B8. Carl Jung and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola

Presenter: Anthony T. Moore, Ph.D., is special assistant to the president, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

What do a twentieth-century Swiss psychoanalyst and a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic have to say to each other? This workshop is based on the premise that Carl Jung offers a uniquely compatible psychological framework for understanding the dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.

It will begin with an overview of the structure of the psyche according to Jung. The Jungian framework will then be applied to the Spiritual Exercises. Some of the themes covered will be: the archetypal imagery in Ignatius’ account of his conversion experience at Loyola; discernment of spirits and the movement of the Self toward wholeness; the Principle and Foundation and the desires of the authentic Self; connecting to unconscious psychic energy and hearing the Call of the King; the practice of Jungian active imagination and Ignatian contemplation.

The purpose of this workshop is primarily to convey information for training and continuing education. It presumes a basic understanding of the dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises.