Newsletter 2009

Intimacy: Venturing the Uncertainties of the Heart

Jungian Odyssey Series, Vol. 1

Isabelle Meier, Stacy Wirth, and John Hill, Editors

New Orleans, LA: 2009, 225 pp.

This book is a collection of papers that were presented at ISAPZURICH`s annual summer conference and retreat at Beatenberg, Switzerland in May-June, 2008. The theme for the conference was inspired by the “genius loci,” the spirit of the location in which it took place.

Paul Brutsche writes about the artist Paul Klee, using some of his paintings and poetry, diaries and biographies. He opens his discussion with “an astonishing poem, ‘The Two Mountains’”, which epitomizes the existential tension in which Klee lived:

Two mountains there are,

where all is bright and clear,

the mountain of beasts, and

the mountain of gods.

Between them, lies the

valley of the humans in twilight.

When one among them by chance lifts his head,

He is gripped by a foreboding and

unquenchable yearning;

he who knows he knows not

yearns for those who don’t know they know not,

and for those who know that they know. [pp. 17-18]

It is a beautiful commentary on the human condition and the unbearable tensions that consciousness provokes. Human existence unfolds within the shadowy valley of uncertainty, in the “betwixt and between.” Human being is more conscious and questioning than animal being–and also more uncertain and doubting than godly being. (p. 18) Brutsche offers a fascinating glimpse into the profound forces that shaped the life and work of this remarkable artist who lived so much of his life in this picturesque region.

For John Hill, Home is an archetypal image that has a powerful influence over us all. “Stories of Home are often about the making or breaking of the heart. Great stories of the heart are about how to construct a shelter for that organ of longing that needs to be alone and yet needs to be connected to others.” (p. 58)

Both Rafaella Ada Colombo and Kathrin Asper explore the influence and importance of the relationship between mother and child on the development of the child’s brain and psyche. Colombo refers to cutting-edge neurological discoveries in the study of the relationship between mind and brain. Through the myth of Hephaistos (Hera’s son who was born so “ugly” he was rejected by his mother), Asper demonstrates how severe birth defects and their onerous treatment regimens impede a mother’s ability to bond with her child. The negative impact on the child’s psychic development lays the groundwork for significant pathological complexes in adult life.

In “Yearning to Be Known” Ursula Wirtz discusses the importance of developing intimate relationships with others in order to “individuate.” As the title of her paper suggests, she also focuses on the need to be aware and open to what is striving to become conscious within us. She reminds us that “... the seat of knowledge is not the head but the heart.” (p. 104)

The Eros myth is a key element for Wirtz and Mario Jacoby. Jacoby focuses primarily on intimacy both in personal life as well as in relations between analysts and clients. He examines in depth the difficulties, dangers and risks inherent in such situations with illustrative examples.

Allan Guggenbühl‘s brilliant paper on “Love: Our Most Cherished Anarchist” is a slow, honest, well-developed critical examination of love, passion, analysis and how it all ties in with daily life. He writes of the importance of love as an “irrational” element and the prospective nature of the psyche. “Love reconnects us with soul” [p. 151] and leads us to discover life outside the prison of ego boundaries. However, I’m not so certain that “even the greatest among us are just not prepared to integrate these energies.” [p. 152]

Urs H. Mehlin follows the path that feelings of longing can take, through the poles of hope and despair. He provides an eloquent discussion and analysis of this oh-so-human condition.

Deborah Egger-Biniores examines the concepts of Anima and Animus as elaborated by Jung and the way they are used by the analytical community. She deplores the sexist polarities perpetuated by these terms and feels they are out of step with the real world. Our concepts of sex, gender and identity have evolved since these terms were coined and she argues compellingly for their revision.

Murray Stein reflects on lovers’ need for privacy as a metaphor for relating to one’s own soul. He speaks of the uncanny events that can occur when one enters into an intimate relationship with an object… and broods long and hard upon it.” [p. 189] His powerful examples illustrate these points and his expert analysis provides profound insights into the workings of the psyche. But the intimate story he relates from his own life experience is nothing short of remarkable and combines all (of) the elements of which he has written: the symbolic, the synchronistic, the uncanny and the transcendent. It’s ineffable. Is it the writing, the experience or what that is ineffable? Perhaps “His account is ineffable.”

Thomas Kapacinskas compares Jung’s attempts to understand the relationship between psyche and religion with Simone Weil’s struggles to understand the divine. It is a study in contrasts: Jung’s striving for wholeness and Weil’s compulsive struggle for perfection. The author explores what we can learn from struggles in times of “affliction and initiation.”

In a wonderful paper on “Rumi: Poet of the Heart,” Dariane Pictet echoes themes expressed by other writers:

Rumi’s poetry is characterized by longing and thus appeals to those of us who have loved and lost, who have known separation and exile, and/or embraced the metaphor of seekers in search of wholeness ... Longing, if we engage with it, can bring us home to the place in us that is always whole. We don’t dwell there, we move in and out of it.

(p. 226)

In linking Rumi’s poetry to his personal development, we gain powerful insights into this enigmatic writer and mystic.

Bernard Sartorius examines another important Sufi writer, Ibn ‘Arabi, through what is known about his life and his poem “Tarjuman Al-Ashwaq.” He too explores the relationship between the intimate and the divine and the transformative effects of suffering.

Noirin Ni Riain, professional singer, theologian and musicologist is the only contributor to this volume who is not an analyst. Her opening essay sets the tone for the text, speaking on the need to listen with the “ear of the heart” in order to “hear” the wisdom inherent in songs, legends, myths and poetry.

All of the essays in this volume are original, engrossing, profound, thought-provoking, moving and/or stirringly heart-warming. I strongly recommend you become more intimately acquainted with this book; you will not regret it.

–Roman Rogulski