Jungian analyst J. Gary Sparks on his first book, At the Heart of Matter: Synchronicity and Jung’s Spiritual Testament, published by Inner City Books:
In the early moonlit morning of Friday, September 4, 2015, I left Chicago and headed east to Indianapolis, Indiana, where I spent the entire day with Jungian analyst and author J. Gary Sparks.
Over a bottle of San Pellegrino water, hunks of bread, cheese, and dark chocolate, we sat in his living room and talked for hours about Jung, his books, the training program in Zürich, and how Daryl Sharp saved his life.
Eventually remembering the purpose of my visit, we moved into his consulting room to take a few photos, shoot a couple of videos, and begin recording the interview. Our discussion focused around his book, At the Heart of Matter: Synchronicity & Jung’s Spiritual Testament, and covered what synchronicity really is, how quantum physics factors into it, why the dreams of Wolfgang Pauli are so important, and the true purpose of Jungian Psychology.
John Gary Sparks earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, a Master of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and a Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich where his thesis advisor was Marie-Louise von Franz and his training analysts included Jung’s grandson, Dieter Baumann, and Jung’s lifelong friend and colleague, C.A. Meier.
Sparks is also the author of Valley of Diamonds: Adventures in Number & Time with Marie-Louise von Franz, as well as the editor of Edward Edinger’s Ego & Self: The Old Testament Prophets—From Isaiah to Malachi, and Science of the Soul: A Jungian Perspective {co-editor with Daryl Sharp}, all published by Inner City Books. He enjoys teaching Jungian psychology at all levels and has maintained an analytic practice in Indianapolis since 1983.
Here is the interview, which is also available on iTunes and on Stitcher. It’s just over one hour long and around 63MB:
MENTIONED DURING THE INTERVIEW
The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life by Richard Wilhelm, Commentary by C.G. Jung
Books by C.G. Jung All of his major works
Bollingen 1982 A film about Marie-Louise von Franz’s relationship with C.G. Jung
Number & Time: Reflections Leading Toward a Unification of Depth Psychology & Physics by Marie-Louise von Franz
Jung & Mysticism: a postcard from Carl Jung to Smith Ely Jelliffe
NOTES
Watch Mr. Sparks tell the story of how Daryl Sharp saved his life in this 6-minute video, Hitchhiking in Küsnacht.
Mr. Sparks brought his Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung action figures to life as he recounted a rather interesting story about their relationship in the afterlife in the 4-minute video, The Bookshelves of J. Gary Sparks.
For more information about his work, please visit Mr. Sparks’s website, jgsparks.net, where you’ll find a virtual treasure trove of lectures, presentations, study guides, illustrations and photos – all for free.
Mr. Sparks also has another website, jungandpauli.net, containing hours of downloadable audio covering the Jung-Pauli dialogue, Pauli’s dreams, an introduction to Jung’s major works, The Red Book, Aurora Consurgens, Arnold Toynbee, and a 30-minute video of Mr. Sparks at the C.G. Jung Society of St. Louis.
Pauli & Jung: The Meeting of Two Great Minds by David Lindorff
Speaking of Jung, Episode 28 Mr. Sparks recorded a second interview for this podcast on September 27, 2017
Speaking of Jung, Episode 35 Mr. Sparks returned for his third episode on June 19, 2018