Magic can be viewed as intentional engagement with what Jung called synchronicity. It is closely related to a mythological worldview, which recognizes a grand narrative supraordinate to everyday life. Although we cannot know it in its entirety, it opens the possibility of encountering a deeper reality and quality of knowing. We experience it as magic.
In this week’s episode we explore esoteric ritual with Jungian analyst and academic JOHN WHITE.
Responsible practitioners of ritual magic understand that it demands deep inner work that comes at a cost. Magic involves alignment with the subtle but substantial energies the ancients called gods. Approached without respect, humility, and guidance the encounter can be wounding.
There is a kind of magic in the psychoanalytic consulting room. A client may come to an analyst with a fundamental desire they’ve been unable to attain or even define. The work of the therapy can uncover unconscious ambivalence and resistance. When engaged, it can vanish – by magic.
We can also understand magic as something to practice every day by relating to the unconscious and the Self. Those who do this with devotion and intention are consummate magicians, able to steer their life’s path toward wholeness.
The Dream We Analyze
I am at a party being thrown by one of my best friends. However, this party is to celebrate me – not my birthday or any life event, just celebrating my existence. It’s also being held outside on a shadowy hillside, which is peppered with trees and the occasional structure. It’s nighttime, but we can see everyone’s face by the moonlight. I’m having a good time socializing with various friends and acquaintances, with our kids occasionally running up to show or ask us something and then disappearing again to do their thing. I look around and notice X, a man I used to train with in a recreational sports context, even though no one else here has ever met him. The friend throwing the party tells me she invited him because she wants to give him a chance to tell me his feelings. He’s dressed a bit like a Roman legionnaire, and is keeping completely to himself. I continue socializing, happy for him to see me shine in a setting where I am light and positive, yet also in control. He never approaches me.
Our Guest – John R. White, Ph.D., Certified Jungian Analyst
John R. White is a Jungian psychoanalyst and mental health counselor in private practice in Pittsburgh PA. He was Coordinator of the C. G. Jung Institute Analyst Training Program of Pittsburgh (2019-2026) and is President-elect of the Board of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center. Before becoming a psychotherapist and training analyst, he was a philosophy professor (primarily at Franciscan University of Steubenville OH) and is currently a Scholar-in-residence at the Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center, Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh. He is also an esoteric practitioner and a Hermetic initiate.
John’s recent publications include:
- (Book) Adaptation and Psychotherapy. Langs and Analytical Psychology. Rowman & Littlefield (2023).
- (Co-edited book) Jungian Analysis in the World on Fire. At the Nexus of Individual and Collective Trauma. Routledge (2024).
- (Book chapter) “Ressentiment: Its Phenomenology and Clinical Significance,” in Roger Brooke, ed., Jungian Psychology and the Human Sciences, Routledge 2024.
- (Book Chapter) “Colonizing the American psyche. Virtue and the problem of consumer capitalism,” In Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis. From the Frankfurt School to Contemporary Critique, edited by Daniel Burston and Jon Mills, New York, Routledge 2023, 211-230.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
- Henri Ellenberger, The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry
- C.G. Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest.
- Books by R.J. Stewart – find a list here
Resources John White Recommends for Further Study
For general understanding of the Western Mystery Tradition:
- On the broader esoteric tradition: Gareth Knight, A History of White Magic, Skylight Press, 2011.
- A good recent comprehensive overview of esoteric tradition: Melitta Denning & Osborn Phillips, Foundations of High Magick, Llewellyn Publishing, 2000. (This is the first volume of a 4-volume series The Magickal Philosophy. The first two volumes are theoretical, the second two are practical. They are all worth the read.)
For understanding ritual/ceremonial magic:
- Dion Fortune, Introduction to Ritual Magic, Thoth Publications, 2008.
- Gareth Knight, I Called it Magic, Skylight Press, 2011. (Knight’s autobiography, includes many examples of ritual magic).
For understanding New Thought
- Online, 12-hour course: “New Thought and Modern Esotericism” by John White: https://www.hermeticinstitute.org/register/new-thought-and-modern-esotericism-with-dr-john-white/
Mediation versus magic
- J. Stewart, The Sphere of Art, vols. 1-3, https://rjstewart.net/rjstewart-books.htm
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