When Jung Was Far From Freud. Poem by Ananta Madhavan

On TV we sometimes hear a thought which echoes decades later,
Unbidden, unsought, unprompted by a different day's concerns.
Such was my recall of Laurens van der Post on Carl Jung in 1972.

Post was an Afrikaner, adventurous traveller, a 20th century hero,
Who fascinated readers with tales of native cultures and lives Asian;
Interpreting the mythic meanings of other worlds than yours or mine.

Once on a holiday, Laurens met the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung,
Who later worked with Sigmund Freud not too amicably, but each
Was sure that his own theories were best. Dreamers will differ.

In that TV talk which I now recall, Laurens related that Carl Jung,
In 1942 was asked by a journalist, "Doctor, do you believe in God? "
After hesitation, the Swiss replied: "I don't believe I know it."

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