Anyone read books by Carl Jung?

[JBR]

In general...
Jung's point was that the subconscious is constantly recording life experiences symbolically. He emphasizes in his writing how powerful the subconscious is.

In his training and internship in psychiatry, Jung was a student of Sigmund Freud's for some years. Freud did definitely emphasize the subconscious, but regarded it as being composed of biological drives, inculcated social conditioning, and personal conflicts. Jung's own experience revealed to him that this was a narrow, limiting viewpoint.

Philosophically, Jung believed that various themes from throughout human history were at play in deep levels of the human psyche. The subconscious is not just biological drives and frustrations born of conflicts with social morés. He also believed human life has a spiritual dimension that can offer a genuine sense of meaning in people's lives.

 

[gruntlabor]

I studied psychology & social anthropology in college and university. Jung was the theorist (and clinician) I was most interested in. However, at the time I was graduating the consensus of professional psychology and psychiatry in North America viewed him cautiously—as "unscientific".

But in the last 45 years or so, that has definitely been shifting. And the literate pubic has become more widely familiar with aspects of his theory. As one small example, Jung's concept of synchronicity is so familiar now that a lot of people use the term "sync" as slang to refer to such an experience or occasion.

In any case, while I never regretted reading his thought, I felt public awareness (and the acceptance within the profession of applied psychology) was proceeding too slowly. I'm sure Jung has helped me personally. I also feel he's enhanced my ability to a be a friend to those I've known and met.

But I needed find other career directions. Circumstances.

He believed in the occult and, of course, people can't stand that today.

 

[JBR]

He believed in the occult and, of course, people can't stand that today.

Jung was open-minded. He believed in aspects like telepathy, psychokinesis. Intuition also played a big role in Jung's sense of human mental or emotional life.

He accepted some of this because of his personal experience. "Occult" has a lot of unfortunate connotations in our culture. Just my personal idea, but from what I understand there are probably things that "occult" encompasses that he probably would have had reservations about accepting or passing judgement on.

 

[gruntlabor]

Jung was open-minded. He believed in aspects like telepathy, psychokinesis. Intuition also played a big role in Jung's sense of human mental or emotional life.

He accepted some of this because of his personal experience. "Occult" has a lot of unfortunate connotations in our culture. Just my personal idea, but from what I understand there are probably things that "occult" encompasses that he probably would have had reservations about accepting or passing judgement on.

You're right, JBR, thanks. He was open-minded, ready to listen to some beliefs that science is close-minded about today.
If you ask me, open is better than closed (minded).
I may be mistaken, but I seem to remember that he believed in life after death --or ghosts -- and spent a good deal of money on seances,