Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism Herbert Silberer

This thoughtful study, which antedates the work of Jung by a generation, represents the first serious attempt to correlate the methods of psychoanalysis with the literature of alchemy and of other great Western mystical and occult traditions. Dr. Silberer was a prominent member of the Vienna School whose untimely death prevented this, his major published work, from receiving the attention it clearly merited. Included is a wealth of material taken directly from alchemical and Rosicrucian sources. Symbolisms of salt, sulphur and mercury; of the prison, the abyss and the grave; of putrefaction and procreation; and of the sun, moon, and planets are carefully analyzed and explained. Passages from the works of Hermes Trismegistus, Flamel, Lacinius, Michael Meier, Paracelsus, and Boehme are cited both as important sources of alchemical doctrine and to substantiate the thesis that alchemy was a spiritual discipline of the highest order, comparable to the Yoga of the East. The entire inquiry is based on a parable from the pages of "Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer," an l8th-century alchemical text. After a general exposition of dream and myth interpretation, Dr. Silberer proceeds to a psychoanalytic interpretation of the parable and then gives a detailed account of the traditions and practices of the alchemists, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons. Returning to the parable, he introduces the problem of dual interpretations; for while the psychoanalytic approach focuses on the depths of the impulsive life, the hermetic and mystical leads to the heights of spirituality. The heart of the book is an attempt to reconcile these divergent philosophies and a meditation on the relationship of introversion to mysticism.

An in-depth look into the foundations of mysticism and alchemy, this book describes both physical and spiritual aspects of the various theories and practices of transformation, with attention to the beliefs of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sufism, Tantrism, Taoism and Yoga. The connection between early mystical pursuits and the development of alchemy from ancient China, India, and Egypt through Moorish Spain and into Latin Europe are illuminated, along with the activities of early alchemists. The book, which is heavily illustrated, describes the beliefs, experiments, and secret messages that drew the believers and dreamers of the world together in search of wealth and immortality.

Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism (1957) is widely regarded as a masterpiece of literary theory. The product of years of reading and reflection, the book's value extends far beyond its impact on criticism as a whole; ultimately, it must be viewed as a synoptic defense of liberal learning by one of the twentieth century's most distinguished critics. In this, the twenty-third volume of the Collected Works, editor Robert D. Denham presents the notebooks to the Anatomy, blue-prints, as it were, for Frye's comprehensive account of literary conventions. Composed from the late 1940s to 1956, the notebooks document the struggle Frye underwent to provide a structure for his work. This involved incorporating previously published essays and developing new material that would maintain the continuity of his argument. This fully annotated volume contains seventeen holograph notebooks, each illuminating some aspect of the grand structure that eventually emerged. Altogether, the notebooks offer an intimate picture of Frye's working process and a renewed appreciation for his magisterial accomplishment.

For the first time, The Collected Works of C. G. Jung is now available in a complete digital edition that is full-text searchable. The Complete Digital Edition includes Vols. 1–18 and Vol. 19, the General Bibliography of C. G. Jung's Writings. (Vol. 20, the General Index to the Collected Works, is not included.) Volumes 1–18 of The Collected Works are available for individual purchase and are also full-text searchable at http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/bscwj.html [The Collected Works of C.G. Jung]. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung forms one of the basic texts of twentieth-century thought: at once foundational for depth psychology and pivotal for intellectual, cultural, and religious history. The writings presented here, spanning five decades, embody Jung's attempt to establish an interdisciplinary science of analytical psychology, and apply its insights to the fields of psychiatry, criminology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, personality psychology, anthropology, physics, biology, education, the arts and literature, the history of the mind and its symbols, comparative religion, alchemy, and contemporary culture and politics, among others: each in turn has been decisively marked by his thought. Of timely and ongoing relevance to the understanding of these fields, Jung's writings are at the same time essential reading for any understanding of the making of the modern mind.

The Collected Works of C. G. Jung is a multi-volume work containing the writings of psychiatrist Carl Jung. Contains revised versions of works previously published, works not previously translated, and new translations of virtually all of Jung's writings. Prior to his death he supervised the textual revision. Several of the volumes are extensively illustrated; each contains an index and most a bibliography.