The Centre for Applied Jungian Studies is offering a focused, online, twelve week course on the practical application of the psychodynamic concepts: Archetypes, Complexes, Projection and Shadow.

Carl Gustav Jung was introduced to Alchemy in 1928 when Richard Wilhelm sent him a copy of the famous oriental text The Golden Flower. He commissioned a Munich book dealer to alert him to any Alchemical Texts that may cross his path. A few months later, he received an Alchemical text written in 1593 called Artis Auriferae Volumina Duo. Glancing at it he thought, “what nonsense” and “this is impossible to understand”. It was two years before he started reading it and realised that the alchemists were talking in symbolic language about the individuation process.  Fascinated and intrigued, he spent the next 16 years researching and studying alchemy.

The Alchemical process has four distinct stages: Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas and Rubedo. These stages are the framework of Jung’s characterization of the four stages of transformation: Confession, Illumination, Education and Transformation. The first stage is Nigredo, the blackening. This stage is also referred to as the putrification and is the stage of confession or catharsis. The burning away of the dross. This process starts with the Prima Materia, the essential basic matter which is black on the outside and white on the inside.

The psychological process involved in Nigredo is shadow work. This involves understanding what you project onto others and the world. It is about becoming aware of your own darkness (shadow). Only through the process of burning away your false ideas and beliefs do you gain clarity on who you truly are. Nigredo is the first stage of the Alchemical process. The process of creating the philosopher’s stone. Viewed psychologically, this is the process of individuation. Giving birth to your true, honest and individuated Self. It is the reason for embarking on the Great Work (Magnum Opus). Alchemically the transmutation of lead to gold, psychologically and spiritually the transmutation of shadow to Self, of ‘sin’ (any psychological ailment) to virtue.

This course will introduce you to the key elements involved in shadow work and teach you the skills and tools that you will need to engage and work with your own unconscious.

This programme is open to all, regardless of previous experience with Jungian or psychodynamic theory. This is an excellent introduction to the key concepts in Applied Jungian Psychology. These concepts are engaged with using a creative and reflective perspective. The course is designed to facilitate the development of a more holistic perspective on yourself and the world around you. The focus is on individuation, meaning and consciousness.

Nigredo is the stage of deep introspection. This stage usually manifests in the mid-life, although today we frequently encounter much younger people reaching this point prior to mid-life. This is the time when the question of meaning or purpose becomes central for the individual, triggered by feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, frustration and being unable to identify what the exact source or cause of these feelings. Sometimes there is an element of dysfunction in either their relatedness to others or to themselves. Certain habits or defense mechanisms that were developed in early years are no longer aiding the individual,but instead hampering them in their ability to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. It is at this stage that individuals become depressed, melancholic or deeply restless.

Jung realised that this is the precursor to the transmutation of self. The impulse towards leading a soul-filled life is an archetypal dynamic that the majority of individuals face at some stage in their individuation journey.

This work is a calling if you:


• are distressed at not understanding why you keep repeating the same behaviour patterns

• are feeling helpless about always being confronted by the same situations

• are feeling that there is something fundamentally wrong with the world

• are tired of attracting the same type of people into your life

• have a longing to reconnect with yourself and know yourself

• are dissatisfied at your inability to move beyond a particular challenge

• are aware that you need to move or shift but unsure of where you need to go

Nigredo is one of four stages in the Magnum Opus programme. All four stages will guide you through the individuation process. The other three stages are Albedo, Citrinitas and Rubedo. 

Albedo focuses on the development of communication between the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche. This stage builds relationship to the self. This course will start in May, 2025.

Citrinitas focuses on exploring relationship dynamics with the world, others and intimate partners. This course will start in September, 2025.

Rubedo focuses on the individuation process. This course will start January 2026. Please note that this stage is only open to students who have completed Nigredo, Albedo and Citrinitas.