You've probably seen them on Pinterest or tucked away in some dark corner of a library's psychology section. Those vivid, hallucinatory paintings that look like a cross between a medieval manuscript and a fever dream. Honestly, calling them "art" feels like a bit of an understatement. They are the Carl Jung Red Book illustrations, and they represent one of the most intense psychological breakdowns—or breakthroughs—ever recorded.
For nearly 100 years, these images were locked in a Swiss bank vault. The family didn't want the world to see them. Why? Because they look like the work of a madman.
Jung himself was terrified that if people saw his private "Liber Novus" (The New Book), they would dismiss his entire career as a psychiatrist. He spent sixteen years working on this thing. He wasn't just doodling in the margins of his notes; he was meticulously documenting a period of "confrontation with the unconscious" that started in 1913.
It was a mess. A beautiful, terrifying, gold-leafed mess.
The Secret Origins of the Carl Jung Red Book Illustrations
The story starts when Jung fell out with Sigmund Freud. It wasn't just a professional disagreement; it was a total severance. Jung felt lost. He began hearing voices. He saw visions of a global flood turning to blood. Today, we might call that a psychotic break. Jung called it "active imagination."
He decided to stop resisting the madness. He leaned into it.
He sat down every night and invited these visions to speak. He met a white-bearded figure named Philemon, a blind girl named Salome, and a giant black snake. To keep his sanity, he wrote their dialogues in black journals and then later transcribed them into a massive, red leather-bound folio. But he didn't just write. He painted.
The Carl Jung Red Book illustrations weren't meant for a gallery. They were maps.
Jung was trying to visualize the architecture of the human soul. He used expensive pigments and egg tempera, much like a monk from the 14th century. He was obsessed with the details. If you look closely at the original plates, the symmetry is almost robotic, yet the subject matter is pure chaos.
Why the Style is So Weird
You’ll notice a heavy influence of Eastern art. Mandalas appear everywhere. Jung believed the circle was a "vessel" for the psyche. He didn't know much about mandalas when he started painting them, which is the weirdest part. He later realized that people across all cultures were drawing these same shapes when they were trying to integrate their personalities.
He wasn't trying to be an "artist." He was trying to survive.
The images are packed with alchemical symbols: dragons, cosmic eggs, trees of life, and solar deities. It's a visual language that bypasses the logical brain. That’s probably why they’re so popular on social media now. They feel "vibey" because they tap into what Jung called the collective unconscious—the shared basement of the human mind where all our myths live.
Breaking Down the Most Famous Images
One of the most striking pieces features a massive, multi-colored star or spark surrounded by intricate geometric patterns. It’s labeled as "Systema Munditotius." It basically looks like a blueprint for the universe.
Then there’s the "Incantations."
👉 See also: Sustainable Furniture: What You’re Actually Buying (and Why Most Labels Lie)
These pages are covered in calligraphy that is almost impossible to read. Jung would spend hours on a single capital letter. It was a meditative practice. By focusing on the physical act of painting, he grounded himself so the "ghosts" of his mind wouldn't pull him under.
- The Dragon: Frequently appears as a symbol of the primal, unformed energy of the unconscious.
- The Hero: Often depicted in struggle, representing the ego trying to maintain control.
- The Blue Spirit: A recurring motif that seems to represent a higher state of consciousness or "The Self."
It's easy to look at these and think, "Okay, cool, old guy had some weird dreams." But for Jung, these were literal data points. He used the insights from these paintings to develop his theories on archetypes, the shadow, and individuation. Without the Red Book, we wouldn't have the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or modern depth psychology.
We’d just have Freud’s theories about everything being related to your parents.
The Mystery of the "Missing" Years
From 1913 to 1930, Jung was a man living in two worlds. By day, he saw patients and maintained the facade of a world-class doctor. By night, he was diving into the "Red Book."
He eventually stopped working on it. He just... quit.
The book ends mid-sentence. He realized that the visions were becoming too repetitive and that he had learned what he needed to learn. He spent the rest of his life "translating" the abstract art of the Red Book into the scientific language of his later books, like Psychological Types.
When he died in 1961, the book stayed with his family. Scholars knew it existed, but the Jung estate was incredibly protective. They feared the Carl Jung Red Book illustrations would make him look "occult" or "crazy." It wasn't until 2009, after years of negotiation by Sonu Shamdasani, that the book was finally published.
The world went nuts. It was a bestseller. A 400-page book of clinical insanity and high-end art became a cultural phenomenon.
Is It Actually Art?
Art critics are split. Some say it's "outsider art" at its finest. Others say it's too literal—too tied to Jung's specific psychological jargon.
But honestly? It doesn't matter.
The power of the illustrations isn't in their technique. It's in their authenticity. You are looking at a man's soul being turned inside out. There is no filter. There is no "target audience." It’s just Jung, a paintbrush, and his demons.
How to Apply Jung's Visual Method Today
You don't have to be a Swiss psychiatrist to use the "Red Book" method. Many people use "art journaling" as a form of therapy now. It’s basically what Jung was doing.
The idea is simple: stop thinking.
🔗 Read more: MN State Fair Beer Ice Cream: What Most People Get Wrong
If you're feeling stuck or anxious, you don't write about your feelings. You draw them. You give them a shape. If your anxiety was a monster, what would its teeth look like? If your joy was a color, would it be a circle or a square?
Jung believed that when we give a "form" to our inner chaos, it loses its power over us. We become the observer, not the victim.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you want to explore the world of the Red Book more deeply, don't just look at the pictures on a phone screen. They were meant to be huge.
- Get the "Reader's Edition": The full-size facsimile is expensive (like $200+) and weighs about 10 pounds. The Reader’s Edition has the text but none of the art. If you want the art, look for the "Philemon Series" publications.
- Practice Active Imagination: Sit in a quiet room. Visualize a character from a dream. Don't "make" them do anything. Just watch them. If they speak, write it down. If they move, draw it.
- Visit the Rietberg Museum or C.G. Jung Institute: They occasionally display original pages or high-quality reproductions in Zurich. Seeing the texture of the paint changes everything.
- Look for the "Black Books": These were the raw, unedited journals Jung used before he polished them for the Red Book. They were released recently and provide an even rawer look at his process.
The Carl Jung Red Book illustrations remind us that the human mind is much bigger than we think. It's not just a computer for processing tasks. It's a cathedral. It's a wilderness. And sometimes, the only way to understand it is to pick up a brush and start painting.
Jung's journey shows that "going crazy" isn't always a dead end. Sometimes, it's the only way to find out who you actually are. He came back from the brink with a book full of gods and monsters, and in doing so, he gave us a map to our own inner worlds.
The next time you feel overwhelmed by your own thoughts, remember Jung. He sat with his monsters for sixteen years. He painted them until they became his friends.
You can do the same.