A lecture by Barbara Hannah

In rummaging through some papers that had collected dust over the years I discovered a brief account of a lecture which I had written directly following the event.

On the evening of February 10, 1979, Dotty and I went to hear Barbara Hannah, who was giving a talk on ‘The conversation of the world-weary man with his Ba’. It was a meeting of the Psychological Club at the house on Gemeindestrasse which was the original home of the Jung Institute. Since the subject was a bit over my head at the early stage of my studies, the overt purpose of going to the lecture was to have a chance to hear and see Hannah, who was by then in her 87 th year. Although time has not erased the memory, the description below communicates the impressions of a novice, who was witness to the closing years of a time gone by.

To be sure of a seat we arrived three-quarters of an hour early. This was to no advantage, however, as cards had been placed on most of the chairs to reserve space for members of the Psychological Club. The talks are held in what appears to be a large living room of 1900 vintage in the building on Gemeindestrasse. The room is crammed with a mixture of straight-back and over-stuffed chairs, with a large bust of Jung making his presence felt.

Because the talk was to be in English a number of English-speaking students from the Institute were there, but many of the old club members didn't show up. As Hannah stepped before us, I was surprised to see how aged she was, vigorous in body, but with the face of a very old woman. Von Franz, still dressed in her leopard-skin dress, sat down next to her. When the chairman stated that there were empty chairs up front, the onrush of bodies seemed to preclude our moving forward, until it appeared that two chairs directly in front of the speaker had not been claimed. So there we sat.

Von Franz made the introduction, stating that she would repeat any questions for Miss Hannah, who was hard of hearing. Miss Hannah said she had been suffering from ho