Jung and the fox

I recently watched a film called

A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberg and found much in it to recommend. It details the complex relationship between Jung and Freud. I wondered what a rationalist like Cronenberg made of Jung’s prophetic dreaming (repeated visions of World War I, rivers of blood over Europe) and synchronistic experiences (Freud’s bookshelf). In particular I enjoyed watching the scene in which Freud warns Jung about “the black tide of occultism”.

I have an inkling that Fort and Jung would have found much common ground. Jung had a need to map the insightful fruits provided by the unconscious mind, whilst Fort trawled through damned data in search of… who knows what? Perhaps their interests converge in the collective unconscious, where the Loch Ness monster swims in the fathomless depths and silver discs skip across the upper reaches.

My own fortean experience happened over a decade ago. My grandfather was in a nursing home and nearing the end of his life. As happens during times like these, sleep was difficult and I lay in dread of the phone call. Throughout the night I had to fight an overpowering urge to get up and look out of the bedroom window. Finally I went to the window and saw a fox in the front garden. Our gaze connected for a moment and the fox then slipped into the night; a day or so later my grandfather passed away. A pragmatic Scot, he wouldn’t have put much stock in the experience; but at the time it felt meaningful to me and I have often wondered if the Universe was trying to tell me something. Something perhaps only fully understood in our collective unconscious. Colin Muir Falkirk, Scotland