Cambridge Jungian Circle

🎭 The Mirror & The Mask: The Lost Self in a Culture of Appearances
With Susan E. Schwartz, PhD | Jungian Analyst

📅 Saturday 25th July
🕓 4:00pm UK | 11:00am EST
💻 Online via Zoom

In an age of curated identities, social media personas, and increasing pressure to present a perfect image, what happens to the authentic self?

Drawing on depth psychology, Jungian Analyst Susan E. Schwartz explores the "as-if" or imposter personality—the hidden dynamic behind the polished mask. People may find themselves increasingly disconnected from their authentic feelings, meaningful relationships, and a deeper sense of belonging beneath the carefully maintained persona.

Through dreams, clinical case material, and Jungian insight, this thought-provoking presentation explores themes including identity, body image, aging, parental influences, social media, and the tension between appearance and reality. In a culture where appearance can eclipse authenticity and the boundaries between reality and illusion often become blurred, these questions have never been more relevant.

Susan will illuminate the psychology of the as-if personality and consider pathways toward greater self-awareness, authenticity, and connection. The presentation invites reflection on what may be replenishing and regenerative—not only for the individual psyche, but also for the wider culture in which these patterns emerge.

About the Speaker

Susan E. Schwartz, PhD, trained in Zurich, Switzerland, as a Jungian analyst and is an internationally respected author, lecturer, and educator. She has appeared on more than 100 podcasts and YouTube channels and presents regularly at Jungian conferences around the world.

Her books include The Absent Father Effect on Daughters, Imposter Syndrome and the “As-If” Personality: The Fragility of Self, A Jungian Exploration of the Puella Archetype, An Analytical Exploration of Love and Narcissism, and several other influential works published by Routledge.

Join the Cambridge Jungian Circle for what promises to be a rich and illuminating exploration of psyche, persona, and the journey toward a more authentic relationship with the Self.

✨ All are warmly welcome

We are delighted to celebrate one of our long-standing Cambridge Jungian Circle members, Dr Susannah Self, whose remarkable new work Gloria will be performed at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, this Friday 3rd July.

Many of you will know Susannah through her years of thoughtful engagement with the Circle, bringing together music, imagination, mythology, spirituality, and psychology in ways that speak deeply to the human experience. Gloria represents the latest expression of that lifelong creative journey — a sacred composition that draws together voices, traditions, and wisdom from across cultures and centuries.

It is wonderful to see Susannah's work receiving wider recognition, and we are delighted to share this recent feature about the project!

✨ Across traditions. Beyond boundaries. Toward the sacred.

Self’s ‘Gloria’ in Cambridge - What's New Susannah Self will conduct the North Sea Voices & Orchestra – with Ely Collegium – in a performance of her ‘Gloria’ in Cambridge this month.

Come join us this Friday evening to experience a modern sacred soundscape that reaches across traditions 🎶🎻🪉

📍 West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
🗓 Friday 3 July, 6:15pm

For the past 3 years, Dr Susanna Self has been composing sacred music rooted in the Christian tradition, from "Sea Requiem" to the exquisite new setting of the "Stabat Mater" and the acclaimed "Magnificat". Her latest work, "Gloria", represents a deepening and expansion of this journey: a cross-denominational sacred composition drawing on voices from across cultures and centuries.

By blending the Latin Gloria text with words by John Donne, the Bhagavad Gita, and contemporary spiritual poetry, her work opens a broad spiritual landscape, brought to life through the glowing resonance of voices and strings, reminiscent of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Dr. Nancy van den Berg-Cook: Has the Cultural Puer Aeternus Turned Violent? Collective Shadows in an Age of Polarisation
Saturday 2tth June 2026, 4pm – 6pm UK time/ 11am - 1pm ET
(£15/$20)
LIVE on ZOOM!
https://www.cambridgejungiancircle.com/events-2025-26

In recent years, political polarisation, conspiracy movements, and outbreaks of collective violence have raised profound questions about the psychological forces shaping contemporary culture. Through a Jungian lens, these phenomena can be understood not merely as political events, but as expressions of powerful archetypal dynamics operating within the collective psyche.

In this thought-provoking presentation, Jungian Analyst and Clinical Psychologist Nancy van den Berg-Cook explores the deep cultural split between the puer aeternus (the eternal youth) and the senex (the father, elder, and bearer of authority), tracing this tension from ancient myth to the present day.

Beginning with the Greek myth of Cronus and Zeus, Nancy follows the evolution of this archetypal conflict through twentieth-century fascism, popular culture, and contemporary political movements, examining how unresolved psychological wounds can become embodied in collective narratives and social movements.

Drawing on mythology, film, cultural symbolism, and Jungian theory, this talk considers how the Western imagination has increasingly identified with the youthful rebel while rejecting images of authority, structure, and the paternal principle. As the split between these archetypal forces widens, the darker expressions of the puer and Trickster archetypes can emerge, contributing to social fragmentation, fanaticism, and destructive forms of collective identification.

Particular attention will be given to the psychological dynamics underlying Trump-style nationalism and the events surrounding the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Rather than offering a political critique however, the presentation seeks to understand the deeper psychological needs, wounds, and archetypal patterns that give rise to such movements. By bringing these unconscious dynamics into awareness, we may begin to understand not only the forces driving contemporary extremism, but also the possibilities for healing and integration.

This talk is informed by the pioneering work of Jungian analyst Luigi Zoja, particularly his influential study The Father: Historical, Psychological and Cultural Perspectives, and invites reflection on how the creative reconciliation of the puer and senex may offer a path beyond today's cultural impasse.

Please note: While the presentation examines right-wing nationalist movements in the United States, it does not seek to champion opposing political ideologies. Rather, it approaches political extremism as a psychological phenomenon, recognising that destructive archetypal dynamics can manifest across the political spectrum.

About the Speaker

Nancy is a Clinical Psychologist, Jungian Psychoanalyst, lecturer, educator, and international speaker with more than three decades of experience working at the intersection of psychology, personal transformation, and human development. Based in the Netherlands, she maintains a private practice in Amsterdam and Zeist, while teaching and lecturing internationally. She is a faculty member and lecturer at the International School of Analytical Psychology (ISAP) in Zurich, one of the world's leading centres for Jungian training and education, and has also taught within the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

What makes Nancy's perspective particularly unique is the path she took to analytical psychology. Before becoming a Jungian analyst, she enjoyed a distinguished career in biomedical research, earning a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and working as a research scientist in physiology and metabolism. Drawn by a lifelong fascination with the psyche and the transformative power of dreams, she embarked on a profound vocational change, eventually qualifying as a Jungian Analyst and later earning a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Today, Nancy is widely respected for her ability to bring Jung's ideas vividly to life, translating complex psychological concepts into practical and meaningful insights. Her work explores dreams, fairy tales, archetypes, trauma, cultural complexes, and the profound relationship between psyche and soma. She is especially known for her innovative efforts to build bridges between Jungian psychology, neuroscience, physiology, and biochemistry.

To learn more about Nancy and her work, including her website and social media channels, please visit: https://nancycookphd.com and https://linktr.ee/bergcook

What was Emma Jung’s inner life really like?
Discover the hidden inner world of Emma Jung — revealed for the first time...
✨ Emma Jung: Dedicated to the Soul, The Author's Years of Self Liberation
📅 May 22 | Live on Zoom
🕰️ 6pm UK time/ 1pm EST
🎟️ £15 / $20

Enter the hidden inner world of Emma Jung in this special evening with Dr Ann Conrad Lammers, editor of Dedicated to the Soul, as we uncover the depth, creativity, and psychological richness of Emma Rauschenbach Jung.
For decades, Emma Jung’s private work remained unseen. Now, brought into the light, we encounter her not only as the wife of Carl Jung, but as a profound thinker and psychological voice in her own right.
This talk traces Emma’s inner journey — a courageous descent into the depths of personal and marital conflict — and her emergence into a remarkable state of wholeness. Through her writings and drawings, we witness a unique approach to the psyche that both complements and expands Analytical Psychology.

🌿 An evening of depth, insight, and the rediscovery of a hidden voice.

🎤 Speaker
Ann Conrad Lammers, Ph.D., primary editor and assistant translator of Emma Jung’s Dedicated to the Soul, earned her Master of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York and her Doctorate in Theology and Psychology at Yale University. She taught theology and ethics for five years at graduate level, then practiced for fifteen years as a licensed marriage and family therapist.
During those years she published her dissertation and edited two books of letters for publication: Jung’s correspondences with Victor White and James Kirsch.
In 2015 she retired from her psychotherapy practice to edit Erich Neumann’s two-volume work, The Roots of Jewish Consciousness. She turned her attention to Emma Jung’s work in 2018 and she is currently editing C. G. Jung’s letters to Marie-Louise von Franz.

EVENTS | cambsjungiancircle

At a time when meaningful spaces for depth, reflection, and psychological understanding are quietly disappearing from our universities, the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (PPS) at the University of Essex stands as something truly rare. It is now at risk of losing its independent identity due to restructuring. PPS is not just a department, it is a vital interdisciplinary home for studies in Psychoanalysis, Analytical Psychology, mental health research, scholarship and critical thought. If you believe in the importance of these fields and their future in higher education, please take a moment to add your voice in support. It takes less than a minute, and it truly matters: https://forms.gle/XxgNXJqbpZmarAhe9
If you prefer to share your support directly with the University of Essex please reach out to Vice Chancellor, Prof Frances Bowen [email protected]

✨ Did Meister Eckhart Recover the Grail… and Did Jung Do the Same for the Psyche? ✨
Friday 20th March 2025, 6pm – 8pm UK time/ 1pm - 3pm EST
(£15/$20)
LIVE on ZOOM!
https://www.cambridgejungiancircle.com

Steven Herrmann, Ph.D., MFT:
Meister Eckhart, C.G. Jung, & the Holy Grail

What if the medieval quest for the Holy Grail did not end in legend — but was transformed through theology… and later, through psychology?

Join us for a rich and thought-provoking evening as we journey into the symbolic world of the Grail through the lives and work of two extraordinary thinkers: Meister Eckhart and C.G. Jung.

🌿 Born into nobility in 13th-century Thüringia, Eckhart was shaped by the mythic imagination of his time — including Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, the great Grail epic of medieval Europe.
Like Jung centuries later, he grappled with the deepest questions of the soul.

In this talk, we will explore:

🔹 Whether Eckhart, through his theology, recovered something akin to the Grail for medieval Europe
🔹 Whether Jung, six centuries later, did something similar for modern psychology
🔹 How the Grail Quest influenced both thinkers’ understanding of the Self
🔹 The meaning of the birth of Christ within the psyche
🔹 Where Eckhart and Jung diverge — including their views on
• the shadow
• perfection vs. wholeness
• the anima and sexuality
• the God-image and the problem of evil

This promises to be a profound exploration of mysticism, myth, and the unfolding of the Self.

🎙 About the Speaker

We are delighted to welcome Dr Steven Herrmann, Jungian analyst, poet, and author of Meister Eckhart and C.G. Jung: On the Vocation of the Self (2024).

Dr Herrmann teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and has presented internationally at institutions including Zürich, Yale University, and Sofia University. His work bridges Jungian psychology, spirituality, and myth, with a particular interest in the Grail tradition and the vocation of the Self.

🌙 An evening for those drawn to depth, myth, and the mystery at the heart of the psyche.

Come and explore how an ancient quest may still be unfolding within us today.

Cambridge Jungian Circle | Analytical Psychology | Cambridge, United Kingdom The Cambridge Jungian Circle is a charity for promoting the writing and work of Carl G. Jung

For the past three years, Dr Susanna Self has been composing sacred music rooted in the Christian tradition, from "Sea Requiem" to the exquisite new setting of the "Stabat Mater" and the acclaimed "Magnificat". Her latest work, "Gloria", represents a deepening and expansion of this journey: a cross-denominational sacred composition drawing on voices from across cultures and centuries.

By blending the Latin Gloria text with words by John Donne, the Bhagavad Gita, and contemporary spiritual poetry, her work opens a broad spiritual landscape, brought to life through the glowing resonance of voices and strings, reminiscent of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Come join us to experience a modern sacred soundscape that reaches across traditions 🎶🎻🪉

📍 Ely Cathedral, Ely
🗓 Saturday 11 April
(Click on link below to book!)

📍 West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
🗓 Friday 3 July
(Ticket details to come soon for this second event!)

North Sea Voices and Orchestra - Ely Cathedral North Sea Voices and Orchestra

Have you painted a Mandala recently? It is a wonderful way to connect with one's inner Self.