Inside Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Select Wednesdays from August 26th, 2026 - February 3rd, 2027

7:00 - 9:30 p.m.

Since its publication, after Jung’s death in 1961, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (MDR) has been read and re-read, both as a means to better understand Jung’s own individuation process, and, equally importantly, as a comprehensive treatment of the evolution of the field of Analytical Psychology.

Kept outside of the Collected Works and referred to by Jung as “Aniela Jaffe’s project,” Jung himself contributed several chapters, but chiefly participated in a long and difficult interview process (1957-1959) by which Aniela Jaffé, his trusted colleague, ultimately would provide this singular text with both its structure, tone, and content. As far as capturing the essence of Jung’s life and the core teachings of Analytical Psychology, it simply stands unrivaled in the literature.

In this 8-part lecture/seminar intensive, we will approach MDR as an ur-text in the field of Jungian studies. Participants are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned chapters. Upon enrollment, a syllabus will be provided along with a list of biographies of Jung, numbering now over 20. Each participant will be encouraged to select at least one to read along with our primary text. We will also be reading the recently published text, Jung’s Life and Work: Interviews for Memories, Dreams, Reflections with Aniela Jaffe. Edited by Sonu Shamdasani, who also edited Jung’s Red Book, this book contains the “protocols,” upon which MDR was based. Several new, discounted copies of this book are available for purchase at the Library.

Registration will be limited to 12 participants. Pre-registration is required.

Inquires: info@jungtampa.org

Facilitator: Angelo Spoto

Location: The Library

Time: 7:00 - 9:30 p.m.

Free Reading Discussion ~ August 6th

Man and His Symbols (Part 4):

Symbolism in the Visual Arts, by Aniela Jaffé

Man and His Symbols was intended to serve as an introduction to Jung’s work and ideas. It is an examination of man's relation to the unconscious, emphasizing the importance of dreams in the life of the individual. The last year of Jung's life was devoted almost entirely to this book, which he finished just 10 days before his final illness.The book was first published in 1964 and is divided into five parts, four of which were written by Jung’s closest associates in the world of analytical psychology.

In Part 4, “Symbolism in the Visual Arts,” Aniela Jaffé demonstrates man’s recurring interest in the symbols of the unconscious. She describes the artist as the spokesman of the spirit of his age and takes the reader through a history of art through the lens of analytical psychology.

Date: August 6th

Location: The Library at River Hills

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Free Reading Discussion ~ September 3rd Paracelsus the Physician (CW 15)

Concluding a lecture titled Paracelsus al Arzt, delivered to the Swiss Society for the History of Medicine and the Natural Sciences on September 7th 1941, Jung concludes, ”I shall be content if I have succeeded in giving you at least a few impressions of the strange personality and the spiritual force of the celebrated physician whom his contemporaries rightly named the 'Luther of medicine.' Paracelsus was one of the great figures of the Renaissance, and one of the most unfathomable. For us he is still an enigma, four hundred years afterwards.

Jung was struck by the recurrence of alchemical symbols in his patients’ dreams and theorised that the symbolic language of alchemy was an expression of innate but unconscious psychological processes. He related alchemy to the psyche in the same way that Paracelsus, centuries prior, had to physiology. The extensive writings of the alchemists, and particularly Paracelsus among others, helped to ground Jung’s psychological discoveries in recorded lived experience across many centuries, anchoring his groundbreaking hypothesis of the collective unconscious and the process of “individuation.”

Date: September 3rd

Location: The Library at River Hills

Time: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Gift With Membership ~ Video Lecture: The Life & Work of C.G. Jung

The Library is pleased to offer members this comprehensive introductory lecture as a complimentary gift in appreciation of your membership and support. This course is Module 1 of a 12-part video lecture series: Encountering the Psyche: Fundamental Concepts in Analytical Psychology, presented by Library Education Director, Angelo Spoto.