Carl Jung and Bill Wilson 1945–1961
Ian McCabe
March 29, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429472695-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Key points | The account traces Jung's correspondence with Bill Wilson, facilitated by Margarita Luttichau, and Jung's letters on peyote, mescaline, and LSD, including an April 1954 letter to Victor Francis White. It reports, via biographer Frank McLynn, that Jung saw LSD's only benefit as introducing and convincing people of the existence of the unconscious. |
Abstract
The correspondence between Bill Wilson and Carl Jung dates back to 1945. This was made possible through Margarita Luttichau who acted as an intermediary between both men. She was a student of Carl Jung and was also a protege of Bill Wilson. Frank McLynn, an astute biographer of Jung&s;s work, wrote that the only benefit Jung saw in lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was that it could introduce and convince people of the existence of the unconscious. Jung wrote several letters in relation to the drugs peyote, mescaline, and LSD. The first in April 1954, was to Victor Francis White, a Dominican priest and long-term correspondent of Jung. White had written to Jung him about his visit to "Worcestershire asylum" to talk to staff and "try to lend a hand with religious archetypal material which patients were producing under the LSD drug".