The Red Book is not an easy journey - it wasn’t for Jung, it wasn’t for his family, nor for Shamdasani, and neither will it be for readers. The central premise of the book, Shamdasani told me, was that Jung had become disillusioned with scientific rationalism - what he called “the spirit of the times” - and over the course of many quixotic encounters with his own soul and with other inner figures, he comes to know and appreciate “the spirit of the depths,” a field that makes room for magic, coincidence and the mythological metaphors delivered by dreams. It was thought that only one copy of the book existed - locked in a Swiss safe deposit box by the heirs to C.G. Writing in German, he filled 205 oversize pages with elaborate calligraphy and with richly hued, staggeringly detailed paintings.įor decades, The Red Book has been wrapped in mystery, because it has never been published. The book detailed an unabashedly psychedelic voyage through his own mind, a vaguely Homeric progression of encounters with strange people taking place in a curious, shifting dreamscape. First taking notes in a series of small, black journals, he then expounded upon and analyzed his fantasies, writing in a regal, prophetic tone in the big red-leather book. And as a theorist, he wanted to document his 16-year journey, so he wrote down everything he experience, saw and felt: The Red Book is part journal, part mythological novel that takes the reader through Jung’s fantasies - hallucinations he self-induced to try and get to the core of his unconscious. In his late 30s, Jung started writing a book called The Red Book. While not a popular form of psychotherapy in the United States, it remains a niche in psychology that nonetheless carries on Jung’s theories and practices.
Carl Jung died 48 years ago, but he still has a devout following of professionals, clinicians and researchers who believe in the power of his theories.