Abstract
In this paper, we shall examine the ways that visionary experience acts to transform the self, in the writings of St John of the Cross (often called the most psychological of the mystics) and Carl Jung (often called the most mystical of the psychologists). While each of these theorists works within a different model of the self, both processes involve the destruction and remaking of the psyche. This paper will describe seven stages in each process.
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- 1.
“… no form can be introduced unless the preceding, contrary form is first expelled from the subject” (John of the Cross 1958, 124).
- 2.
Welch (1990) notes that John argues against the idea that spiritual growth comes from the outside to the inside. Instead, the senses must be put aside, and activity is irrelevant. Spirituality flows outward from its inward origins, and not the reverse.
- 3.
Letter to Anonymous (Mrs. N., 1932).
- 4.
Letter to Pater Lucas Menz, 1955.
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McDaniel, J. (2018). “In Killing You Changed Death to Life”: Transformation of the Self in St. John of the Cross and Carl Jung. In: Cattoi, T., Odorisio, D. (eds) Depth Psychology and Mysticism. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Mysticism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79096-1_15
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