With an all encompassing theme, 'The Transcendent Function: Individual and Collective Aspects', The Twelfth International Congress for Analytical Psychology was convened in Chicago on 23 August 1992. A wide range of papers and presentations elucidated diverse approaches to the roles played by symbols in analysis, their relationships to one another and their beholders, and possibilities for transcendence.

This book is principally about what is commonly referred to as Gnosticism and its influence on Jung's analytical psychology. It is intended for anyone who are interested in Jungian studies and /or Gnosticism, both the scholar and the general enthusiast and transpersonal psychology community.

Explores the plausibility and value of viewing synchronicity as a form of spiritual experience.

The transcendent function is the core of Carl Jung's theory of psychological growth and the heart of what he called individuation, the process by which one is guided in a teleological way toward the person one is meant to be. This book thoroughly reviews the transcendent function, analyzing both the 1958 version of the seminal essay that bears its name and the original version written in 1916. It also provides a word-by-word comparison of the two, along with every reference Jung made to the transcendent function in his written works, his letters, and his public seminars.

Dreams have profound implications for the physical and spiritual realm, for the body as well as for the psyche. The innovative dream-work procedures developed in this book are instruments that help illuminate such connections, allowing for symbolic elaboration of psychosomatic symptoms that favor their transformation and resolution. The procedures of Dream Processing, Body-Active-Imagination and Contemplative Dream Experience are described and investigated and illustrated with manifold examples. They are valuable tools for the therapeutic professional and for any of us wishing to interact with dreams to harmonize with the profound process that orients us to the path of our lives. Learning from Dreams is the result of many years of research within Dream-Experience-Groups. This Jungian dreamwork methodology broadens the traditional individual setting and offers new perspectives for the professional practice and theory.

From conception until the present, C.G. Jung, his ideas, and analytical psychology itself have been a central thread of Thomas B. Kirsch’s life. His parents, James and Hilde Kirsch, were in analysis with C.G, Jung when he was born, and he was imaged to be the product of a successful analysis. At an early age, Dr. Kirsch was introduced to many of the first-generation analysts who surrounded C.G. Jung, and over time became acquainted with them. Later, in his roles with the IAAP, he gained a broad knowledge of the developments in analytical psychology, and through both his early family history and in his later professional life, Dr. Kirsch worked closely with many analysts who were integral in forming the foundations of analytical psychology.

How can the psychotherapist think about not knowing? Is psychoanalysis a contemplative practice? This book explores the possibility that there are resources in philosophy and theology which can help psychoanalysts and psychotherapists think more clearly about the unknown and the unknowable. The book applies the lens of apophasis to psychoanalysis, providing a detailed reading of apophasis in the work of Pseudo-Dionysius and exploring C.G. Jung's engagement with apophatic discourse. Pseudo-Dionysius brought together Greek and biblical currents of negative theology and the via negativa, and the psychology of Jung can be read as a continuation and extension of the apophatic tradition. Henderson discusses the concept of the transcendent function as an apophatic dynamic at the heart of Jung's thought, and suggests that apophasis can provide the key to understanding the family resemblance among the disparate schools of psychoanalysis. Chapters consider: -Jung’s discussion of opposites, including his reception of Nicholas of Cusa’s concept of the coincidence of opposites -Jung's engagement with Neoplatonism and Pseudo-Dionysius -the work of Jung in relation to Deleuze, Derrida and other writers -how motifs in Pseudo-Dionysius’ Ecclesiastical Hierarchy resonate with contemporary psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The in-depth examination of primary sources in this comprehensive volume provides a platform for research into apophasis in the wider field of psychoanalysis. It will prove valuable reading for scholars and analysts of Jungian psychology studying religion and mysticism.