Freud, Jung, and Spiritual Psychology

Freud, Jung, and Spiritual Psychology

A collection of talks on Psychology (CW 143, 178, 205)

“These lectures on psychoanalysis and spiritual psychology, given at the very time when the ‘talking cure’ was in its beginnings, force us to confront the inadequate knowledge used in founding psychoanalysis and psychotherapy as a method of soul work…. A truly spiritual psychology leads to wisdom of the soul [and] not only takes us out of the limited domain of psychology as concerned with subjective states and into the broader culture, it also takes us into an understanding of the body as the necessary organ through which spiritual perception must find its orientation.” — Robert Sardello (from the introduction)

In these five talks, Rudolf Steiner laid out the foundations for a truly spiritual psychology. The first two lectures take a critical look at the principles of Freud and Jung’s early work. The last three lectures describe the threefold structure of human consciousness and then outline a psychological approach that considers both the soul’s hidden powers and the complex connections between psychological and organic, bodily processes.

Robert Sardello, codirector of The School of Spiritual Psychology, contributed an important and provocative introduction from the perspective of a practicing psychotherapist.

This is an important work for understanding Steiner’s views on psychoanalytic practices as they appeared in the first quarter of the twentieth century.

A previous edition of this book was titled Psychoanalysis & Spiritual Psychology.

C O N T E N T S:

Introduction by Robert J. Sardello

“Anthroposophy and Psychoanalysis,” part 1
“Anthroposophy and Psychoanalysis,” part 2
“Spiritual Psychology: Subconscious and Supraconscious”
“Hidden Depths of Soul”
“Organic Processes and Soul Life.”

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.