Psychology and Alchemy, by Carl Jung

Tackling Jordan Peterson’s Reading List

Rebis Egg which contains numerous alchemical themes, many of which are opposites that exist side-by-side and not only reflect each other but are essential to the existence of each other.

In this series I discuss the books on Jordan Peterson’s Great Book List in no particular order. My hope is to help those interested understand what they’re getting into and choose which books they decide to take on.

Why should anyone read this book?

Why would I spend any time learning about some ancient mystical “failed” attempt at turning any metal into gold? Didn’t alchemy die out when we started studying chemistry? What the hell can I get out of reading this mysticism?

Well, what if you could take a look into the dark recesses of the unconscious mind of ancient humanity and extrapolate that to all of humanity, including yourself? That’s exactly how I read this book.

Origins & Context

This book is put together from two of Carl Jung’s lectures he provided in 1936 and then 1937 under the title “Dream Symbols of the Process of Individuation” and “The Idea of Redemption in Alchemy.” Those two…