Analytical psychology has come under scrutiny in a whirl of controversy over the character of its founder, Dr. C.G. Jung, including claims that Jung was a charlatan and a self-appointed demi-god. It is claimed that this cult is alive and well in Jungian psychology today, which continues to masquerade as a genuine professional discipline, whilst selling false dreams of spiritual redemption. In his recent book Cult Fictions (Routledge, March 1998), leading Jung scholar Sonu Shamdasani presents the history of the movement's founding, from Jung's establishment of the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1916 to the reformations of his approach by his followers. It assesses the evidence for the cultic allegations, which it demonstrates to be fallacious. Cult Fictions presents a sober, accurate, and revealing account of the history of the Jungian movement and an agenda for the evaluation of analytical psychology today.
Sonu Shamdasani is a historian of psychology and a research fellow at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London. He is the editor of Jung's seminar The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga (Princeton/Routledge).