Carl Gustav Jung, Psychology and Alchemy.
It's been 12 years since I finished my doctorate, handed in my thesis and had an exhibition of my work at Curtin University gallery. After 7 years of intense study - which included a lot of self analysis and soul work - I was exhausted and didn't think there was any more to do in this particular field.
Because I was focused on one particular area of archetype theory, there were huge gaps in my knowledge of Jung but there didn't seem to be any reason to persevere. I had done what I set out to do, gained some invaluable insights that changed my life and shut that particular book.
I was bereft for quite a while. I expected to be. But it was hard to endure. It was impossible to replace or reproduce the journey I had taken so I turned away from Jung. After going up several blind alleys, I eventually started using my graphic design skills pro bono for environmental activism. Back to the realm of humans with all their dysfunctions and miscommunications. I found the people politics very tiring but persevered.
I am very effective on Facebook - having beaten the algorithms, had several posts go viral and reached as far away as the eastern states. When Facebook disabled my account halfway through 2025, it was catastrophic. They reinstated it but then disabled it permanently.
For 6 months I worked through someone else's account and posted anonymously but it was not very effective. I had lost my voice. I was angry and frustrated but after about 6 months started a new account. That worked for several months until Facebook cancelled me again. Instead of being furious, I took it as a sign because it was a clear example of Jung's synchronicity*. I support this theory because there have been many examples of it in my life. My return to Jung is one of them.
Joan Campbell was a Rosicrucian - a dear friend and mentor. When she died in 2015 at the age of 86 she left a short memoir for others to read. I don't know why but I never read it. About 2 weeks ago I started thinking about Joan and remembered that after 11 years I still hadn't read her memoir! So I read it.
In her memoir Joan mentioned a psychotherapist she had worked with. I remembered her talking to me about that person so I thought I would reach out to them on Facebook. Soon after that my account was disabled. My partner had had a warning via Messanger that I may have been a scammer. I put 2 + 2 together and concluded that the therapist, who didn't know me, reported me as a scammer - which set events in motion.
I tried to get my account back but you may as well be talking to a brick wall when you are talking to AI bots, so I gave up pretty quickly. That was it. No more. I was out. When I had worked through my feelings and frustrations I actually felt quite relieved. Facebook has become more and more toxic. It is populated by right-wing bots that infiltrate environmental and left-leaning groups. I predict it will collapse eventually because it is so full of propaganda, AI images and bots - you can't trust much that you see, read or hear on that platform now.
I had to laugh really. Joan had indirectly hauled me out of Facebook. I took it as a sign that I should be doing something else but what? Another bit of synchronicity got me to Substack where I found a link to a very useful website doing short courses in Jungian theory. When I started reading The Alchemist on Substack it was like I had never been away from Jung. After all those years his work is still invaluable for the soul work I have now resumed.
*According to Jung, synchronicity is an 'acausal connecting principle, whereby internal, psychological events are linked to external world events by meaningful coincidences rather than causal chains'.
How to Use the Mandala to Advance Our Psychological Realization
https://jungianalchemist.substack.com/p/carl-jung-and-the-transformative
Image: Original drawing of an archetypal dream by author.