Depth Psychology
The Magic Power of Libido
A Summary of “On Psychic Energy” by Carl Jung (1948)
“On Psychic Energy” is a fascinating essay in which Carl Jung examines the concept of “libido” developed by Freud. Jung will explain why this concept should be interpreted as a general “life-energy”, and not as a solely sexual phenomenon. He will shed light on the role libido plays in the mind, in magic, and in religion; and he will discuss the preceding conceptions of psychic energy that are found in primitive cultures from all around the world.
The essay was originally published in 1948, and is collected within volume eight of Jung’s Collected Works, which is titled The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. This volume covers practically all aspects of Jung’s program of analytical psychology. This will be the first of many videos that explore this corpus; we proceed now with a summarised abridgement of the text.
By the way, I’m now publishing all of my book summaries under the publication Paraphilosophy. I’d really appreciate it if you could follow — it’s free. 😁
