Carl Gustav Jung

The life of Carl Gustav Jung, in twelve chapters

Each chapter takes one idea and turns it into a scene. The path runs top to bottom, chapter one to twelve, and under every scene we say what the record shows and what we built for the telling.

1. 1

   Psychological Types

   1885 · age 10 · Kleinhüningen parsonage · 11 min

   The doorway was the coldest place in the parsonage at Kleinhüningen. No draft moved through it, yet the temperature changed precisely there, at the threshold between Father's study and the rest of the house.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Paul Jung was Swiss Reformed pastor in KleinhüningenBuilt for the scene: Specific threshold scene

   Hear chapter 1 →

2. 2

   The Social Mask

   1900 · age 25 · Burghölzli Psychiatric Hospital, Zürich · 12 min

   The white coat hung upon my shoulders like a borrowed skin. I stood before the small mirror in my quarters at Burghölzli, a square of glass no larger than a hand, adjusting the collar that seemed to tighten with each breath.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Jung began at Burghölzli December 1900 under Eugen BleulerBuilt for the scene: Specific arrival scene

   Hear chapter 2 →

3. 3

   Complexes

   c. 1905 · age ~30 · Burghölzli laboratory · 12 min

   The stopwatch lay cold in my palm, its mechanism marking seconds with a precision my own heart could not match. The laboratory held its breath, bare walls, high windows admitting spring light, the faint smell of paper and ink.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Association-test research began about 1902 at Burghölzli, major studies published 1904-1910Built for the scene: Specific laboratory scene

   Hear chapter 3 →

4. 4

   The Shadow

   October 1913 · age 38 · Vienna to Switzerland night train · 13 min

   The platform slides backward into darkness. Vienna's gaslights blur, then vanish, and in the window glass I see my face floating against nothing, pale, angular, suddenly unfamiliar.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Jung-Freud break occurred 1912-1913Built for the scene: Specific train scene

   Hear chapter 4 →

5. 5

   Dream Analysis

   Early summer 1887 · age 11-12 · Basel, near the Münster · 12 min

   The cathedral's twin towers caught the noon light, red sandstone glowing like something alive against the summer sky. The air was warm, carrying the scent of sun-warmed stone that rose from the Münster's walls.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Basel cathedral vision documented in MDR Chapter 2Built for the scene: Specific vision scene

   Hear chapter 5 →

6. 6

   Active Imagination

   1914 · age 39 · Küsnacht house, study · 13 min

   The house has gone silent, that particular silence of a household settling, breath by breath, into sleep. I hear the last of it: Emma's door closing softly, the floorboards creaking under the weight of settling wood, then nothing.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: 'Confrontation with the unconscious' began 1913-1914Built for the scene: Specific active imagination scene

   Hear chapter 6 →

7. 7

   The Collective Unconscious

   1925 · age ~50 · Mount Elgon region, Kenya/Uganda · 12 min

   The fire had burned down to its final embers, casting red glow across the ground between us. I pressed my palms against the cooling earth, feeling the day's heat still held there, slowly releasing into night.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Jung's Africa expedition 1925-1926 documentedBuilt for the scene: Specific Elgonyi village scene

   Hear chapter 7 →

8. 8

   Archetypes

   1933 · age ~58 · Casa Eranos, Ascona, Lake Maggiore · 13 min

   The applause came politely enough, that particular Swiss politeness that reveals nothing of what lies beneath. I gathered my notes from the lectern, aware of the August afternoon light slanting through tall windows where Lake Maggiore glittered beyond.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: First Eranos conference 1933Built for the scene: Specific Eranos scene

   Hear chapter 8 →

9. 9

   The Inner Opposite

   1935 · age 59 · Küsnacht consulting room · 13 min

   The man placed a photograph on my desk with the care one might show a sacred relic. The image had been handled until the paper softened at the corners, creased from weeks of obsessive study, worn smooth where his thumb had traced her face.

   What the record shows, what we built

   Documented: Jung's clinical practice at Küsnacht documentedBuilt for the scene: Specific consultation scene

   Hear chapter 9 →

10. 10

    The Third Way

    Winter 1940 · age ~65 · Bollingen Tower · 11 min

    Wind drove snow against the tower walls by the time I finished reading both letters. Inside, the fire had fallen to ash.

    What the record shows, what we built

    Documented: Jung faced accusations of Nazi collaboration and anti-SemitismBuilt for the scene: Specific winter storm scene

    Hear chapter 10 →

11. 11

    The Self

    Summer 1956 · age 81 · Bollingen Tower, upper meditation room · 11 min

    The first light of summer enters through the small window I cut into the eastern wall of this upper room. My hand rests on stone I shaped myself, rough under my palm, warm now where my body has lain through the night.

    What the record shows, what we built

    Documented: Tower construction began 1923Built for the scene: Specific meditation room scene

    Hear chapter 11 →

12. 12

    Individuation

    Late Spring 1958 · age 82-83 · Küsnacht garden · 12 min

    The question hung between us like smoke that neither rose nor settled. Has individuation made you whole?

    What the record shows, what we built

    Documented: Jung worked with Aniela Jaffé on MDR 1957-1961Built for the scene: Specific garden reflection scene

    Hear chapter 12 →