Understanding the Meaning of Alchemy: Jung’s Metaphor for the Transformative Process

with Murray Stein, PhD This episode is part one of the series Understanding the Meaning of Alchemy. It was recorded in 1992. During the last thirty years of his life, Jung turned to alchemy as a fundamental resource for depth psychology. In alchemy he found images and thoughts that were uniquely fitted to his perceptions of psychological life and that confirmed his views of the spontaneous activity and directedness of the unconscious. Jungian analyst and author Murray Stein presents an overview of Jung’s work on alchemy to develop an understanding of the relation of alchemical symbols to the analytical process and individuation. The set includes the following lectures: Commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower [in CW 13] Psychology and Alchemy [CW 12, parts 1 & 2] The Spirit Mercurius [in CW 13] The Psychology of Transference [in CW 16] Mysterium Coniunctionis [CW 14, Chap. 6] Murray Stein, PhD is a training analyst at the International School for Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland. His most recent publications include The Principle of Individuation, Jung’s Map of the Soul, and The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis (Editor of the Jungian sections, with Ross Skelton as General Editor). He lectures internationally on topics related to Analytical Psychology and its applications in the contemporary world. Dr. Stein is a graduate of Yale University (B.A. and M.Div.), the University of Chicago (Ph.D., in Religion and Psychological Studies), and the C.G. Jung Institut-Zurich. He is a founding member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts and Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts. He has been the president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology (2001-4), and is presently a member of the Swiss Society for Analytical Psychology and President of the International School of Analytical Psychology, Zurich. For the complete series, click here. To browse all of Dr. Stein’s lectures, click here. © 1992 Murray Stein. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it. Music by Michael Chapman