Jung in Africa with Blake Burleson

Dr. Blake Burleson is Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Senior Lecturer in Religion at Baylor University where he teaches world religions and African studies. A traveler on the African continent since 1978, he directed the African Studies Program at Baylor from 1996 to 2003. He is the author of Pathways to Integrity: Ethics and Psychological Type (2001) and Jung in Africa (2005).

Burleson’s recently published Jung in Africa is a comprehensive historical account of C. G. Jung’s 1925 ‘Psychological Expedition’ to East Africa. Conducted when Jung was fifty years old, the safari was a watershed event which divided his life and thought perfectly into two halves. Africa gifted Jung with his ‘myth,’ his raison d’etre, and many of his important psychological concepts were discovered or crystallized during the five-month journey. Indeed, there is an African imprint upon almost all of Jung’s most basic theories. In addition to contributing to an understanding of Jung and Jungian psychology, the book adds to our knowledge of European involvement on the African continent during the colonial period. Further, the book explores Jung’s trip as an archetypal journey representative of ‘modern man’s’ search for meaning in ‘primitive’ places. Africa was the quintessential Nether Lands where pueri aeterni of Europe and America were tempted to forsake modernity and ‘go primitive.’

Jung in Africa is available at the Baylor University Bookstore or at Continuumbooks.com

Dr. Harry Wilmer , Jungian Analyst and founder of the Institute for the Humanities at Salado writes: ‘Blake Burleson’s Jung in Africa is an inspired, scholarly narrative of one of the most important elements in the world of Jungian psychology. This book is a thrilling story as we relive with Jung and his small group their adventures in Africa. The exciting story is enriched by Burleson’s critical historical scholarship, and extensive personal experience in Africa. Jung in Africa is more than a book about Jung. It is an important statement about African history, and its relevance in the 21 st Century.’

The Jung Safari: An Historical Perspective
Friday, March 4, Day Spring Baptist Church
On Renewal Way off of HWY 6 next to the Ridgecrest Retirement Center
Admission is free for 2005 members of the Society for the Friends of Jung; $10 for non-members

Book Review Luncheons: Jung in Africa
Fridays, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 12 Noon-1:30 PM, Siete Mares Restaurant (corner of Dutton Ave and 20 th Street)
For reservations call (254) 405-4631 or e-mail junginwaco@hotmail.com
Explore with the author the key concepts of Jungian psychology which were given birth on the African continent.
Admission per event (which includes lunch) is $15 for non-members; $10 for 2005 members of the Society for the Friends of Jung.


Screening and discussion of Peter Baynes film of the Jung Safari (1925-26)
Thursday, May 19, 7:00-9:00 PM, Location TBA
Peter Baynes, Jung’s first assistant and a participant of Jung’s “expedition” to Africa, filmed the safari with a 16mm camera.
Dr. Burleson will provide commentary during the screening.
Admission is $10 for non-members; $5 for 2005 members of the Society for the Friends of Jung.