Dr. Joseph Cambray Reflections: Lionel Corbett’s Legacy

Dr. Joseph Cambray Reflects on Dr. Lionel Corbett’s Legacy

We are honored to present this conversation with Dr. Joseph Cambray, Past President and CEO of Pacifica Graduate Institute, Jungian analyst, author, and past President of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. Dr. Cambray brings an extraordinary depth of experience in both academic and clinical realms of Jungian thought, having contributed significantly to the field through leadership, scholarship, and international engagement. 

As a featured presenter at the 24th annual Jung in Ireland seminar—Facing Mortality and the Unknown—Dr. Cambray will explore themes central to the human psyche, uncertainty, the archetypal experience of mortality, and the life’s journey toward meaning. This year’s seminar is dedicated to the memory of beloved Jungian scholar and Pacifica Professor Emeritus, Lionel Corbett, whose work on the religious function of the psyche and the spiritual dimensions of depth psychology continues to inspire practitioners and scholars worldwide. Dr. Chris Downing emeritus faculty of Pacifica will also be presenting on this program along with Dr. Cambray and 8 others. 

In advance of this gathering in Ireland, we asked Dr. Cambray to share reflections on Lionel Corbett’s legacy, the role of archetypal thinking in contemporary life, and the enduring relevance of Jungian psychology in times of uncertainty. 

 

Pacifica: Lionel Corbett’s legacy resonates deeply within depth psychology. How did his work shape your own understanding of psyche and spirit, and what aspects of his contributions do you see reflected in this year’s seminar theme?

Dr. James Cambray: Lionel’s contribution to depth psychology was quite substantial. In addition to his teaching at Pacifica, and throughout the Jungian community worldwide, he authored seven major books and co-edited four volumes of collected papers. Perhaps his best-known volume is The Religious Function of the Psyche, which brought spirituality to the forefront of depth psychology, both in theory and practice. The essential role of the numinous in psychological transformation was masterfully explicated in this and following volumes. Addressing psychological pain and suffering Lionel placed the soul’s anguish as a key topic for consideration, and explored the nature of evil from a therapeutic perspective. He was also a strong advocate for non-dualistic thinking, especially on the nature of consciousness—he saw consciousness as primary to all phenomena. Taken together his views allowed many practitioners to reconceive the therapeutic process in terms of spirituality. 

Lionel also explored the ageing process, including later life psychological development and gerontological care. His pioneering work in this area has helped shape a more conscious, reflective approach to issues of mortality. His writings created a scholarly path towards deepening our appreciation of soul, mortality, and the afterlife, In this he also developed groundbreaking applications which directly expanded the therapeutic process around issues of later life. His legacy will indeed be informing this year’s seminar. 

Pacifica: This year’s Jung in Ireland seminar centers on “Facing Mortality and the Unknown.” In your view, what is the importance of engaging with themes of mortality through a Jungian lens in both personal life and collective culture?

Dr. Cambray: Jung, was of the view that it was important to accept and come to terms with our own mortality as well as to accept the unknown, as a mystery to be lived and not a problem to be solved. In this regard, he described death as “an archetype rich in secret life.” If understood this way, as we grow older, we need to focus more on meaning than on matter- more on our inner than our outer world. Moreover, from a Jungian perspective, being in connection with our inner life, the part of us which seeks meaning and nourishes our soul, should be the focus of our second half of life.  

In this regard, it is important for us to confront our own mortality and the unknown as a part of the life cycle- an approach that can foster resilience, make us stronger, more loving, sensitive and empathic to others and the world around us. Most important, by facing our mortality, and overcoming our fear of the unknown, we open the portal to our own personal creativity and growth. 

Through a combination of presentations and experiential workshops by an outstanding faculty, the NY Center for Jungian Studies‘ 2026 Jung in Ireland program will explore the approaches of different cultures to this phase of life, including, among other topics, death and dying and how different cultures envision life after death. 

Pacifica: You have navigated a rich professional path that bridges science, philosophy, and depth psychology. How has this interdisciplinary journey influenced the way you think about archetypes and the symbolic life?

Dr. Cambray: While Jung’s articulation of feeling-toned complexes arose out of experimental research in tandem with emerging view of the unconscious, his views on the archetypes had more numerous sources: psychology, philosophy, anthropology, art and literature, the sciences, parapsychology, alchemy, mythology, paleontology, to mention only some of the most important. Conceptually we are still mining this area, which because of its complexity can also be controversial requiring careful study of both theory and practice. With the publication of The Red Book, the Black Books and associated scholarship we can see the deep background cosmological roots of his theorizing about archetypes.  

Now in the 21st century as knowledge has progressed beyond Jung’s lifetime, we find the notion of archetypes continues to evolve, as in the application of a complex systems approach to describing how they manifest. The model has become more ecological highlighting interconnectedness and the way these systems can spontaneously self organize to produce emergent properties. Applied to the symbolic life, so ably articulated by Jung and his followers, we are able to increasingly appreciate how the interconnectedness of the world profoundly expands our symbolic vision enfolding us more deeply into the cosmos. 

The approach suggested here should be seen as an on-going, generational task. Our views of archetypes and the symbolic life are best considered by inclusion of the latest knowledge from all relevant disciplines. Jung himself held this view and his view of mortality involved the realm of the “dead” as seeking to be regularly updated by the newly arrived, which forms the layering of the collective unconscious. As our maps of knowledge are not static, including mortality bring us to consider future challenges against the background of time and timelessness, linking and enfolding the past with the future.

Pacifica: What do you hope participants will take away from your presentations and workshops in Kilkenny, especially in terms of integrating encounter with uncertainty into their own psychological work or lives?

Dr. Cambray: With regard to my presentations and workshops, I hope participants will come to more fully appreciate the range of human responses to facing mortality. I join in the goals of the overall seminar, seeking to move towards accepting death, along with illness and loss, within the context of the process of individuation. Thereby, it is the meaning we distill from our experiences that can enhance our resiliency in the face of suffering and loss. A goal is to foster our authentic empathy, care, concern and love of others and our world. We will seek to encounter and join in the vastness of our interconnectedness as citizen of the world. 

My main presentation will challenge the sterility of mainstream disenchanted views of the cosmos. Building upon Jung’s perspective on the dead, I will explore ways to revision and reanimate our culture’s nihilistic avoidance of death.  

The workshops I will lead will be experiential, based on the psyche’s own presentations of mortality. This will include exploring dreams in which those who have passed yet often seem to return with messages they may have for us. We will also look at the psychology of constructing afterlives, imaging where we “go” after death. The hope is that participants will claim a greater sense of agency in evolving their own views on mortality. 

Pacifica: In a world marked by rapid change and global complexity, what role do you believe Jungian psychology plays in helping individuals and communities find meaning and resilience?

Dr. Cambray: In the course of the current century, we have found ourselves in a host of crises, from pandemics, to accelerating climate change, the explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and a host of dramatic political changes that are altering the fabric of our world.  Dissolution and chaos are rampant and questions of the emergence of a new order are ubiquitous. It is a time of great uncertainty and under such conditions, there is an acute, increased need for psychological reflection. This will not “cure” or solve our dilemmas but can assist us in tolerating the uncertainties of our lives, helping us orient towards meaning rather than despair and allow us to appreciate how we are all interconnected. Jungian psychology is unique in its capacity to allow us to embrace our lives, in the search for deeper meaning that has manifolds of inherent symbolic qualities rather than digital solution. This is true not only for us as individuals but also in communities. 

The reality of the imagination is emerging as a fundamental aspect of our humanity, including our creativity and capacity to adapt to changing conditions. Jungian psychology offers genuine hope for our future via the true imagination. As we strive to recover the sense of soul so easily lost to a technological, algorithmic world, the reality of the psyche and the experience of the true imagination provide a pathway which includes our relationship to mortality. 

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