Madness, Religious Experience, & the Wisdom to Know the Difference

Description

The first session of this series is available on the Jungianthology Podcast.

Topics: Religion and Spirituality, Transcendent Function.

Madness, Religious Experience, & the Wisdom to Know the Difference

In the history of humankind, there have always been seeming psychotic features accompanying authentic religious experience, and there have often been apparent religious images and/or identifications associated with psychotic disorders. In our transitioning and liminal culture, what Jung has called the “transcendent function” acts like a balancing pole for those of us who feel “called” to walk the tightrope between madness and religious ecstasy.

This course examines the work of C.G. Jung and others to help develop imaginal strainers to sift the sounds of the many voices which call to us. It explores our perceptions of the presence of the divine in madness and the madness in the divine.

Topics in this program include:

•   Varieties of Religious Experience
•   Varieties of Psychotic Experience
•   Higher Powers and Deeper Powers: The Transcendent/Immanent Axis
•   Feeding the Ego-Self Loop

The following diagram is referenced in the series (click to enlarge)

Thomas Patrick Lavin, PhD is a Zürich-trained Jungian analyst who holds a PhD in clinical psychology and a PhD in theology. He was formerly chief clinical psychologist for the U.S. Army in Europe and is a founding member of the CG Jung Institute of Chicago. He is in private practice in Wilmette, Illinois, and consults internationally on typology, spirituality and addictions.

© 1993 Thomas Patrick Lavin

Ⓟ 1993 CG Jung Institute of Chicago