Lecture with John Giannini, The Elegant Evolution of Typology

April 1, 2011

Accepting one’s type, as well as its breadth of outlook, are key themes in John Giannini’s sweeping take on the Jungians’ “stepchild.” Giannini will discuss how and why he wrote an extensive book on typology entitled Compass of the Soul. He will discuss its value for individuals that is lost among most psychologists, including analysts, who, along with Jung, have treated the types as orphans. Yet, this famous Swiss medico, scholar and mystic implied that the types are archetypes, and so also spiritually powerful, but never systematically did so. This task became the burden of Giannini’s book. Jung also showed them to be a “critical psychology,” as well as the ground of every intellectual theory.

Now, Giannini sees them in deeper contexts. He has learned from evolutionists their connection with a nature that evolved through “elegant” moments that made possible our existence. Similarly, the types have evolved in us in many such ways. Also, these archetypes emerged in an elegant and profoundly personal time in Jung’s life, as described both in Memories, Dreams and Reflections and in his Red Book (Liber Novus). In this context, they take on even more depth and spiritual meaning for individuals, as well as for society.

JOHN GIANNINI, MA, MBA, MDiv is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Chicago and Evanston. He holds an MDiv in Religion and Psychology from St. Albert’s College, an MA in Psychology and Religion from the University of Chicago Divinity School, an MBA from Stanford University, and an LCPC certification with the State of Illinois. John has published articles and lectures widely throughout the U.S. and Canada on the wounded child within, and narcissistic/addictive behavior. He is the author of Compass of the Soul, an updated understanding of typology. He is now completing a book entitled The Sacred Secret: The Maternal Principle and Her Love in Persons and Nature.