On the Trail of the Philosophers' Stone. Thomas Mann & C.G. Jung

This lecture explores the interconnections between German author Thomas Mann and Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung. Reading Mann's major novels in light of Jung's depth-psychological studies reveals a research-neglected picture: two influential German-language intellectuals who drew inspiration from many of the same intellectual-historical traditions and shared a commitment to understanding the human mind.

The lecture centres on their mutual fascination with religion and mythology - not as narratives from a distant past, but as archetypal patterns in the human psyche. The typological thinking in Jung's analytical psychology can be found throughout Mann's literary work, without necessarily implying direct influence.

Remarkably, both were preoccupied with hermetic alchemy, and each in their own way regarded this tradition as a metaphor for the transformation of personality - what Jung called individuation. Mann's psychological interpretation of alchemy is clearly reflected in the novel The Magic Mountain (1924), while large portions of Jung's scientific work deal precisely with alchemical imagery.