Jung and Rebirth

I Have Asked Myself why it is that we should wish to celebrate the anniversary of someone who was born a hundred years ago and is no longer with us. A naive question perhaps, but the answer is not all that obvious, for many famous men have lived and died without figuring in the calendar of people in different parts of the globe a hundred years later. What kind of achievement is most likely to qualify for these ritualistic observances? If we were to take the Christian calendar with its anniversaries of the birth, death and resurrection of its founder, and some saints as testimonies to their spiritual impact on the world, we could, I believe, arrive at one conclusion: pioneers in the art of living and dying stand, among famous people, the best chance to be honoured by ritualistic celebrations.

It seems as if by such observances on these occasions the dead person were again with those who wanted to acknowledge their debt of gratitude. While this may be a reasonable assumption, it still remains odd that those who feel that they have benefited from the work and example of a pioneer, should want to celebrate the recurrence of his birth. Unless, of course, we believe that by our deep respect he is reborn in the spirit. Celebration of his birthday could then lead to a renewal of knowledge, a renaissance.

Whether in the case of Jung a hundred years from now we may still think so is a matter of speculation—another question, more pertinent to my theme, would be how many times and in what ways a man can be said to have been reborn during his life-span. Before taking a closer look at this question, I should like to remind ourselves of the vast difference between an unquestioning acceptance of a religious leader and the appreciation which is due to a pioneer in the field of psychology who loathed anything approaching discipleship or adulation.

Ii. The Theme Of Rebirth Among Other Leitmotifs

In his paper ‘On synchronicity’ Jung quotes Wilhelm Stekel (1911) who drew atte