Swiss psychiatrist and author, noted as being an outstanding influence in the development of the theory and practice of analytical psychiatry, synchronicity, introvert-extrovert types, individuation and the personal-collective unconscious.
Jung was christened Karl Gustav II Jung, named after his paternal grandfather Carl Gustav I Jung, but given a ‘modern’ spelling of the name. Jung changed it to Carl when at university.
Jung’s mother was Emilie Preiswerk (1848 – February 1923). His father was Johann Paul Achilles Jung (21 December 1842 – 28 January 1896). Jung had one sister, Johanna Gertrud (‘Trudi’) Jung (17 July 1884 – 1935).
Jung had five children with his wife Emma: Agathe (26 December 1904 – 28 April 1998), Gret (8 February 1906), Franz (28 November 1908), Marianne (20 September 1910), and Helene (18 March 1914).
Jung’s father was a Swiss country parson and his mother a typical house frau. Jung’s difficulty with his father was stated to be his perception of his spiritual dishonesty, finding it difficult to believe what his dad had to say. Jung saw his mother as having a hearty animal warmth and great sense of humor. Her personality was “unexpectedly powerful…possess of unassailable authority.” He loved nature and after a visit to Lake Constance with his mother, decided he must live near water. He loved playing with bricks as a child and developed an interest in plants, animals, and stones.
Throughout his life, Jung found solace and peace from sculpting, woodcarving, building towers such as his beloved Bollingen, or canalizing brooks. He once dreamt Pluto was a sculptor. At age eight he recalled his mother as being particularly mysterious and frightening to him, envisioning one night, a luminous shape from her door “…whose head detached and floated along in front of it like a little Moon.” Also during this time, he carved a small 2″ mannequin with block top coat, hat and shiny boots, placed it in a pencil box with a stone from the Rhine. He hid the box in the attic and felt he must keep its existence and location a secret. Around age nine-ten, he became aware that God’s image was not only reflected in man, but in all of nature, and that God and man alike are reflected through the cosmos. At age 12, he developed fainting spells which kept him out of school. He dreamt for hours, was out in nature, drew, “but above all…was able to plunge into the world of the mysterious.” Overhearing his father’s talk of financial concerns around Carl’s illness, Jung realized on some level he could overcome the fainting spells and was able to return to school. Shortly after this, on a long walk to school, he experienced an intense moment of knowing himself: “Previously, I had existed…everything had merely happened to me. Now, I happened to myself. Now I knew: I am myself now, now I exist.”
In 1898, Jung decided to pursue a career in psychiatry. His career began in earnest when in 1903 he picked up Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams,” realizing how Freud’s work linked up with his own ideas. The initial correspondence and friendship with Freud began in 1906. He met Freud 3 March 1907, they collaborated on some work but by 1909 he broke from Freud to place greater emphasis on the growth of mankind by archetypal vital forces in the individual. During this period Jung had a decisive dream of being in a two-story house. As he explored it, each floor and room reflected historical eras or from the collective unconscious. Jung’s friendship with Freud ended in the first week of January 1913, although they still corresponded throughout the year. They personally met for the last time in September 1913 for the Fourth International Psychoanalytical Congress held in Munich on 7-8 September.
During 1913-14, he had numerous visions. Jung stated in his autobiography, “Memories, Dreams, and Reflections” that all of his creative work came from these initial visions, fantasies and dreams. He wrote the mysterious “Septem Sermones ad Mortuos (Seven Sermons to the Dead)” in 1916. Jung had a successful practice and was a much-sought after mentor to countless devotees of his work.
An advocate of the use of astrology, Jung wrote in his memorial address, In Memory of Richard Wilhelm, “Astrology would be a large scale example of synchronism, if it had at its disposal thoroughly tested findings…In other words, whatever is born or done this moment of time, has the qualities of this moment of time.” In Jung’s book, “Synchronicity,” he published a study of 483 pairs of couples, seeking to find a possibility of the validity that there is a causal connection between the planets and psycho-physiological disposition.
Controversy emerged which questioned Jung’s political sympathies during the Hitler era. Countering the anti-Semitic statements that were attributed to him, Jung later said that Hitler had placed him on a list of enemies to be assassinated and that editors were responsible for the ambiguity of his printed words. Between 1938 and 1956, his most scholarly works were written. Jung was a Professor at the University of Basel in 1943.
He married Emma Rauschenback 14 February 1903. They had four girls and one boy. Daughter Gret Baumann-Jung became an astrologer, presenting a paper on the horoscope of her father before the Psychological Club in Zurich, October 1974. It is well documented that Jung lived in a love triangle between his wife and Toni Wolff, both of whom became practicing analysts. Toni died at age 64 of a heart attack. Emma died two years later, in 1955. Ruth Bailey, an Englishwoman and friend of 35 years became his housekeeper and companion after Emma died. Jung had numerous affairs during his life.
Jung died on 6 June 1961 in Küsnacht, aged 85, after a short illness.
Link to Wikipedia biography