On Behalf of the Mystical Fool ─ Jung on the Religious Situation

Jung's explanation of the religious tendency of the psyche addresses many sides of the contemporary debate on religion and the role that it has in individual and social life. This book discusses the emergence of a new mythic consciousness and details ways in which this consciousness supersedes traditional concepts of religion to provide a spirituality of more universal inclusion.

On Behalf of the Mystical Fool examines Jung's critique of traditional western religion, demonstrating the negative consequences of religious and political collective unconsciousness, and their consequent social irresponsibility in today's culture. The book concludes by suggesting that a new religiosity and spirituality is currently emerging in the West based on the individual’s access to the sense of ultimacy residual in the psyche, and seeking expression in a myth of a much wider compass.

This book will be of interest to scholars and students at all levels who are engaged in the expanding field of Jungian studies. It will also be key reading for anyone interested in the theoretical and therapeutic connections between the psyche and religious experience.

John Dourley is Professor Emeritus, Department of Religion, at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He graduated as a Jungian analyst from the Zurich/Kusnacht Institute in 1980 and has published widely on Jung and religion. His most recent books include Paul Tillich, Carl Jung, and the Recovery of Religion (Routledge, 2008).

Jungian Psychology and Spirituality. The Numinous, The Universal, and a Myth of Supersession. Taking Back Divinity: Jung on the Relativity of God. Martin Buber and The Lunatic Asylum. Jung, White and the End of the Pilgrimage. The Mystical Fool and Why the Killing Must Go On. C. G. Jung, S. P. Huntington and the Search for Civilization. Jung and the Recall of The Gods. Rerooting in the Mother: The Numinosity of the Nothing. Jung, Some Mystics and the Void; Personal and Political Implications.