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Monday 09:00 - 15:00 Tuesday 09:00 - 15:00 Wednesday 09:00 - 15:00 Thursday 09:00 - 15:00 Friday 09:00 - 14:00

http://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/

Jung Southern Africa - SAAJA, C. G. Jung Centre, 87 Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town (2025)

14/11/2025

𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑶 𝑹𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹 | For our 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, we are honoured to welcome internationally renowned Jungian somatics expert, Jane Clapp (), who will be presenting an immersive online workshop titled 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

This experiential event invites participants to explore heartbreak arising from suffering, trauma, and spiritual injury through the movement of psyche - the 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. Drawing on the principles of Jungian Somatics™, Jane will guide us into a deeper experience of embodied faith, wholeness, and sacred connection in everyday life.

Through movement, creative expression, and embodied active imagination, participants will be introduced to the body as a vessel for transformation. Jane’s practice of 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 opens a pathway into the living dialogue between body and psyche, seen and unseen, conscious and unconscious.

Join us for this rare opportunity to experience Jane’s pioneering work at the intersection of depth psychology, somatics, and spiritual healing.

✨Format: Online via Zoom
✨Date: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
✨Time: 7.30pm - 9pm SAST (UTC +2)
✨Participation fee: ZAR300
✨Booking is essential

Learn more and book online via this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/soul-in-motion-connecting-with-the-self-through-embodied-experience/

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲:
- 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 (𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘴) 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴.
- 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵.

13/11/2025

Across ancient traditions, the body is revered as the living bridge between heaven and earth — where spirit takes form and matter becomes conscious. Heaven signifies awareness and archetypal order; earth, instinct and embodied life. Within us these meet, reminding us that the divine is not elsewhere but present in breath, pulse, and sensation.

In Taoist philosophy, health arises from the balance of yin and yang — stillness and movement, receptivity and action. When this harmony falters, the body’s qi, or life-force, no longer flows through its meridians, and illness appears as a message from the soul that the rhythm of being has gone out of tune.

Yogic thought echoes this in the language of chakras — centres of energy bridging body and spirit. Each embodies both psychological and spiritual principles: grounding, creativity, love, truth, vision, and at the crown, unity. When kundalini, the coiled serpent of life, awakens, these centres ignite, tracing the journey from instinct to insight, from survival to sacred awareness.

Depth psychology too recognises this wisdom. Jung saw individuation as consciousness unfolding through the embodied psyche — a descent into instinct and an ascent toward spirit. Psyche and soma are two faces of one field; trauma, dream, and sensation all speak a shared symbolic language.

Embodiment begins when we listen. The body does not ask to be analysed but attended to — in the pulse in the throat, the trembling in the hands, the warmth that spreads when something true is spoken. Through movement, breath, art, or stillness, we remember our rhythm and restore trust between flesh and spirit.

To heal is to let life move again — to breathe where we were constricted, soften where we were rigid, and remember that qi, prana, and libido all name one truth: the body is the bridge between soul and world.

~ Written by Nici Partridge (), Jungian Analyst and Psychologist

Image Credit: Kintsugi by Rian Romera Gladnick.

12/11/2025

𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑶 𝑹𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹 | Jung & Film Screening and Film Discussion of 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 this Friday, 14 November 2025. If you enjoy exploring films from a Jungian perspective, join us for 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴 & 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.

✨Presented by John Gosling, Julie Manegold & Grace Reid
✨Date: Friday, 14 November 2025
✨Time: 5.50pm for 6pm SAST (UTC +2)
✨Format: Online via Zoom
✨Participation fee: ZAR160. Booking is essential.
✨Detailed film notes provided.

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 is a poignant and visually stunning comedy-drama written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. The film stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as two septuagenarian best friends who reflect on their lives while on holiday at a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. They face the fact that their memories are fading and that they see little in their futures. Fred Ballinger, played by Caine, is a retired composer of classical music. Mick Boyle, played by Harvey Keitel, is a movie director.

Fred is visited by an emissary of the Queen, with a request to perform his famous 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨 #3, for the birthday of Prince Phillip. Fred, who has no interest in reviving his career, refuses the invitation. Mick, by contrast, wants to go out with a bang, and so is attempting a final film which will be a testament to his achievements, his crowning glory.

Although there is much humour that permeates the interaction of the characters, the story depicts the tensions between age and youth, the past and the future, life and death, and commitment and betrayal.

The ensemble cast includes Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, and Jane Fonda, with a cameo appearance of Diego Maradona in his later years. The film’s exquisite soundtrack features a range of musical genres by various artists, culminating in the superbly performed and hauntingly beautiful Simple Song #3, composed by David Lang and performed by Sumi Jo.

LEARN MORE AND BOOK ONLINE via this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/jung-and-film-online-youth/

The format of SAAJA’s Jung & Film evenings is that attendees and facilitators watch the film together on Zoom followed by a discussion of the film, which includes contributions by facilitators and participants. Before each screening, the facilitators will circulate detailed notes, which discuss and amplify the film. It is our hope that viewers will become lost in the drama of the film and potentially access aspects of their own experiences and inner life, which they may then choose to share with others during the discussion.

Image credit: ‘Youth’ film poster

11/11/2025

During periods of early or overwhelming trauma, the connection between body and mind can become fragile. When experience cannot be fully felt or spoken, it lodges in the body as implicit memory, sensations without story, emotion without words.

“The symbols of the Self arise in the depths of the body and they express its materiality every bit as much as the structure of the perceiving consciousness. The symbol is thus a living body, corpus et anima…” (C.G. Jung, CW 9i, ¶291)

“The underlying idea of the psyche proves it to be a half-bodily, half-spiritual substance…” (C.G. Jung, CW 16, ¶454)

Jung viewed the psyche as a living bridge, both physical and spiritual, where the material world gains meaning and the spirit takes form. He emphasized that the Self emerges “in the depths of the body,” reminding us that psychological life is not separate from the body but originates within it.

Donald Kalsched describes the psyche as residing in a “transitional space” between mind and body. After trauma, this space can collapse. A person may appear mentally healthy or physically strong, yet feel an absence of inner vitality, what Kalsched calls “a missing personal spirit.” They might live in the intellect or push their body to its limits, all the while feeling a persistent sense of dissatisfaction.

Kalsched writes: “What these individuals are really looking for is psyche, or soul, the place where body meets mind and the two fall in love. If this tension could be held, a true birth of the personal spirit would be possible, but psyche, or soul, is necessary first. For this reason, we speak of psychopathology and of psychotherapy.”

Healing involves restoring the flow of energy in both directions. If psychotherapy becomes overly mental, it risks neglecting the living body and, in doing so, loses the psyche itself. Likewise, if bodywork moves energy without connecting it to image, word, or meaning, the experience remains unintegrated.

To return to wholeness is to re-enter this living dialogue, allowing the Self to speak again through both sensation and meaning, through corpus et anima — body and soul.

~ Written by Charlotte Hoffman (jungian.analyst), Clinical Psychologist & Jungian Analyst

Reference:
Kalsched, D. (1996). The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit. pp. 65 - 66.

Image Credit: The Reunion of the Soul and the Body, William Blake (1813).

10/11/2025

Our Quote of the Week.

“If it is true that at the core of our traumatized and neglected patients’ disorganization is the problem that they cannot analyze what is going on when they re-experience the physical sensations of past trauma, but that these sensations just produce intense emotions without being able to modulate them, then our therapy needs to consist of helping people to stay in their bodies and to understand these bodily sensations.”

~ Bessel van der Kolk. (1998). 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢. Presentation to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Washington, D.C.

06/11/2025

You are a living library. Your body a source of wisdom beyond your wildest imagination. Your DNA carries the stories of all your ancestors; as well as the potential of your descendants. In your cellular memory lies the answers to all your questions.

The body expresses what the psyche cannot articulate - through somatic sensations, symptoms, or affective states. When words fail or consciousness resists what lies beneath, the body becomes the medium through which the unconscious speaks. Tensions, illness, and emotional disturbances often carry symbolic meaning, revealing aspects of the self that seek recognition and integration. In this way, the body is not a passive vessel but an active participant in the psyche’s unfolding narrative.

Working with somatic awareness allows the unconscious to communicate directly, bypassing the intellect. By attending to sensations, movements, and breath, one enters into a dialogue with the deeper layers of being. This embodied listening opens a space where hidden or forgotten aspects of the personality - those relegated to the shadow - may begin to emerge. The shadow often lives in the body, in what we repress, deny, or disown physically: rage, desire, tenderness, or vulnerability. These energies, when not acknowledged, manifest through bodily symptoms or emotional constriction. To meet them consciously is to recover the vitality that has been locked away.

From a Jungian perspective, individuation is not a striving toward perfection but a remembering - a re-turning to one’s innate totality. It is a movement toward wholeness that includes the light and the dark, the conscious and the unconscious, the spiritual and the instinctual. Embodiment grounds this process, ensuring it does not become a purely spiritual or abstract pursuit. Without the body’s participation, your ‘individuation’ risks becoming an intellectual exercise, disconnected from the living experience of the Self.

The body, then, is the temple of the Self - the place where spirit and matter converge. Wholeness must be lived, not merely imagined. As we reclaim the shadow through embodied awareness, we restore psychic vitality and renew our relationship with life itself.

~ Written by Denise Grobbelaar, , Clinical Psychologist & Jungian Analyst

Image credit: ‘Saturn’ by Ahmed Partey

04/11/2025

“Awareness of current body sensations can anchor one in the present, here and now, facilitating separation of past from present. One is less likely to stay lost or stuck… while aware of body sensations.” [1]

Embodiment begins when the intellect softens its hold. The senses awaken: air moves across the skin, breath becomes audible, emotion ripples through the chest before the mind names it. Rhythm replaces rigidity; curiosity replaces control. The nervous system settles because life is met directly, not through the filter of prediction or defence.

In our time, the intellect has become both sanctuary and prison. We live in our heads — managing, analysing, anticipating. Thought becomes a fortress where we seek safety from life’s unpredictability. Yet the more we retreat into abstraction, the more the body’s quiet language goes unheard, and anxiety fills the space where instinct once guided us. We think instead of feel, mistaking vigilance for safety.

When we are neurotic — in the original sense of being governed by the nerves — we seek refuge in explanation. We manage the world rather than inhabit it. The intellect isolates us from immediacy; what was meant to be a bridge becomes a wall. Yet the body never stops speaking. It whispers through fatigue, tension, appetite, and longing.

Returning to embodiment means rejoining that conversation — remembering that intelligence moves not only in thought but through pulse, breath, and gravity. Healing is not about rejecting the mind but restoring its place within the whole. The intellect is a luminous tool, but it was never meant to carry the soul alone.

When thought yields to breath and awareness roots in sensation, the body becomes a place of knowing once more. In that reunion of mind and matter, we remember ourselves as living, sensing beings.

~ Written by Nici Partridge (), Jungian Analyst and Psychologist

Image credit: ‘Process and Vision of the Peace Accords’ by Paula Nicho Cûmez (2007)

References:
[1] Rothschild, B. (2000). The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. W.W. Norton & Company: London.
______________

For the months of November and December, we’ll be exploring the theme of 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. Follow along as our post writers share their reflections and insights.

Also in November, international guest Jane Clapp will present an experiential workshop titled 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 on Tuesday, 18 November. This will be SAAJA’s final Public Programme event of the year.

For more details about the event and to book, follow this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/soul-in-motion-connecting-with-the-self-through-embodied-experience/

03/11/2025

Our Quote of the Week.

“To lose our connection with the body is to become spiritually homeless. Without an anchor we float aimlessly, battered by the winds and waves of life.”

~ Anodea Judith, 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥. 2004.

31/10/2025

For our 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, we are honoured to welcome internationally renowned speaker, Jane Clapp (), who will be presenting an immersive online workshop titled 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

This experiential event invites participants to explore heartbreak arising from suffering, trauma, and spiritual injury through the movement of psyche - the 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. Drawing on the principles of Jungian Somatics™, Jane will guide us into a deeper experience of embodied faith, wholeness, and sacred connection in everyday life.

Through movement, creative expression, and embodied active imagination, participants will be introduced to the body as a vessel for transformation. Jane’s practice of 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 opens a pathway into the living dialogue between body and psyche, seen and unseen, conscious and unconscious.

Join us for this rare opportunity to experience Jane’s pioneering work at the intersection of depth psychology, somatics, and spiritual healing.

✨Format: Online via Zoom
✨Date: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
✨Time: 7.30pm - 9pm SAST (UTC +2)
✨Participation fee: ZAR300
✨Booking is essential
✨Learn more and secure your seat via this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/soul-in-motion-connecting-with-the-self-through-embodied-experience/

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲:
- 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵.
- 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 (𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘴) 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴.

30/10/2025

“The ‘wounded healer’ does not mean merely that a person has been hurt and can empathize, which is too obvious and never enough to heal. Nor does it mean that a person can heal because he or she has been through an identical process, for this would not help unless the process had utterly altered consciousness. Let us remember that the ‘wounded healer’ is not a human person, but a personification presenting a kind of consciousness. This kind of consciousness refers to mutilations and afflictions of the body-organs that release the sparks of consciousness in these organs, resulting in an organ of body-consciousness. Healing comes then not because one is whole, integrated and all together, but from a consciousness breaking through dismemberment.

The 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰 that wounding brings is a way of entering into archetypal consciousness, that is the awareness that more is going on than my reason can hold. One becomes an open wound, hurting all over, as consciousness is transfigured into the wounded condition. We experience affliction in general, afflictedness as a way of being-in-the-world. The wound announces impossibility and impotence. It says: “I am unable.” It brutally brings awareness to the fact of limitation. The limitation is not imposed from without by external powers, but this anatomical gap is an inherent part of me, concomitant with every step I take, every reach I make.”

~ James Hillman, 𝘗𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 (1979), p.117

Image credit: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 (1896), Hugo Simberg

28/10/2025

Book Report | Feelings of unresolved anger, alienation, loneliness, rejection and general stress can cause ailments and dis-ease that inhibit our functioning in society. Here are 5 books that explore the healing of both the individual and their community in the African context.

1. Vera Buhrmann has written of her introduction to African ways of healing as practiced by amaXhosa. She describes in detail the years of training, the customs, behaviours, ceremonies of a student who experienced thwasa – being called in a dream to become an igqira. Buhrmann connects the similarity of the training with aspects of Jungian depth psychology.

2. To grasp the deeper meanings of healing terms in an African environment it’s useful to read Richard Katz’s Boiling Energy. He worked closely with healers and the Kung community in northwestern Botswana. He focused on learning about healing and the energy or num which becomes energised through the all-night healing dance. Healing can occur when the person is in a higher state of consciousness of kia (transcendence). Handling num is painful but less so for the older healers who are accustomed to it.

3. In a later collaboration, Katz returns to the Kalahari with Biesele and St. Denis and find the Ju|’hoansi in a process of adapting their life and customs to live in a smaller area, impacted by pastoralists. They say “We still have our n|om”[1] In Healing Makes Our Hearts Happy tensions and stress are resolved in the group’s healing dance accompanied by singing. Healers transmit the healing spiritual energy or n|om, “…in dying to oneself, one becomes able to heal others.”[2] Healing is a community experience of joy and a sense of wholeness.

4. A similar approach to healing is explored by Harriet Ngubane. She draws “the distinction between diseases with ordinary natural causes and those rooted in conditions of African life and social order”[3]. The aim of healing is to create harmony with the social environment.

5.Heidi Holland’s African Magic relates true stories from across sub-Saharan Africa. “Like all religions, African beliefs – including witchcraft – seek to endorse morality, making people kinder to each other.”[4] “[M]agic is taken to refer to both divination and herbal treatments with special curative properties. …magic is the chief foe of witchcraft.”[5]

~ Book report written by Debra West, Librarian, Jean Albert Library, CG Jung Centre

References:
1. p. 47
2. p. xxiii
3. inside jacket
4. p. 5
5. p. 2

Book Report Titles:
1. Buhrmann, M Vera (1984) Living in Two Worlds: Communications Between a White Healer and Her Black Counterparts. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau.
2. Katz, Richard (1982) Boiling Energy: Community Healing Among the Kalahari Kung. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press.
3. Katz, Richard & Megan Biesele, Verna St. Denis (1997) Healing Makes Our Hearts Happy: Spirituality & Cultural Transformation Among the Kalahari Ju|’hoansi. Rochester: Inner Traditions.
4. Ngubane, Harriet (1977) Body and Mind in Zulu Medicine: An Ethnography of Health and Disease in Nyuswa-Zulu Thought and Practice. London: Academic Press.
5.Holland, Heidi (2001) African Magic: Traditional Ideas That Heal a Continent. London: Viking.

Image: Cover of ‘Boiling Energy’. The image expresses the fire of n|om or nam as the Kung call it.

Jean Albert Library - Visitors are welcome
The Jean Albert Library at the CG Jung Centre in Cape Town has an impressive collection of books on a wide variety of Jungian topics. It is open on Tuesdays 10am – 2pm, and on Thursdays from 2pm - 7pm. Becoming a member allows one to borrow books and audio-visual materials. Explore at
https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/jean-albert-library/

27/10/2025

Our Quote of the Week.

“A good half of every treatment that probes at all deeply consists in the doctor’s examining himself, what he puts right in himself can he hope to put right in the patient…it is his own hurt that gives the measure of his power to heal. This, and nothing else, is the meaning of the Greek myth of the wounded physician.”

~ C.G Jung, 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, Volume 16, par 239.

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