Dennis Merritt after the interview. Photo by Laura London.
Dennis Merritt, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst and ecopsychologist in private practice in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.
He holds a master’s degree in entomology from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in insect pathology from the University of California, Berkeley. He later went on to study the field of psychology and earned a master’s degree in humanistic psychology with a clinical focus from Sonoma State University before heading to Switzerland where he trained as a Jungian analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute Zürich.
His thesis, “Synchronicity Experiments with the I Ching and Their Relevance to the Theory of Evolution,” sparked his deep interest in the use of the I Ching on which he has lectured widely.
Dr. Merritt is the author of the 4-volume series, The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe, which includes: Jung & Ecopsychology; The Cry of Merlin: Jung, the Prototypical Ecopsychologist; Hermes, Ecopsychology, & Complexity Theory; and Land, Weather, Seasons, Insects: An Archetypal View {links below}.
His impassioned articles on climate change, The Hunger Games, and guns and the American psyche, are not to be missed, and are available on his blog, jungianecopsychology.com. For the past thirty years, Dr. Merritt has participated in Lakota Sioux ceremonies which have strongly influenced his worldview.
This interview was recorded on Friday, August 16, 2019 in person at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s 01:58:31 long and 105.4 MB. You can listen to it right here in your browser or download it directly to your computer. This episode is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and now on iHeartRadio.
BOOKS
Jung & Ecopsychology The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe, Vol. I {free sample}
The Cry of Merlin: Jung, the Prototypical Ecopsychologist The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe, Vol. II {free sample}
Hermes, Ecopsychology, & Complexity Theory The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe, Vol. III {free sample}
Land, Weather, Seasons, Insects: An Archetypal View The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe, Vol. IV {free sample}
SHOW NOTES
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
The Story of Jesus Classics Illustrated Special Issue
Jung: A Biography by Deirdre Bair
C.G. Jung Letters: Vol. 1 (1906-1950) Jung was the first to mention the term “New Age,” and the Age of Aquarius, in a letter to H.G. Baynes {a.k.a. Peter} on Aug. 12, 1940, pp. 285-286
The Integral Psychology Center Madison, Wisconsin
The Ecology of Wisdom: Writings by Arne Naess
The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe 4-volume series by Dennis Merritt
Jeffrey Kiehl, Ph.D. Speaking of Jung, Ep. 21
Hermes, Ecopsychology, & Complexity Theory Vol. 3 of The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe by Dennis Merritt
Andrew Samuels Jungian analyst
University of Essex Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies
The Century of the Self 4-part series on BBC Two
California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, California
Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. Morphic resonance and morphic fields
The Empty Couch The New Yorker, May 8, 2000
Jerome Bernstein Speaking of Jung, Ep. 30
CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
Fred Gustafson, Ph.D. Speaking of Jung, Ep. 10
Rosebud Indian Reservation South Dakota
Lionel Corbett, M.D. Jungian analyst
Dreams, the I Ching, & the Psychoanalytic Process Lecture by Dennis Merritt, C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago
I Ching or Book of Changes Translated by Richard Wilhelm & Cary Banes, Foreword by C.G. Jung
The First International Conference on Jungian Psychology & Chinese Culture Guangzhou, China, December 1998 {see link to Dr. Merritt’s paper below}
I Ching Box Set Includes sticks and booklet by Frits Blok {mentioned by Laura}
The Red Book Jung’s descent into the unconscious
The Secret of the Golden Flower Translated and Explained by Richard Wilhelm, Commentary by C.G. Jung
Land, Weather, Seasons, Insects: An Archetypal View Vol. 4 of The Dairy Farmer’s Guide to the Universe by Dennis Merritt
Atom & Archetype: The Pauli/Jung Letters 1932-1958 Correspondence between Wolfgang Pauli & C.G. Jung
Mathematical Games: The Combinatorial Basis of the ‘I Ching,’ the Chinese Book of Divination & Wisdom by Martin Gardner, Scientific American, January 1974
Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle by C.G. Jung
The International Analytical Psychology Scholar Program at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco
Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals by Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D.
Art Funkhouser, Ph.D. Jungian analyst
Pink Floyd Digital music, box sets, CDs, and vinyl
Holotropic Breathwork Grof Transpersonal Training
Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research by Stanislav Grof, M.D.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd {official music video with lyrics}
ARTICLES {FULL TEXT}
A Jungian Perspective on the Most Important Issue of Our Time: Climate Change by Dennis Merritt, Climate Psychology Alliance Newsletter, June 2019
Is The Hunger Games the Myth That Defines Our Times? by Frazer Merritt, Dennis Merritt, & Kevin Lu, Los Angeles Review of Books, Mar. 25, 2019
Star Wars—The Force Awakens: The Emergence of the Archetypal Feminine & Discovering a Personal Access to The Force by Dennis Merritt, Dec. 28, 2015
Guns & the American Psyche by Dennis Merritt, Jul. 19, 2013
The Hunger Games, Jung, Politics, & the Environment: The Hunger Games from a Jungian, Political, & Environmental Perspective by Dennis Merritt, Apr. 26, 2012
Use of the I Ching in the Analytic Setting by Dennis Merritt, First International Conference on Jungian Psychology & Chinese Culture, December 1998
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Jungian Ecopsychology for the Younger Generation Ecopsychology Voices, Jun. 5, 2019 {video interview}
Synchronicity & the I Ching with Dennis A. Merritt Image for Hire, Dec. 30, 2018 {audio interview}
Ecopsychology with Dr. Dennis Merritt Image for Hire, Mar. 20, 2018 {audio interview}
The Complex A new novel by Michael Walters
Online Video Courses Jungian Studies Masterclass Series offered through the Jung Society of Washington, D.C.
Special thanks to the Hilton Milwaukee City Center