Description
In 1914-5, Jung transcribed the manuscript of Liber Novus onto parchment. This forms the first part of the work, its โLiber Primus.โ He then placed this signature at the front of the leather bound folio which he had commissioned, and continued transcribing into it. Liber Primus depicts Jungโs refinding of his soul, and the commencement of his active imaginations, in which he encountered the figures of Elijah, Salome and the Serpent. He deliberately evoked a fantasy in a waking state, and then entering into it as into a drama. In studying these, he realised the following: The spirit of the times is characterized by utility. Aside from this, there is also a spirit of the depths. Much of significance has already been expressed in the images of antiquity, but the problem is one of knowing how to interpret them. The spirit of the depths conceives of the soul as an independent being, and we need to recognize this, as without the soul, we are lost. Dreams are the speech of the soul. There is a knowledge of the heart which is not scholarly knowledge, and one obtains this through living, including oneโs unlived life. Science gives us the truth of outer things, but we have lost the truth of inner things and we need to refind this.