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http://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/

Jung Southern Africa - SAAJA, C. G. Jung Centre, 87 Main Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town (2026)

05/02/2026

Our Analytical Psychology Lecture Series resumes on Tuesday, 17 February 2026. We begin the year’s public lecture series with an online presentation by Elisa Galgut, titled 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁: 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.

Works of art are expressive. Whether one sees this as an essential feature of all artworks, or as characteristic of only some, it seems uncontroversial that we are drawn to art because of its expressive power. Yet the source of this expressiveness is far from obvious.

After all, works of art do not have psychologies; they cannot literally experience or express emotions. And while we might describe a painting as “sad,” it does not follow that we ourselves feel sadness in its presence. The relation between the expressive qualities of art and our own emotional responses is therefore complex, and has long been a subject of philosophical debate.

In this presentation, Elisa Galgut explores how the philosopher Richard Wollheim approaches this puzzle. For Wollheim, the expressiveness of art lies not in the artwork’s capacity to display emotion directly, but in its correspondence to the artist’s internal state. A painting, in his view, is more than a representation of feeling. It is a manifestation of mental life itself, a transformation of inner experience into visible form.

Drawing together philosophy, psychology, and aesthetics, this talk examines how Wollheim’s ideas illuminate the ways in which art embodies mental life and transforms inner experience into visible form.

Join us for an aesthetic exploration with Elisa Galgut as she invites us to see paintings as living traces of the mind made manifest in the world, and to reflect on the mysterious link between the psyche and the image.

For more detail and to book online, visit https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/the-expressive-power-of-art-richard-wollheim-and-the-mind-made-visible/

[Image: Supplied by presenter. Image Animation: AI-generated]

03/02/2026

Across myth, fairy tale, and dreams, the Crone appears as an unsettling yet compelling figure. She is the old woman, the witch, the bone-gatherer, the wise elder. As a dark expression of the Great Mother archetype and a feminine personification of the unconscious, she often constellates during periods of psychic crisis, disorientation, or developmental transition. Her arrival seldom offers comfort, but rather a confrontation with truth when something is false, inflated, or exhausted in the psyche and must come to an end.

Jung described wise elder figures within the psyche as carriers of insight and moral authority that the conscious mind cannot generate on its own (1). They arise when the psyche’s usual orientation no longer fits and habitual attitudes begin to collapse, necessitating a deeper realignment. Marie-Louise von Franz described such figures as guardians of thresholds. In fairy tales they test, withhold, humiliate, or terrify — not out of cruelty, but in service of individuation. They speak for the objective psyche, not the preferences of the ego (2).

Clarissa Pinkola Estés writes about the figure of La Loba, the Bone Woman who gathers what has been lost and sings it back to life. Here the Crone is not only destructive but also regenerative. She retrieves what has been lost to the soul and restores it through a slow and often arduous process of inner renewal. Estés emphasizes that this elder feminine force is fierce rather than gentle, uncompromising in its truthfulness and intolerant of falseness, yet deeply compassionate in its devotion to the deeper life of the psyche. (3)

As an archetypal image of the inner feminine, the Crone governs endings: the death of outdated identities, illusions, dependencies, and adaptations. She presides over the grief, disillusionment, and dark nights of the soul that accompany such endings. Yet she is also a guide across these thresholds. When a deeper self is struggling to be born, she tends that process and demands humility, patience, and truthfulness. To encounter the Crone inwardly is to be summoned towards a more conscious maturity.

~ Written by Austin Smith, Clinical Psychologist and Jungian Analyst

Image Credit: Singing Over the Bones by Lucy Campbell

References:
1. Jung, C. G. (1959). The archetypes and the collective unconscious (2nd ed., R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; Vol. 9, Part 1). Princeton University Press.
2. Von Franz, M.-L. (1996). The interpretation of fairy tales (Rev. ed.). Shambhala.
3. Estés, C. P. (1992). Women who run with the wolves: Myths and stories of the Wild Woman archetype. Ballantine Books.

02/02/2026

Our Quote of the Week.

“What happens in patriarchy is that the feminine archetype is split, as everything is split in patriarchy—it is an either/or, black-and-white world. There is no both/and.”

~ Marion Woodman, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯, p. 57

29/01/2026

One of the oldest images of the feminine is the Ouroboros - the serpent that devours its own tail. It is a symbol that often lingers long after encountering it, as if the psyche recognises something ancient within it. From a Jungian perspective, and especially in the work of Erich Neumann, the feminine archetype carries two essential qualities: the elementary and the transformative. The Ouroboros holds both.

Its circular form creates a container, a holding, enclosing shape. A psychic womb. And yet, within this containment, there is constant movement: the serpent endlessly consuming itself. Destruction and renewal unfolding as one continuous process. The archetype of the Great Mother. The feminine archetype as process and not as object.

Here, life gives birth to itself and devours itself, creation emerges from destruction and life arises from death. All is One.

The Ouroboros appears across ancient cultures, in ancient Egypt and Greece, in alchemy, Gnosticism, Norse mythology, and later in the symbolic world of figures such as Cleopatra the alchemist. These images appear alongside the rise of human consciousness, much like the earliest Venus carvings as expressions of an inner recognition of the feminine as cyclical, whole, and transformative.

The shedding of the snake’s skin deepens this symbolism: death of the old and renewal of the new. The process of shedding is a process of accessing an inner wisdom. “When the snake withdraws to shed its skin…the eye scale becomes milky, sometimes taking on an ethereal, misty blue coat as though the serpent is entering a meditative state and has access to wisdom beyond our ken.” A rhythm mirrored in astrological cycles and in psychological life itself. What is holding and containing is transformative and what is transformative is also holding and containing.

We see this process mirrored even in early development: the secure circle between parent and child. It is precisely the safety of the container (secure relationship) that allows exploration, growth, and transformation to occur.

Perhaps this is why the feminine mystery can feel both nourishing and unsettling; the same space that holds us also changes us.

~ Written by Philé Möller (), Counselling Psychologist

References:
- Erich Neumann (1974). The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype. Bollingen Series XLVIII. Princeton University Press.
- Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism. (2010). The book of symbols: Reflections on archetypal images (A. Ronnberg & K. Martin, Eds.). Taschen, (p194).

Image: AI-generated

28/01/2026

Between January and March 2026, we are offering a carefully curated series of events that open conversations through film, art, creative practice, and cross-cultural dialogue. Together, these gatherings explore illusion and projection, the expressive life of images, ancestral and Indigenous wisdom, grief and creative renewal, and the enduring psychological task of holding inner opposites across a lifetime.

We would like to draw particular attention to 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲, a re-imagined special event that has emerged with renewed clarity following the unforeseen cancellation of Mantis Weekend last year.

This full-day workshop will be of particular value to clinicians and practitioners within the broader psychology community, and we’d also like to encourage students enrolled at tertiary institutions to attend. (A 50% discount applies to online tertiary student registrations.)

As the year begins to unfold, these early-year events form part of SAAJA’s ongoing commitment to creating spaces for thoughtful engagement with psyche within a living community of dialogue.

We invite you to consider which of these offerings speak to your interests and to join us in the months ahead. As places are limited, we encourage timely registration for events you wish to attend.

For more details about each event and to book online, visit https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/events/

27/01/2026

Sophia, Wisdom personified, emerges as one of the most enduring figures of the archetypal feminine - not as an abstraction, but as living image. She represents a mode of knowing that is imaginal, relational, and reflexive; wisdom that arises from depth rather than dominance, attunement rather than control. Sophia does not master reality through concepts; she reveals it through presence, reflection, and resonance, offering a participatory, intuitive way of knowing.

Jung understood archetypes as images arising from the collective unconscious, symbolic forms; not ideas to be believed. Sophia is an archetypal image rather than a theological proposition or doctrine. She functions analogously to Jung’s anima: a mediating presence between ego consciousness and the deeper ground of being. As the 17th-century mystic Jakob Böhme wrote:

“Wisdom stands before God like a mirror or reflection, wherein the Godhead sees its own self and all the great wonders of eternity… She is like a mirror of the Godhead, and… like any other mirror, she merely holds still… she does not produce an image, but merely conceives it.”

The idea of Sophia as a mirror expresses a psychological truth: consciousness emerges through reflection. Sophia is the reflective space in which wholeness can appear. Her wisdom is relational, not hierarchical. She teaches that truth unfolds through relationship, deep listening, participation and patience with the unknown. In this way, Sophia mirrors the rhythms of nature and psyche - cycles of concealment and revelation, silence and speech - inviting reverence rather than conquest. Sophia does not resolve mystery; she holds it.

Sophia is not subordinate to the divine; she enables divine self-knowing. Ultimately, Sophia as the archetypal feminine invites a different orientation toward truth, where knowing arises through awareness rather than thinking. She calls us back to a forgotten mode of wisdom that honours the mystery. To encounter Sophia is to enter a living mystery, where meaning emerges through image and presence, and transformation occurs not by standing above life, but by dwelling within it.

~ Written by Denise Grobbelaar, , Jungian Analyst.

Reference:
(1) Menschwerdung, i.1.12 (as quoted in ‘The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme’, 1891)

Image credit: Daniel Mirante - Golden Veiled Sophia (2012)

26/01/2026

Our Quote of the Week.

“The Eternal Feminine
Bears us aloft.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1832), 𝘍𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐.

23/01/2026

Join us on Friday, 30 January 2026 for our first Jung & Film evening of the year, featuring Alfred Hitchcock’s 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 (1958), frequently cited as one of the greatest films ever made. Both a psychological thriller and a hypnotic descent into the labyrinth of the human psyche and the unconscious, 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 opens a rich space for Jungian reflection.

Beneath its suspenseful surface, the film invites exploration of key Jungian themes: idealisation and projection; contrasexual dynamics within the psyches of both men and women; the tension between the Persona and the repressed Shadow; and the dangerous compulsion to reshape another person into the mould of an inner image.

As the story unfolds, the protagonist’s unravelling becomes a mirror for the risk of mistaking inner figures for outer realities, and the cost of doing so.

𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 stars James Stewart as Scottie Ferguson, a retired detective haunted by a crippling fear of heights (acrophobia) and vertigo. Kim Novak delivers a mesmerising dual performance that blurs the boundaries between reality, desire, and illusion.

If you enjoy exploring films from a Jungian perspective, join us for this online screening and an engaging post-film discussion as we unravel the psychological depths of this unforgettable classic.

𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 also inspired our social media theme for the remainder of January and February: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮: 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚. We hope the film evening, along with our content in the coming weeks, offers much food for thought and a helpful depth-psychological lens.

For more details and to book online, visit https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/jung-and-film-online-vertigo/
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Our Jung & Film evenings are open to all interested members of the public and clinicians. The format of these evenings is that the attendees and facilitators watch the film together on Zoom, followed by a discussion of the film, which includes contributions by facilitators and participants. Before each screening, the facilitators will circulate notes, which discuss and amplify the film.

It is our hope that viewers will become lost in the drama of the film and potentially access aspects of their own experiences and inner life, which they may then choose to share with others during the discussion.

Details at a Glance:
- Facilitators: Fawn Daniels-Clark, John Gosling, Julie Manegold & Grace Reid
- Date & Time: Friday, 30 January 2026, 5.50pm for 6pm to 9pm SAST
- Online via Zoom
- Booking Fee: ZAR175 p/person, includes receiving film notes beforehand
- Booking is essential

22/01/2026

”It is necessary to distinguish two characters of the Feminine, which, in their interpretation, existence, and antagonism, are an essential part of the Feminine as a whole. These are the elementary and the transformative characters of the Feminine. As elementary character we designate the aspect of the Feminine that as the Great, the Great Container, tends to hold fast to everything that springs from it and to surround it like an eternal substance. Everything born of it belongs to it and remains subject to it; and even if the individual becomes independent, the Archetypal Feminine relativizes this independence into a nonessential variant of her own perpetual being…

The transformative character of the Feminine is the expression of a different fundamental psychic constellation, which is also connected with feminine symbolism. In the transformative character, the accent is on the dynamic element of the psyche, which, in contrast to the conservative tendency of the elementary character, drives toward motion, charge, and, in a word, transformation. In psychic developments the transformative character is at first”dominated” by the elementary character and only gradually throws off this domination to assume its own independent form. The transformative character is already clearly at work in the basic function of the Maternal-Feminine, in the gestation as well as the bearing of children.”

The dynamic movement within this Great Round belongs to the transformative character of the Feminine, but in this first phase does not yet assume a form and shape of its own. It merely creates change within the circular snake of the uroboros, for the uroboros of the beginning is not only the Round but also the wheel rolling upon itself and the serpent which at one bears, begets, and devours…

In psychological terms, this means that where the elementary character is dominant, all processes of change still take place within the unconscious; and that even where an ego-consciousness quality has begun to form, it possesses an existence of its own for a brief time only and is then redissolved in the unconscious… But as the personality is differentiated and emerges from pure unconsciousness, the transformative character also becomes independent and is experienced as such. The transformative character drives toward development; that is to say, it brings movement and unrest.”

~ Erich Neumann (1974). The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype. Bollingen Series XLVIII. Princeton University Press (p27-31).

Extended quote sourced by Philé Möller (), Counselling Psychologist

Image Credit: Zoroaster Clovis Artis - Wikipedia

20/01/2026

When we speak of archetypal images of the inner feminine, we describe recurring patterns of experience through which the psyche relates to desire, creativity, intimacy, loss, and transformation in every person, regardless of gender.

The inner feminine tends to appear in images rather than ideas and is often felt before she is understood, entering psychological life indirectly through longing, fascination, or being drawn toward something or someone not yet fully understood.

In myth and psychology, these experiences often appear through figures such as the muse, the beloved, the enchantress, or the dark feminine, as well as through less personified images such as the womb, the cave, deep water, or forest. These are not things we encounter outside ourselves, but symbolic forms the psyche uses to give shape to inner experience and psychic movement.

In Jungian psychology, meeting the inner feminine often involves a turning inward, a form of regression. This movement does not simply return us to personal memory, but leads toward a deeper symbolic layer of the psyche. As Jung explains, regression may appear to lead back to the personal mother, but in truth, she functions as a gateway into the unconscious, into what he calls the realm of the Mothers.

At this depth, Jung writes that “in the darkness of the unconscious a treasure lies hidden,” a mystery that attracts, enchants, and disorients. When the inner feminine is not recognised symbolically, it may be projected onto another person and experienced as though it belongs to them. In such moments, mystery can collapse into illusion.

Jung is clear that projection does not resolve the underlying conflict. When regression is allowed to unfold symbolically, it does not stop at the mother, but carries consciousness further into the archetypal realm of the Eternal Feminine. Here, what Jung calls the “divine child” lies latent as a still-unrealised possibility of wholeness.

The feminine is not something to be possessed or defended against, but a symbolic dimension of psychic life that must be descended into, drawn from, and interpreted, if individuation is to unfold.

Post written by Charlotte Hoffman (.analyst), Clinical Psychologist and Jungian Analyst

Source: C.G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 5, paras. 508–510.

Image credit: Danaë by Gustav Klimt (1907). Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Our January/February theme, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮: 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚, will be explored over the coming weeks through a series of reflections by our post writers. We invite you to follow along and engage with their contributions.

The theme is inspired by our Jung & Film online screening of 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 on Friday, 30 January. Join us for what promises to be another rich and thoughtful discussion.

Learn more and book online via this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/jung-and-film-online-vertigo/

19/01/2026

Welcome to our first post of the year, and to a new season of reflection and exploration with us. Warm wishes to our entire community for a meaningful start to 2026.

“For the hero, more than for most, the image of the mother is found again in the woman he loves, so that he may become a child once more and seek a kind of immortality. The archetype of the feminine, the anima, first appears in the mother and later transfers itself to the beloved.” ~ Carl Jung, CW 5 §514

Read symbolically, this passage points to the danger of mistaking an inner archetypal image for an outer reality, a dynamic that can shape desire, idealisation, and projection in human experience.

This question lies at the heart of our social media theme for the remainder of January and February, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙈𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮: 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚, inspired by our upcoming Jung & Film screening of 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰 on 30 January. The film offers a powerful psychological portrayal of what can happen when fascination and longing are resolved through projection rather than held symbolically.

For more details and to book online, follow this link: https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/event/jung-and-film-online-vertigo/

12/12/2025

𝗔𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.

This year has carried significant challenges for many within our broader collective. When the outer world feels uncertain, the need for spaces that foster reflection, psychological depth, and the search for meaning becomes ever more vital. Such times invite us back to our individual responsibility to engage consciously with ourselves and with the world around us. We hope that SAAJA’s offerings over the past year have contributed, in some small way, to supporting you in navigating this complexity.
Thank you for your thoughtful engagement with our content, your participation in our events, and your encouragement throughout the year. Your presence has enriched our community and inspired our work.

We are also immensely grateful to our dedicated team of post writers, whose efforts ensure that we continue to bring you thought-provoking insights and meaningful reflections grounded in Jungian perspectives. Your commentary, likes, and re-sharing motivate us to keep exploring the depths of Jungian psychology and human experience together.

As we take a well-deserved pause to reflect and recharge, we look forward to returning to the world of social media on Monday, 19 January 2026. You can expect more in-depth explorations of both timeless and timely themes, along with updates on our public programmes, lectures, film evenings, and training offerings.

From all of us at the Southern African Association of Jungian Analysts (), we wish you a gentle close to the year and a restorative holiday season. May 2026 awaken new possibilities and guide us all toward individual and collective healing, dialogue, and growth. It is our hope that our programmes and offerings will continue to support you on that journey.

[Image credit: ‘Conception’ by Lincoln Cannon]
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𝗖𝗚 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻 - 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲
Please note that our Administrative Team and Librarian will also be taking a well-deserved break during the holiday season. The Library closed on Thursday, 11 December, and the SAAJA Office will close on Friday, 19 December 2025. The Office will re-open on Monday, 12 January, and Library services will resume on Tuesday, 13 January 2026.

𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
We hope you will be drawn to the events planned for the first part of the new year. Visit https://www.jungsouthernafrica.co.za/events/ for more information about upcoming events organised by our Public Programme Committee and Jung & Film Committee.

Jung Southern Africa - SAAJA

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Monday	09:00 - 15:00
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