Editorial

To mark a new era for the Journal, following its 40th birthday, the editors have adopted a new image for the cover. The image is taken from Volume 9i of Jung's Collected Works, Figure 14. Jung described the image as:

An Indian picture of Shiva-bindu, the unextended point. It shows the divine power before the creation: the opposites are still united. The god rests in the point. Hence the snake signifies extension, the mother of Becoming, the creation of the world of forms. In India this point is also called Hiranyagarbha, ‘golden germ’ or ‘golden egg’. We read in the Sanatsugatiya: ‘That pure great light which is radiant, that great glory which the gods worship, which makes the sun shine forth, that divine, eternal Being is perceived by the faithful.’

Containing-both the idea of continuity and renewal in relation to a creative centre, it seems a particularly apt image to celebrate the Journal's continuing development.

As it has done from its inception, the Journal will continue to focus on the clinical application of Jungian thinking, i.e. on what happens within our consulting rooms. This is still where our laboratory is situated, the vas bene clausum within which we discover ourselves and others and, through separating the past from the present, within which we can begin to shape the future. It was on the basis of Jung's work with patients that he was able to extend and develop his ideas into the areas of culture, the arts, sciences, history, religion and philosophy. We hope to continue to demonstrate that what we learn from our clinical experience today remains as vital to our thinking and growth as it did when psychoanalysis first began.

In recognition of the Journal's tradition, we have instituted the Michael Fordham Prize, an annual award for the best clinical paper submitted to the Journal. We hope this will encourage a broad range of clinical contributions and debate.

The new cover is also intended to mark the beginning of new dialogues on two fronts. Th