Alfred Ribi

The publication in 2009 of C. G. Jung's The Red Book: Liber Novus has initiated a broad reassessment of Jung’s place in cultural history. Among many revelations, the visionary events recorded in the Red Book reveal the foundation of Jung’s complex association with the Western tradition of Gnosis. In The Search for Roots, Alfred Ribi closely examines Jung’s life-long association with Gnostic tradition. Dr. Ribi knows C. G. Jung and his tradition from the ground up. He began his analytical training with Marie-Louise von Franz in 1963, and continued working closely with Dr. von Franz for the next 30 years. For over four decades he has been an analyst, lecturer and examiner of the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, where he also served as the Director of Studies. But even more importantly, early in his studies Dr. Ribi noted Jung’s underlying roots in Gnostic tradition, and he carefully followed those roots to their source. Alfred Ribi is unique in the Jungian analytical community for the careful scholarship and intellectual rigor he has brought to the study Gnosticism. In The Search for Roots, Ribi shows how a dialogue between Jungian and Gnostic studies can open new perspectives on the experiential nature of Gnosis, both ancient and modern. Creative engagement with Gnostic tradition broadens the imaginative scope of modern depth psychology and adds an essential context for understanding the voice of the soul emerging in our modern age. A Foreword by Lance Owens supplements this volume with a discussion of Jung's encounter with Gnostic tradition while composing his Red Book (Liber Novus). Dr. Owens delivers a fascinating and historically well-documented account of how Gnostic mythology entered into Jung's personal mythology in the Red Book. Gnostic mythology thereafter became for Jung a prototypical image of his individuation. Owens offers this conclusion: “In 1916 Jung had seemingly found the root of his myth and it was the myth of Gnosis. I see no evidence that this ever changed. Over the next forty years, he would proceed to construct an interpretive reading of the Gnostic tradition’s occult course across the Christian aeon: in Hermeticism, alchemy, Kabbalah, and Christian mysticism. In this vast hermeneutic enterprise, Jung was building a bridge across time, leading back to the foundation stone of classical Gnosticism. The bridge that led forward toward a new and coming aeon was footed on the stone rejected by the builders two thousand years ago.” Alfred Ribi's examination of Jung’s relationship with Gnostic tradition comes at an important time. Initially authored prior to the publication of Jung's Red Book, current release of this English edition offers a bridge between the past and the forthcoming understanding of Jung’s Gnostic roots.

The Search for Roots: C. G. Jung and the Tradition of Gnosis

In this book Alfred Ribi reaches back across two millennia, gathering and engaging an extraordinary collection of writings. With authority and fluency, Ribi draws together the antique texts of Hellenism, Gnosticism, Hermeticism and Alchemy, and illustrates how these nurture the visionary work of C. G. Jung. Into this tapestry Alfred Ribi weaves personal insights gained over half a century of experience as an analytical psychologist. He illuminates how the dreams and visions of modern individuals intertwine with the tradition that Jung indicated to be a spiritual antecedent of his psychology. This is the second volume of a two-volume work. The first volume, The Search for Roots: C. G. Jung and the Tradition of Gnosis was published in an English translation in 2013. That volume served as a general introduction to the more detailed and multifaceted exposition presented in this second volume. This volume is addressed to serious students of Hermeticism, Gnosticism, and the works of C. G. Jung. It will richly reward those who give it their diligent attention. About the Author Alfred Ribi was born in 1931. He studied medicine in Zurich, followed by specialization in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy FMH. In 1963, he began analysis with Marie-Louise von Franz—a close associate of C.G. Jung—and subsequently worked for many years as a colleague with Dr. von Franz. He is a diplomat of the C.G. Jung Institute, Zurich, where he has served as Director of Studies, a teaching and control analyst, and a lecturer and examiner of the Institute. He is past President of both the Foundation for Jungian Psychology and of the Psychological Club in Zurich. The book was edited and includes a Foreword by Lance S. Owens. It was translated into English by Mark Kyburz.

Turn of an Age: The Spiritual Roots of Jungian Psychology in Hermeticism, Gnosticism and Alchemy

Seit über 35 Jahren setzt sich Alfred Ribi in seiner Forschungs- und Praxistätigkeit intensiv mit der Psychologie C.G. Jungs auseinander. In diesem Zeitraum sind zahlreiche Aufsätze, Referate und Zeitungsartikel entstanden, welche nun in zwei Teilbänden gesammelt vorliegen und die vielfältigen Aspekte von Jungs Werk beleuchten. Gesamthaft betrachtet können die Beiträge als Einführung in die Jung'sche Psychologie verstanden werden. Sie sollen aber auch zur persönlichen Auseinandersetzung mit Jungs Werk anregen. Die Aufsätze und Vorträge sind in fünf grosse Themenblöcke gegliedert: Biographisches zu C.G. Jung, Beiträge zur Tiefenpsychologie und Psychiatrie, Vorträge zu Gnosis und Alchemie. Der vierte und der fünfte Abschnitt befassen sich mit Zeitfragen, welche unter den Themen «Das Problem von Psyche und Materie - Synchronizität» und «Heimat - Zeitprobleme» zusammengefasst sind.

gesammelte Aufsätze und Vorträge

Ein Leben im Dienst der Seele

Neurotische Störungen sind sehr verbreitet. Freud sagte sogar: „Jedermann ist etwas neurotisch.“ Man kann natürlich etwas, was in der Bevölkerung dermaßen verbreitet ist, nicht als krankhaft, d.h. als Abweichung von der Norm bezeichnen. Kann man es deshalb aber von „Gesundsein“ abgrenzen? So wenig wie eine Frau ein bisschen schwanger sein kann, so wenig kann einer ein bisschen neurotisch sein. Die Jung‘sche Auffassung von der Neurose hilft, diagnostisch Klarheit zu schaffen. Dieses Buch ist zunächst ein Buch für Fachleute, es ist aber auch ein „Aufklärungsbuch“ für interessierte Laien, das die veralteten Vorurteile über das Wesen der Neurose abbauen hilft. Geschrieben für Psychologen und Psychiater, Absolventen einer Jung'schen Ausbildung, interessierte Laien.

Alfred Ribi

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