Massage and Movement

Go to the Rubin. Museum that is, in Chelsea, here in the city. The exhibit on Carl Jung's Red Book is there for a bit longer, and it is special. For me,  the connection between Jung's work and Authentic Movement is imprinted yet again. In seeing the exhibit I am reminded of how related the two are, and am newly inspired to dive into moving/dancing, with Jung's drawings and work with the unconscious, in conscious mind.

Just to see that book, in the glass case, is worth the trip to the Museum. This large (1 and 1/2 by 2 feet?) leather bound book is nearly 100 years old, and full of what many say are the richest words and images in the history of psychology. It has been locked away in a vault in Switzerland by Jung's family, for decades, and was just unveiled, for the first time ever in public, at the Museum, this past Fall. I was there, and it was a momentous occasion.

This is a book Jung wrote, in 2 hour periods if I remember correctly, in the privacy of his office, during a period, when he was in crisis. Some would say he was going crazy. This is what his family was afraid of, and thus the lock and key. But what Jung was doing, brilliantly, was documenting his process. In large, colorfully illustrated drawings he shows us what he experienced in the journey into his shadow side/the unconscious/the underworld/the rabbit hole. The drawings are amazing. 

Sonu Shamdasani spent the last 7 years translating the book. You can buy your own copy for a mere $200 (!). 

In Authentic Movement, after we move for a period of twenty minutes or longer with eyes closed, we draw or write on that movement. These drawings and writings, when shared, often show us pieces from our unconscious. And when looked at in a group, it is common to see similar themes, colors used, even the same thing being drawn (i.e.-four  out of 8 people drawing images of water, or 5 of eight choosing blue as their central color). A group of people moving in the same room together over a period of 2 hours, seem to be tapping into a related mind field. Rupert Sheldrake calls this morphic resonance. I think Jung would call this tapping into universal archetypes or the universal field of the unconscious.  Again and again, we see Jung's theories  in our midst. It is usually very exciting, awe inspiring to have the example before your very eyes, in your present moment experience.

Are others making connections between Jung, archetype, and Authentic Movement? I'd love to hear about your discoveries and investigations.