Hi Mark,

I read Shared Realities- it really floored me. More in-depth on this subject than I realized it could be, I found myself looking up references like crazy, which I found very helpful in the footnotes.

I learned a lot more about the Kleinian point of view, looking up projective identification and its similarities to participation mystique on the Jungian side. I had never imagined the transference was so involved and of course, I hadn’t read CW 16, so I have that to read. The notes to check vol.’s 6,7 and 8 helped. You were right- many of the theoretical discussions were not as relevant outside an analyst’s point of view, yet I liked having a glimpse of what that’s like.

Projections, reverie, subject/object issues, intersubjectivity- all these things interested me. As a dreamer, I am always trying to be conscious of subjective states and experiences.

I often feel that we are trapped in our identity. The path of choosing identification or differentiation in any given situation as a quality of individuation seems to give one a sense of freedom, that the possibility of the third thing is always present in a given situation. The book enlightened me on some finer points, here.

I had read The Dream and its Amplification previously and enjoyed that, too. In the meantime, I passed a couple of courses on dreams at jungplatform.com. Thanks again for a good, informative read that was Shared Realities.

Hi Mark, 

I just received Shared Realities in the mail. Fascinated by this topic from the works of Jung, I knew that some sort of “shared reality” was acceptable to Jung, himself. Having only recently joined Depth Alliance, I am really unfamiliar with most of what people have done with psychology in recent years. I am a layman, fresh from reading 17 or so books from the Collected Works and a new fan of depth psychology, sort of jumping out of the crucible.

I have a couple of books to read ahead of it, but I am excited to learn what you and your colleagues have to say about participation mystique.

Mark - Send me your book at this address:

3111-C College Ave.

Berkeley, CA 94705

Barry