Arctic Imaginings: Chasing Ice Through C. G. Jung’s Liber Novus Into the 21st Century

Abstract

The purpose of this alchemical hermeneutic inquiry is to explore the image of ice through multiple media as it coalesces around C. G. Jung’s The Red Book: Liber Novus, a text which was published in our current era of climate crisis. Using the lenses of depth and archetypal psychology, this dissertation amplifies the archetypal core of the symbol of ice, explores the face of ice in Liber Novus, and facilitates an imaginal dialogue with the ice to hear what it has to say about the state of the world today. Following the example of photographer James Balog, this thesis creates a time lapse photograph of ice, chasing its journey from Jung’s text, through the life of an individual, and into our current era of ecological concern. The result is an in-depth image of ice which re-animates this sign of “global warming” into the potent symbol it needs to be in our world of climate crisis. By engaging dreams, myth, fairytales, current scientific theory, and the grief of ambiguous loss, the image of ice can be acknowledged in this Kairos, this particular moment, as an important voice of the archetypal other in our world today. As such, the ice guides us to claim our shadow, embrace tears, and create a more inclusive community around the paradox of living with ever-changing hope in a constantly dying world.