ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Jung’s own ‘confrontation with the unconscious’ and his association of this with the mythical concept of the ‘Nekyia.’ An exploration of Jung’s understanding of the Nekyia and its relevance to Jung’s interpretation of Picasso’s art is also discussed. Furthermore, this chapter addresses Jung’s breakdown of 1912–1916, during which he recorded his experiences through text and paintings. Jung’s recordings were translated into what is now known as the Red Book and notably demonstrate an overtly ‘symbolic’ form of expression. Jung paintings, he reports, express his personal experience of psychic instability, which he himself understood in mythical terms as a Nekyia—a descent to and from the ‘underworld.’ The Nekyia is an important concept in this inquiry as it also serves as a principal allusion in Jung’s essay on Picasso.
