Kabbalistic Visions: C. G. Jung and Jewish Mysticism - Paperback

by Sanford L. Drob (Author)

In 1944, C. G. Jung experienced a series of visions which he later described as "the most tremendous things I have ever experienced." Central to these visions was the "mystic marriage as it appears in the Kabbalistic tradition", and Jung's experience of himself as "Rabbi Simon ben Jochai," the presumed author of the sacred Kabbalistic text, the Zohar. Kabbalistic Visions explores Jung's 1944 Kabbalistic visions, the impact of Jewish mysticism on Jungian psychology, Jung's archetypal interpretation of Kabbalistic symbolism, and his claim late in life that a Hasidic rabbi, the Maggid of Mezhirech, anticipated his entire psychology. This book places Jung's encounter with the Kabbalah in the context of the earlier visions and meditations of his Red Book, his abiding interests in Gnosticism and alchemy, and what many regard to be his Anti-Semitism and flirtation with National Socialism. Kabbalistic Visions is the first full-length study of Jung and Jewish mysticism in any language and the first book to present a comprehensive Jungian/archetypal interpretation of Kabbalistic symbolism.

Author Biography

Sanford L. Drob, PhD, teaches at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, and the C.G. Jung Institute in New York. His most recent book is Archetype of the Absolute: The Unity of Opposites in Mysticism, Philosophy and Psychology. He is a visual artist whose paintings on archetypal themes can be viewed at www.sanforddrobart.com.