Cartea roșie - Liber Novus

Cartea Roșie charts Carl Gustav Jung’s study of his inner life. He began this work on himself in 1913. He worked on the book from 1914 to 1930. He explores the soul, faith, and loss of faith. He does so through visions and journeys in his mind. The book blends psychology with art and a personal record. It serves those who study Jung’s thought.

Jung first wrote his visions in the Black Books. He then revised them and added his thoughts. He copied them by hand and painted images for the text. He called this method active imagination. It helped him turn feelings into images. It also let him probe hidden parts of the mind. He saw it as the source of his later ideas.

Jung seeks his soul through strange encounters in the story. He sets his age’s demands against deeper inner needs. A new image of God shapes his response to lost faith. He also traces his idea of individuation. This means how a person forms a distinct self. He shows his own path and a broader model for mental growth.

This edition shows the whole text and art Jung made by hand. The work took its familiar name from its red leather cover. Its art draws on European and Middle Eastern traditions. It also draws on Far Eastern and Indigenous American traditions. Liber Primus and Liber Secundus form the main parts. More trials and an epilogue follow them. The appendices contain mandalas and notes that explain them. They also hold a Black Book entry dated 16 January 1916.

Sonu Shamdasani opens the book and adds notes to explain its context. He studies the history of psychology and psychiatry at University College London. He is also the Philemon Foundation’s general editor. Viorica Niscov and Simona Reghintovschi translated this edition. It lets readers study work they could not directly study for many years.