Know Thyself. Intro
An introduction to my Jungian series
In this post, I am launching a new series on my blog that aims to introduce readers to the work of Carl Gustav Jung. There are two main reasons why I want to focus on this topic. Firstly, I want to highlight the current state of personal awareness (or rather the lack thereof). Secondly, my intent is to draw attention to the rapidly deteriorating state of interpersonal relationships. I have seen a lot in my life, but the current situation goes beyond anything I have ever experienced. People find themselves unable to communicate with each other, unwilling to listen to opinions that differ from their own and unable to respect their fellow humans. Dividing everything into good or bad, black or white, creates the false impression that you must belong to one of the camps, otherwise you do not exist. The space for what can be said is getting smaller every day; one careless statement can make you the target of countless attacks. With the expansion of capitalism and technological development, everything has become instantaneous, disposable and utilitarian. Selfishness and ignorance are no longer even causes for shame; they have become ubiquitous and are expected to be tolerated. This is not a process that affects only one country or community. People all over the world are becoming increasingly discouraged, weary and exhausted, and are losing faith in established institutions, organisations and authorities. I do not blame them at all; I myself am disgusted by the prospect of having to live in such a world.
However, all is not lost. I am writing about Jung because I have experienced first-hand the positive effect his work has had on my understanding of myself and of interpersonal relationships. Thanks to Lewis Lafontaine, his blog and group, I have been reading Jung’s books and lectures regularly for more than ten years. This has enabled me to grow as a person and begin the process of individuation. I must admit that I am at a loss to comprehend why, given that Jung is held in such high esteem as a trailblazer in the fields of psychology and psychotherapy, his contributions are not more widely recognised by the public at large. It seems that his works are known mostly through the quotes on trendy websites that happen to fit someone’s thesis (although they are often distorted and their source is almost never given). This may be due to the sheer volume of his work (his Collected Works comprise 20 volumes, that’s 11,524 pages in the 2023 Routledge edition) as well as its complexity and erudition, which may seem too challenging for the average person. Most people are not interested in psychology in the first place. And even if they are, they tend to be limited to American pop psychology, which oversimplifies, standardises, and medicalises everything as much as possible (I hope the United States citizens will agree with me that depth and intricacy are not their strong points).
Therefore, after a conversation with my Animus, I have decided to start this series on my blog, Lavender Fields Forever. My goal is to present the analytical psychology pioneered by Jung and his colleagues (mainly Emma Jung, Marie Louise von Franz, and Barbara Hannah) in the clearest possible way, using simple language. I will also present practical examples of inner work based on Jungian psychology, drawing from my own experiences, to demonstrate how anyone can undertake it. In today’s fast-paced and ruthless world, more and more people are struggling to cope, and the therapy is often expensive or difficult to access. The methods I will describe are available to everyone, all you need is to be observant, willing to change, and perseverant. You can work at your own pace anywhere and at any time.
I would like to point out that I am not a professional psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist. I am merely sharing my thoughts. If you need urgent help, please seek professional assistance. I am not a guru, nor do I claim to know what is best for you. I don’t offer ready-made solutions to life’s problems; I provide the tools you need to develop your own approach. I respect your freedom: it is your life, and only you are responsible for it. As Jung himself said,
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. (Modern Man in Search of a Soul, pages 60–61).
This series is not intended to generate financial gain. I am not trying to sell you anything or advertise my services. I don’t offer any courses, memberships, or exclusive content available only to a select few. Everything I publish on this blog is and will remain publicly available.
Initially, I planned for the series to consist of six to eight episodes, but as I was writing, I expanded it to ten to twelve. However, I eventually decided that the posts about Animus and Anima were too long and needed to be split into two, as was the one about collective consciousness, meaning the series will ultimately consist of 15 episodes. I will publish them once a month on my blog and on the platforms Substack, Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee. If you are interested in this topic, please subscribe and share this post with anyone who you think might find it helpful.
As any change must begin somewhere, it is the single individual who will experience it and carry it through. The change must indeed begin with an individual; it might be any one of us.
Nobody can afford to look around and to wait for somebody else to do what he is loath to do himself.
But since nobody seems to know what to do, it might be worth while for each of us to ask himself whether by any chance his or her unconscious may know something that will help us.
Certainly the conscious mind seems unable to do anything useful in this respect.
Man today is painfully aware of the fact that neither his great religions nor his various philosophies seem to provide him with those powerful animating ideas that would give him the security he needs in face of the present condition of the world.
I know what the Buddhists would say:
Things would go right if people would only follow the “noble eightfold path” of the Dharma (doctrine, law) and had true insight into the Self. The Christian tells us that if only people had faith in God, we should have a better world. The rationalist insists that if people were intelligent and reasonable, all our problems would be manageable. The trouble is that none of them manages to solve these problems himself. (~Carl Jung. Man and His Symbols, Page 100)
With lavender greetings
Blanka
The excerpts from the works of C.G. Jung appearing in this article are reproduced under the quotation exception for the purposes of criticism, review, and scholarly illustration, as permitted by Article 5(3)(d) of Directive 2001/29/EC (InfoSoc Directive). All rights remain with the respective copyright holders (Princeton University Press / Routledge / the heirs of C.G. Jung). Full source references (Collected Works volume and paragraph number) are provided for each quotation.
Know Thyself. Intro © 2026 by Blanka Solun is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
Disclaimer: I do not consent to this text being used to train AI.