I've been meaning for some time to reread Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung. It was as close as he got to writing an autobiography.

I've read it two or three times before and each time come away with something really meaningful. Aside from the enjoyment I know I'll get from rereading it, however, I want to reread it to remind myself of some of the bases for my thoughts on Jung and my interpretations of his beliefs, in preparation for radio and television interviews. That is, I know that I've taken certain ideas from Jung but would find it difficult to remember the passages from which I took them, and that would be helpful to have more ready to hand.

As I thought about it today, I realized I could keep an ongoing commentary on this rereading and invite discussion from you, if you care to join in. Not a "class" per se, because I don't want to teach or lecture. I want to share my reflections on the book and let you share your own if you care to.

So, let's begin. I'll describe passages by the chapter in which they appear so that it won't matter if you're not using the same edition of the book as I am. At times I may abbreviate the book's name MDR. I created a category specifically for these posts -- "Jung's 'Memories...'" -- and I'll number the posts so they can be read in order.


In the Prologue, Jung says, "What we are to our inward vision...can only be expressed by way of myth. Myth is more individual and expresses life more precisely than does science" If by myth Jung means story, I agree that myth is one very important way that we see ourselves. But from my experience of Shadow Work I know that we can also see ourselves in images -- the shapes of experiences we've had, or rather the shapes in which those experiences take form when we embody them in a process. For example, I laid out an experience I had when I was two for a group of colleagues last January. I used pillows to represent various parts of the scene but could just as well have used chairs, people, mannikins, etc. Whatever I used, the objects or people would have been placed in similar relation to each other. This pillow was me in a crib in a hospital room. This pilllow was my mother going out the door, and that piece of fabric laid out in a straight line was the doorway she was going through. Over to one side was the hospital as authority telling her she wasn't allowed to stay with me. And over on another side was the anger she felt in reaction to authority but which she chose not to express or act upon.

This scene had just played out in remarkable detail within this group of colleagues, and in laying out the various pieces on the floor, I was demonstrating to them how it captured elements of my experience at age two.

Perhaps that's what Jung means by myth, I'm not sure. I could probably find out by looking at what he wrote elsewhere about myth.