JUNGIANS BELIEVE TRADITIONAL CATHOLICS IMPEDE "RENEWAL"
by Paul Likoudis
Like the Albigensian heresy which it so closely resembles, the
Jung Cult in the Catholic Church developed during a time of
social crisis. In both 12th- century France and 20th-century
America, society was characterized by both pleasure-seeking and
an increase in crime. Catholics, in both centuries, were
increasingly unsure of what orthodox belief demanded of them.
From roughly A.D. 1000 to 1200, Albigensian bishops and priests
predominated in France and Switzerland, and the heresy grew
within the Church until it had become the norm. The Albigensians,
it must be said, believed that they were practicing a purer
faith, and had returned to ancient and apostolic traditions. They
rejected transubstantiation and belief in the Real Presence, but
their worship services consisted of mimicking the Last
Supper.
Often the Albigensians were vegetarians; they practiced
contraception and had ritualized euthanasia; adultery was not
only sanctioned, but approved (as long as it was contraceptive)
as a means of developing holiness. For two centuries, the
Albigensian heresy spread, until in some dioceses it had totally
supplanted Catholicism. Innumerable Popes, councils, and saints
attempted to check the spread of the heresy, but it was only when
St. Dominic inspired a military crusade against the Albigensians
that their progress was checked, and orthodoxy, ultimately,
prevailed -at least for several more centuries, until the eve of
the French Revolution when it surged again.
As the Jung Cult in the Church spreads in modern times,
traditional Catholics should become aware of how Jungians view
the Church and those Catholics they consider "pre-Vatican II,"
says Mike Cyrus, a Colorado Catholic, a convert, and a former
Jungian.
In a telephone interview with The Wanderer, Cyrus explained why
the Jung Cult in the Church poses such a threat to the orthodox
believer, and also revealed his former links to the movement.
When he was 38, he recalled, and his marriage was falling apart,
his wife, a Catholic and a trained Jungian psychologist, urged
him to see another Jungian therapist to help him accept his
grief. That began an intense three-year period of study of Jung,
including some therapy under the direction of June Kounin, a
nationally known Jungian analyst.
During that period, Cyrus - who was neither a Catholic nor a
practicing Christian-enthusiastically began studying Jung,
purchasing his complete works and those of his major disciples,
including many Catholic spiritual writers.
"I learned what the Jungian religion really consisted of, what it
meant to practice Jungian spirituality and how it is meant to be
lived out in life, and the types of basic movements it is linked
to," he said.
"When I began, I was told to start a journal recording my dreams
and important memories and this led into discussions of my
relationship with the divine - Jungians never use the word God
-and what that meant to me. In addition to these sessions, I
studied Jung intensely, along with mythology and related
fields.
"This included listening to Basil Pennington's series of tapes on
centering prayer, and reading Richard Rohr, Thomas Keating, and
many of their associates."
Initiation
"As a non-Catholic and not knowing anything about spirituality,
this was all very exciting," noted Cyrus. "It was such a new
field that it was really thrilling."
Gradually, Cyrus was introduced into the central part of the new
mystery religion, and was taught how to discover God in two
"ways": communally in prayer that employed Catholic elements and
symbols, and personally by use of the active imagination, or
conscious dreaming, which, he said, "can be extraordinarily
powerful in creating delusions.
"This stuff is serious," he explained. "It is utterly diabolical
in creating visions and prophecies, and people who spend hours
and hours a day in centering prayer stick with it because they
are, so to speak, going places in their minds, and they become
addicted to the revelations."
Ironically, it was Pennington who began Cyrus' turning away from
Jung and centering prayer. Pennington had written in one of his
books that he considered the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi a deeply
spiritual man, and Cyrus was repulsed, because he had remembered
the Yogi calling for the elimination of the "mentally unfit."
At this time, Cyrus intensified his readings of the Catholic
saints, and eventually began reading his way into the Catholic
Church. He continued reading Jung until the moment of his
Confirmation. Once confirmed, he packed the books away.
In the years since, at his parish in southern Colorado, he has
seen many Catholics abandon their faith after becoming involved
in Jungian-type spirituality programs. They stayed in the Church,
though, determined to change it and bring it up to their new
level of awareness.
"They think they're Catholic. They think they are more fully
Catholic. They do not think that they are not Catholic. What you
have to know is that these spirituality programs are an
affirmation of self, and not a covenantal relationship with God
or with anyone else-that's why they reject the Church's dogma,
that's why they reject everything that indicates a pre- Vatican
II spirituality."
They're Different
"As one young man, who thinks homosexuality is okay and Matthew
Fox is a good guy, said to me, 'Mike, you and I just have
different spiritualities.' This is typical. People can think they
can espouse positions at odds with the Church, and yet they say
the Church has to change, not them," noted Cyrus.
"They really believe we are the real impediment to the renewal of
the Church and the world. We are preventing that. They really
believe when they are persecuting orthodox Catholics, they are
doing holy work.
"If you are not androgynous, you are not whole; if you have not
integrated your 'shadow' or evil side, you are not whole: if you
accept the dogmas of the past, they will say to you that you are
a naive believer locked into some other culture's mythical story
of God," said Cyrus.
"That's why inclusive language is so important to them. The
language of the past is sexist, patriarchal, and dysfunctional.
It represents a previous culture's understanding of God and the
attempt to put that into language. By virtue of the fact that the
language came out of a particular culture at a particular
time-that makes it exclusionary, that is, not fully reflective of
God. That way is not Catholic, not universal, as they see
it."
Same Words, Different Meanings
Cyrus then explained for Wanderer readers how Jungians
reinterpret or explain key Catholic concepts:
Christ is "the prototypical example of human evolution, a man
discovering his own Godhood. 'growing in wisdom' and unsure of
who he was as he was growing up. Where he has gone, we will
follow, they teach."
The Trinity: "Jungians view the Father, Son, Holy Spirit as a
'surface manifestation' of a 'deeper reality.' God is neither
male nor female, but simultaneously both and beyond both, as are
men and women. Our human nature is essentially androgynous. They
argue the traditional notion of God is flawed-patriarchal in
origin and designed to oppress women, and we need to move beyond
historically and culturally conditioned notions of God which are
limited because they are prescientific."
Creation: "The Jungian understanding of creation is principally
pantheistic. All creation is part of God, it comes from 'God
stuff.' This helps explain why trees, cycles of the moon and
planets, seasons, animals, and even insects are on the same plane
of life as 'humankind.' Body-prayer, psycho-drama, mime, and the
Jungian approach to liturgy follow from this understanding.
Eco-feminism, eco-spirituality, and Gaia worship are also
significant subsets of Jungian spirituality."
Liturgy: "Liturgy means 'people's work' and it is made divine by
the gathering of God's people to express their celebration of His
kingdom in and through their culture and lives. The practical
implications for worship of this kind are that almost anything
goes. Aztec rituals are on the same plane, for example, as the
Roman liturgy. Jungians will often substitute the readings of
Teilhard de Chardin for the Gospels. Words may be added, deleted,
or altered as they see fit. We can dance, sit, stand, consecrate
the Eucharist, and anyone can be the presider of the liturgy.
Jungians understand rituals as having great symbolic value. In
more esoteric circles, there are rituals for seasons, earth, air,
fire, water, cycles of the moon, menstrual cycles, fingernail
cuttings, etc. For the Jungians, their understanding of God and
liturgy permits what they call 'deep ecumenism,' and they will
participate in almost any kind of worship, and incorporate any
ritual into Catholic ritual."
Sacraments: "Jungians essentially have two sacraments-baptism and
eucharist. Baptism, to them, is a welcoming into community of a
new, innocent life, a life having no sin of any kind on it
whatsoever. The sacrament depends for its efficacy on the faith
of the faith community.
"The eucharistic assembly, or more properly the gathering of the
holy, eucharistic people, is likewise a celebration of the
community. Some deny the Real Presence in the Roman Catholic
sense of the term, and that is why it is so important for them to
alter the traditional architectural form of a Catholic church.
There is no place for the tabernacle because God is 'with us' and
dwells in the community. One Jungian priest, Fr. William
McNamara, O.C.D., the founder and director of the Spiritual Life
Institute in Crestone, Colo., wrote in Christian Mysticism:
'Jesus didn't institute the sacrament of the eucharist, he
entered into the sacramentality of the universe.'
"Marriage as viewed by the Jungians is not a sacrament because of
the bigoted, ungodly, unjust way it refuses to recognize the
legitimacy of other kinds of couples, e.g., homosexuals or
cohabiting. Any loving, committed relationship between two or
more people is considered by them moral and life-giving."
Hell: "Most Jungians do not believe in Hell, or if they do, Hell
is not permanent. They regard Hell as a medieval superstition and
as opposed to their understanding of individuation. "
Heaven: "A state of mind everyone achieves after death."
Original sin: "This notion, they assert, refers generically to
our tendency to be selfish, which leads to sexism, racism,
homophobia, and anti-community tendencies. "
Sin: "This is known to Jungians as 'missing the mark.' No one can
miss the mark indefinitely, because we will all meet our 'higher
self' which is God. Those who have what they call a 'pre-Vatican
II' notion of sin are retarding the individuation process' and
are 'spiritually ill' and in need of therapy. Such people believe
the way they do because they have not experienced 'God's higher
self' firsthand. The 'pre-Vatican II' mindset is particularly
dangerous because those who have it prevent other people from
'individuating' -that is, renewing themselves."
Sacred Tradition: "For the Jungian, all tradition is sacred, just
as all ground is holy ground. 'Tradition' is the lived and living
experience of the people. Thus, Native American and Wiccan
traditions are to be equally valued, since they represent the
ways in which humanity is trying to understand God."
Divine Revelation: "This is understood as the living experience
of the universe through all religions, peoples, animals, plants,
etc., which constitute God's continuing self-revelation.
Discerning God's plan for your own life relies mostly on dream
work, journaling, active imagination, and personality typing,
such as the enneagram, I Ching, tarot cards, and other methods of
divination. To the Jungian, everyone is on a journey, and 'maps'
such as the enneagram or I Ching are necessary."
Spirituality: "Spirituality is the driving force of the Jungian
Church. For a Jungian, spirituality is your personal experience
of the divine, whatever it is, together with the actions you take
as a result of your experience. A typical Jungian will receive
many visions, dreams, prophecies, and omens, and these 'numinous
phenomena' are regarded as personally sent by God to them to
illumine the way.
"For those more 'advanced' on their 'journey,' traditional
Catholics are 'locked in the past,' and must not be allowed to
interfere with the work of the 'Spirit.' Although it may appear
ruthless to outsiders, actions taken to suppress priests or
parishes or individuals loyal to Rome are considered necessary
for the long-term 'health' of the community as it is on its way
to 'renewal.' These actions must be seen as good for the 'faith
community.'
"In this regard, to be a truly spiritual Jungian, one must have
an 'enlightened' view of sexuality, because that is necessary to
be 'fully alive,' or fully sexual. This is why sex education is
so important to the Jungian Church. Jungians see themselves as
bringers of an enlightened sexuality, not only properly
androgynous, but fully integrated into the spiritual life.
"Therefore, the 'perpetual virginity' of Mary is ludicrous.
Likewise, a priest or nun is 'more fully spiritual' if he or she
is 'in touch with his or her sexuality.' This also explains why
Jungians embrace contraception, homosexuality, and abortion,
because these are part of people's 'lived experiences'."
Scripture: For a Jungian, the Scriptures as Catholics received
them are just one "story" from one culture. Because it must be
understood symbolically, historically, and culturally, it cannot
be authoritative. Only those who have a deep understanding of the
unconscious are qualified to explain its meaning. "Scripture is
no more 'holy' than are other stories. Our own story-'his-story;
her-story' -also constitutes divine revelation. Dreams are
private Scripture, and thus are more authoritative than the Old
or New Testament."
Resurrection: "Jesus rose spiritually from the dead in the hearts
and minds of His disciples."
Mass: "The Mass, to Jungians, is the time we celebrate our
community and ourselves. We break bread, drink wine, and
ritualize our joy. Because the Mass is a humanly developed ritual
celebration of community, no one should be excluded or denied
participation in the Eucharist."
Worship space: "In addition to reflecting the theological
principles underlying all of the previous areas, Jungians regard
as critical the need for architecture to be 'open,' as opposed to
'confining,' and centered on the people of God. This is
implemented by removing many, if not all, statues of the saints
and stations of the cross, and relocating or removing the
tabernacle. The distinction between sanctuary space and people
space is entirely eliminated. A building is made holy by the
gathering of a holy people, not by the 'symbolic presence of the
bread. Other symbols, such as eagle feathers, are just as
important."
Conscience: "To Jungians, conscience is the source of an
individual's understanding of truth, and the primary guide to
holiness. In this model, there can be no guiding Magisterium,
because this is outside the individual."
The Spiritual Elite
"One of the things I have learned," Cyrus concluded, "is that the
Jungian is an extremely proud person, confident of his spiritual
superiority and his closeness to God. They claim, invariably, not
to be led by mere men (such as those who naively follow the
Magisterium), but by the 'Spirit,' and thus form a 'spiritual
elite'-a new Cathari as I see it.
"Although professing to be democratic-say, in demanding that Rome
or the hierarchy listen to them - Jungians are invariably
totalitarian in practice. While professing to be 'open,' they are
the most dogmatic, and while claiming to be spiritually pure and
close to God, their moral and physical lives are a mess.
"Only they don't see it, because they are on a 'higher
plane'."
This article was taken from the January 5, 1995 issue of "The
Wanderer," 201 Ohio Street, St. Paul, MN 55107, 612-224-5733.
Subscription Price: $35.00 per year; six months $20.00.
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Further Reading:
Refutation of the New
Age Movement
Holy Spirit Watch
