Galadriel’s mirror

With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. ‘Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,’ she said. ‘I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.’ The air was very still, and the…

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My unconscious twin

One of the most fascinating things about evolution is how the development of an organ in each individual recapitulates the evolution of the organ over millions of years. For example, if one studies the development of the human heart from its early stages in the embryo to its adult form, one can follow the changes…

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The mark of Cain

I finished Demian (Hermann Hesse) last week. Once again, it felt like leaving some of my best friends behind, those friends who do not exist but are alive in me. I was somewhat reluctant to reread this book, which had made such an impression on me when I was young, so many years ago. But,…

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The apple of enlightenment

When I was reading Jung’s Memories, Dreams and Reflections, I was fascinated by how he presented the Age of Enlightenment. Coming out of the Middle Ages, in which religion predominated, Western civilisation pushed for a more preponderant role of reason. The pendulum has swung so far to the other side that we have come to…

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