Re-visioning Kundalini: Exploring Experiences of Kundalini from a Jungian and Archetypal Perspective

Abstract

The majority of Jungian depth psychological analysis of kundalini has been hermeneutical in nature. Both C. G. Jung and James Hillman suggested that kundalini as an aspect of Eastern spiritual practice was not appropriate for Westerners. Yet experiences of kundalini appear to be occurring with increasing frequency for Westerners. This research explores how experiences of kundalini impacted five people in the United States, including the researcher herself. Using the methodology of Organic Inquiry the research provides stories from interviews, art, and writing resulting from embodied active imagination work, and dreams recorded during the interview process. Specific areas of focus also included tracking synchronicities, and noting emotional and psychological challenges and reactions to experiences of kundalini. The research was conducted with the intention of answering the questions: In what ways might depth psychology be complementary to or supportive in understanding and integrating a kundalini experience? How might kundalini further inform depth psychology’s understanding about the effects of numinous experience on the personality? The findings showed that kundalini frequently brought psychological complexes to conscious awareness. Kundalini often acted as a transcendent function and synchronicities increased. It also appeared that for people with early childhood trauma, the psyche might initially experience kundalini as a threat. As an eros rather than logos way of knowing, kundalini offers depth psychologists a phenomenological perspective into how psyche may grapple with and be transformed by numinous experiences.