Carl Jung's Red Book (aka Liber Novus)

[DiscoUkulele]

I've been really interested in reading/studying Carl Jung's Red Book (Liber Novus), but unfortunately, it costs $120. I ended up finding a copy of it online. I don't know what PD's rules are as far as sharing things, so I won't link it just yet.

This book looks really heavy, and I think it might be best to read it as a group. If anyone's interested, let me know.

Liber Novus



Carl Jung's Liber Novus has been called his most personal work. It's a manuscript filled with medieval calligraphy and illustrations that Jung himself produced. It documents Jung's explorations of his own unconscious mind, and was written during a 16-year period in which he created some of his most influential theories.



The manuscript is a result of Jung's practice of Active Imagination, in which he translated the contents of his unconscious mind into symbols and narratives. Active Imagination is very similar to automatic writing and other ways of creating art while shutting off any self-criticism or censorship.



During his process of active imagination, he experienced two figures, Elijah and Salome, whom he credited with giving him "the crucial insight that there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life." One review says that this book is essentially about a modern man losing his soul and attempting to rediscover it.



Following his death, Jung's estate refused to allow the Liber Novus to be published, so it became something of a holy grail for Jung fanatics. In fact, by 2009, only around 20 people had actually seen it in person. Finally, at the end of that year, Jung's grandson was persuaded into allowing it to be translated, footnoted, and published.

It's now available in a gorgeous reproduction, along with annotations and and English translation- for the hefty sum of $120.



I'm really interested in studying it, but it definitely seems like something that would be great to study in a group.

Please let me know if you're interested.

[The Johnny]

How many pages is it?

Im not too fond of Jung, but itd be nice to see just how mental he actually was.

[dontblameyoko]

I've seen that book.  I remember leafing thru it looking for synchronicities.

[Captain Utopia]

The english translation that I have is 140 pages.   However, it doesn't include the images in the translation, which sucks. 

[Captain Utopia]

I'm really enjoying it so far, I'd never read any Jung before this, but it's surprisingly accessible.  Plus some of the themes seem distinctly familiar:

It is no teaching and no instruction that I give you.  On what basis should I presume to teach you?  I give you news of the way of this man, but not of your own way.  My path is not your path therefore I cannot teach you.  The way is within us, but not in Gods, nor in teachings, nor in laws.  Within us is the way, the truth, and the life.

Woe betide those who live by way of examples!  Life is not with them.  If you live according to an example, you thus live the life of that example, but who should live your own life if not yourself?  So live yourselves.

Do not be greedy to gobble up the fruits of foreign fields.  Do you not know that you yourselves are the fertile acre which bears everything that avails you?

Since I don't believe in magic or souls, his communication with his soul part threw me initially.  But then it clicked that what he was describing was eerily similar to experiences I've had attempting communication with different levels of my own consciousness.  So I'm hooked.

DU, how do you want to proceed - wait until everyone who is interested has finished and then discuss, or a free-for-all of dissemination?

[DiscoUkulele]

I'm not really sure what the best way to do this would be. I thought it might be best to do it chapter-by-chapter or something, but we could just wait til everyone's finished with it, too.

I didn't know if anyone would be interested, so I'll start reading it tomorrow.

[Captain Utopia]

I have to admit, I don't find the actual accounts of his conversations with the various people in his dreams as fascinating as the introduction, but this made me laugh:

Dream person: I'm no old pagan as you seem to think.

Jung: I don't want to insist on that.  You are also not pompous and Latin enough.

[Triple Zero]

I've been really interested in reading/studying Carl Jung's Red Book (Liber Novus), but unfortunately, it costs $120. I ended up finding a copy of it online. I don't know what PD's rules are as far as sharing things, so I won't link it just yet.

There's probably copyright on the translation and such, but if the book is from 1930 [wikipedia] doesn't that mean the copyright's expired?

Also, wtf is up with 1930, so many awesome mindblowing things happened in that decade:
1930-31 Gödel's completeness theorems
1930 Discovery of Pluto
1935 EPR paradox (quantum)
1936 Turing's proof for undecidability of the Halting Problem

there were some other things that were significant to me, but I can't come up with them right now.

[Captain Utopia]

I'm not really sure what the best way to do this would be. I thought it might be best to do it chapter-by-chapter or something, but we could just wait til everyone's finished with it, too.

I didn't know if anyone would be interested, so I'll start reading it tomorrow.

How is it going?

Since the first section/book is only about ~20 pages long, do you mind if we discuss that before finishing the whole thing?  My motivation in liber secundus is lagging, and I feel fresh insight would probably help.

[eighteen buddha strike]

This looks fucking fascinating.
I'd love to see it.

[DiscoUkulele]

I'm not really sure what the best way to do this would be. I thought it might be best to do it chapter-by-chapter or something, but we could just wait til everyone's finished with it, too.

I didn't know if anyone would be interested, so I'll start reading it tomorrow.

How is it going?

Since the first section/book is only about ~20 pages long, do you mind if we discuss that before finishing the whole thing?  My motivation in liber secundus is lagging, and I feel fresh insight would probably help.

Yeah, sure. That's fine What are your thoughts so far?

If anyone is interested in the book, shoot me a PM.

[Cuddlefish]

I had read about this 5-6 months ago and forgotten all about it. I'm not all that much of a fan of Jung myself, but this book cetainly piqued my interest. This is available now? Or just for those who know where to find it?

[Cain]

Personally, I think Jung makes Freud look sane, but I'm sure I have a copy of this somewhere...

[DiscoUkulele]

I had read about this 5-6 months ago and forgotten all about it. I'm not all that much of a fan of Jung myself, but this book cetainly piqued my interest. This is available now? Or just for those who know where to find it?

It's in print for $120, but the PDF is really easy to find online.

[Cuddlefish]

I had read about this 5-6 months ago and forgotten all about it. I'm not all that much of a fan of Jung myself, but this book cetainly piqued my interest. This is available now? Or just for those who know where to find it?

It's in print for $120, but the PDF is really easy to find online.

I'll take a look around, thnx.