carnelian and the other two in turquoise.”

The hieroglyph ‘SA’ symbolises protection, “perhaps representing the folded mat used by shepherds to protect themselves from the elements.”

Émile Vernier also tells us about what we cannot see, the reverse side of the clasp: “The reverse side is chiselled, the body of the sign is made like a bundle of seven stems joined together and linked in six places corresponding to the lioness’s head and the five links on the front. These links are divided into three parts, a central one wider than the other two.”

These clasps are now “orphaned” from the rows of gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and turquoise beads that made up the bracelet they closed. Therefore, we must rely on our imagination to reconstruct them and imagine them adorning Princess Khnoumit’s arms.

These jewels were deposited at the Cairo Museum, recorded in the Journal of Entries JE 31091, and then in the General Catalogue under the references CG 52044 and CG 52045.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Jacques de Morgan, Excavations at Dahchour, Adolphe Holzhausen, Vienna, 1894 http://dlib.nyu.edu/awdl/sites/dl-pa.home.nyu.edu.awdl/files/fouillesdahcho01morg/fouillesdahcho01morg.pdf Jacques de Morgan, Letter on the latest discoveries in Egypt, Reports of the meetings of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, 1894, 38-3 pp. 169-177 http://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1894_num_38_3_70401?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard& Jacques de Morgan, Letter on his second excavation campaign in Egypt, Reports of the sessions of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, 1895, 39-2 pp. 169-179 http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/crai_0065-0536_1895_num_39_2_70560?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard& Jacques de Morgan, Excavations at Dahshur: 1894-1895, Adolphe Holzhausen, Vienna, 1903 http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/morgan1903/0049 Émile Vernier, General Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in the Cairo Museum, Jewelry and Goldwork, Issue 3, Number 52640-53171, IFAO, Cairo, 1925 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57740426/f96.item.r=52859.texteImage Cyril Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs ed Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 1978
Mohamed Saleh, Hourig Sourouzian, Official Catalogue of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Verlag Philippe von Zabern, 1997
Francesco Tiradritti, Treasures of Egypt – The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Gründ, 1999

As I sit on my (still not a park bench!) armchair in my working room, I’m still amazed at how these previous times have passed, with renovations and holidays in foreign countries (that is, after all, not in an EU community!)… I’ve reached a certain age where I may not feel physically but still not mentally. I thought, after a difficult post like the one before, I’d gab a bit about my feelings.

A few days before, one of our friends shared about feeling lonely on his/her birthday. I empathized with, even though I believe a birthday is just like any other day. After all, it’s only a number that goes up, which is definitely better than the alternative! However, my birthday became a big deal in our family because it was a milestone age—something you wouldn’t expect by looking at me! Perhaps it’s the child inside me that never lets my true age show and always keeps that inner child alive.

Time it was
And what a time it was
It was . . .
A time of innocence
A time of confidences
Long ago . . . it must be . . .
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They’re all that’s left you
Bookends

Moreover, my main reason for writing these words is because a sudden rush of memories reminded me of the time when Al and I kept listening to that Simon & Garfunkel album(Bookends) over and over again. We were young back then and didn’t know how strange it was to be seventy years old. Now I know it (unfortunately, Al didn’t reach that); nevertheless, as I still must continue my work and drive the older adults to their destinations, I don’t feel that old as they do.

“Old Friends” by Simon & Garfunkel

Old friends
Old friends
Sat on their park bench
Like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
On the high shoes
Of the old friends

Old friends
Winter companions
The old men
Lost in their overcoats
Waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city
Sifting through trees
Settle like dust
On the shoulders
Of the old friends

Can you imagine us
Years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange
To be seventy

Old friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fear

🙏💖🖖🤗

Translated from volumes published by Lorenz Jung based on the edition “Gesammelte Werke” dtv.de The Symbols of Transformation (1952) and Aion (1950)

With heartfelt regards to my friends, I present another episode of the Mana-Personality. I mention the past ones here: 1 2 3, as I know it is necessary to read them continually. I had to read the last one myself to know where I was at all! In any case, I think and feel that Dr Jung knows how complicated this issue is and makes an effort to make it easier, and I make an effort to keep translating this jewel from the origin of his own writing, which can be the most trustworthy source.

Dr Jung’s work on this topic (Mana-Personality) stresses the unknown, hidden behind the unconscious, and tries to bring it to the conscious. One of his main points (in most of his works) is pointing back to the collective unconscious and finding the connection in between. That is intensively probing every corner of the human soul, and it is not only fascinating but also important!

Illustration at the top: Alan Mcdonald: A Spoonful of Sugar.

Let’s continue reading:

The starting point for our problem is the state that follows when the unconscious contents that cause the anima and animus phenomenon have been sufficiently brought into consciousness. This can best be thought of in the following way: The unconscious contents are initially things of the personal atmosphere, perhaps in the manner of the fantasy of the male patient mentioned above: (It refers to the dream of one of his patients: he sees his bride running down the road to the river. It is winter, and the river is frozen. She runs out onto the ice, and he follows her. She goes further out, and there the ice has broken; a dark crack opens up, and he is afraid she might fall into it. Indeed, she sinks into the crack, and he watches her sadly).

Later, fantasies of the impersonal unconscious develop, essentially containing collective symbolism, such as my patient’s vision. These fantasies are not wild and motionless, as one might naively think, but they follow certain unconscious guidelines that converge towards a specific goal. One might, therefore, best compare these later series of fantasies to initiation processes because they are the closest analogy to them.
All fairly organized primitive groups and tribes have initiations, often extraordinarily developed, that play an extremely important part in their social and religious life (Primitive Secret Societies, 1908; see Webster.)

Through them, lads will become men and girls into women. The Kavirondos insult those who do not submit to circumcision or excision as ‘animals’. This shows that the initiation rites are the magical means by which man is led from the animal state to the human state. Primitive initiations are evidently mysteries of transformation of the most tremendous spiritual significance. Very often, the initiates are subjected to painful methods of treatment, and at the same time, tribal mysteries are communicated to them: the laws and hierarchy of the tribe on the one hand and cosmogonic and other mythical teachings on the other. The initiations have been preserved among all civilized peoples. In Greece, the ancient Eleusinian mysteries apparently survived until the 7th century. Rome was flooded with mystery religions. One of these is Christianity, which, even in its present form, albeit faded and degenerated, has retained the old initiation ceremonies of baptism, confirmation, and communion. Therefore, no one will be able to deny the enormous historical significance of the initiations.

The modern world has nothing to compare with the historical importance of initiation (compare the testimonies of the ancients with regard to the Eleusinian mysteries!). Freemasonry, the I’Église Gnostique de la France, legendary Rosicrucians, theosophy and so on are weak substitutes for something that would be better marked in red letters on the list of historical losses. The fact is that the entire symbolism of initiation appears in the unconscious with unmistakable clarity. The objection that this is old superstition and completely unscientific is as intelligent as someone who, upon seeing a cholera epidemic, notices that it is merely an infectious disease and, what’s more, unhygienic. The question is not, as I must emphasize again and again, whether the initiation symbols are objective truths or not, but simply whether these unconscious contents are equivalents of the initiation practices or not and whether they have an influence on the human psyche or not. Nor is it a question of whether they are desirable or not. It is enough that they exist and that they work.

To be continued! Thank you for being there.🙏🌹🥰