The Red Book is not like other books
It is the book your girlfriend told you not to worry about…
It is the book men think about when they should be thinking of their wives
It is a book that casts spells…
Back in 2017, an old friend of mine appeared at my door carrying the Red Book
I let him in and he rushed into the living room to slap it down on my old rickety coffee table
He peeled it open and for the first time Jung’s vibrant art struck my eyes
You see, I had always seen Jung as more of a “word” guy
He wrote a lot of dense and boring books
Pages and pages of Jung trying to “explain” his wacky ideas to me
His “Red” Book was different
It didn’t have to make any arguments
It seized my attention like a beautiful woman
A deeper part of me fell into a trance around it
All of Jung’s “books” felt stale compared to it
This experience stuck with me for years
…And I saw this reflected in Jung’s legacy
From the most casual fans to the hardcore Jungians,
Everyone had a special reverence for The Red Book
Everytime it was mentioned they hushed their voices
I looked around and saw that this phenomenon went beyond Jung
Nietzsche, just like Jung, wrote many books explaining himself,
But his colorful and poetic Zarathustra stood at the peak of his legacy
Everyone who was “into” Nietzsche wanted to experience Zarathustra
And I saw the same with the Bible
The most captivating were not the long lists of Laws
But the parts that awoke our imagination:
Revelations, The visions of the Prophets, and the Story of Christ’s Passion
I saw how, in the long run, the visionary works defeated the chattering of theorycels to rise to the top
JUNG’S PROJECT
In time, I realized that this is exactly what Jung was trying to “point out” in all his books…
He was trying to help us remember that we had something strange and magical within us – something that speaks in visions and not in words
That speaks to us through art
That visits us when we dream
That haunts us or gives us hope
That seizes our mind and shows us new horizons…
Now, let me trigger Richard Dawkins
Jung was saying that this animated power within your mind is ALIVE
And it has been with us all throughout history
Appearing at crucial moments to “influence” our great geniuses
Always showing up as a guardian angel or divine God
You see, we often think of Science as sitting down and staring at thinly sliced pieces of trees while desperately trying to stay rational and not to hallucinate so we can peer into the secret truths of Mother Nature
But I’m here to tell you this is all cope
Descartes built the foundation of Science after being visited by an Angel during a dream who told him that: “Nature would be conquered by number and measure”
Biblical Prophets were possessed by visions and met “the Lord of this realm” who gave them accurate predictions about the future of the world
Shamans all say that they can enter a magic trance and meet the spirit Guides who take them to the Otherworld…
Nietzsche said he was charged with the energy to create his forward thinking philosophy when he was struck by a lightning bolt while crusading across the great mountains of Europe
The simple fact that this mysterious power exists makes Midwits rage post all day on Reddit
But, we more noble Souls
We who can see the magic
We wish to study it…
We have to ask ourselves…
What is this mysterious power?
It fills people with blistering creativity, but there are some uncomfortable side effects
When it strikes a person, they go into a frenzy
They may go on to produce something special…
Or they may end up locked up in an asylum
At the peak of Jung’s life at 40 that frenzy struck him…
The same frenzy that drove nietzsche mad
But the same Frenzy that made Nietzsche a genius…
Jung was faced with the hardest choice of his Life:
If he gives into the frenzy, will this animated angel appear to him and gift him a work of genius…
Or would he end up like Nietzsche running around butt naked in his garden raving about Greek Myths
But, before he was allowed to decide which path to go down, he had to deal with someone standing in the way…
Check out the full video here: