Vol.24 of Essay Series by Prof. Kawai Published in Minerva Correspondence: Kiwameru

A new installment in Prof. Toshio Kawai‘s essay series, “Kokoro’s Forefront and the Layers of History” was published in the August 2018 issue of Minerva Correspondence: Kiwameru.

The theme of this month’s essay is “dreams and kokoro’s layers of history”.

In the introduction, various characteristics of the layers of history that were discussed in previous essays in the series are reviewed.

The author proposes that dreams make it possible for surreal phenomena to be felt and experienced, which may look like a manifestation of the layers of history.

Although dream interpretation has been common throughout various eras and cultures, the author points out that the knowledge required to understand dreams has been lost and that the significance of dreams is decreasingly valued in the more scientifically inclined contemporary world.

The author then discusses how modern depth psychology brought dreams back to the table for re-evaluation.

Jungian theory suggests that the unconsciousness that exists beyond individual experience emerges in one’s dreams as images. As a result, in Jungian psychotherapy, dreams are highly valued as manifestations of the layers of history. The next few essays in the series will continue to discuss “dreams and kokoro’s layers of history”.

（Commentary：Hisae Konakawa　Research Fellow）

“Kokoro’s Forefront and the Layers of History” (Vol. 24)
“Dreams and Kokoro’s Layers of History”
 Toshio Kawai 

Here are some of the characteristics of the layers of history that I have discussed previously in the series; One is taken over by an animal spirit or a spirit of the dead and as a result, the personality shifts completely. One comes to own a sense of animism, in which things have souls. One’s soul can detach from the body and wander around the sky during an initiation. The Aristotelian logic (e.g. the laws of identity, contradiction and the excluded middle), which support our reality, are not applicable to the phenomena.
Thus, such experiences might be considered abnormal, pathological and surreal. However…

（Excerpt from Vol. 24）

Minerva Shobo Publisher’s website
https://www.minervashobo.co.jp/book/b372968.html

2018/08/09