People

Professor Roderick Main

Professor
Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Professor Roderick Main
  • Email

  • Telephone

    +44 (0) 1206 874842

  • Location

    5A.207, Colchester Campus

  • Academic support hours

    Mondays 2 - 3 pm Tuesdays 12 - 1 pm Otherwise by appointment; please email

Profile

Biography

I have a BA and MA in Classics from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Religious Studies from Lancaster University. I joined the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex (formerly the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies) as a visiting research fellow in 1997 and was appointed as a lecturer in 2000. I have had many roles in the department, including Course Director for the MA Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies between 2002 and 2009 and Director (i.e., Head of Department) between 2008 and 2012. I am currently Deputy Head of Department as well as Director of the Centre for Myth Studies. From 2014 to 2016 I was seconded to a University role as Deputy Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Social Sciences. My teaching and research mainly focus on the work of Carl Gustav Jung, especially in relation to religion, mythology, literature, and society. My publications have engaged in particular with Jung’s concept of synchronicity. From 2016 to 2018 I was the Principal Investigator on an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project titled ‘“One World”: logical and ethical implications of holism’, which resulted in two books (co-edited with Christian McMillan and David Henderson): Holism: Possibilities and Problems (Routledge, 2020) and Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole (Routledge, 2021). I was invited to deliver the 2021 Zurich Lecture Series in Analytical Psychology at the International School of Analytical Psychology, Zurich, which resulted in my latest book, Breaking the Spell of Disenchantment: Mystery, Meaning, and Metaphysics in the Work of C. G. Jung (Chiron Publications, 2022). I welcome applications for doctoral study in the following areas: Historical, philosophical, religious, and cultural contexts of the work of C. G. Jung; Depth psychology (especially Jungian psychology), religion, and modernity; Analytical psychology and society; Synchronicity; Myth; Western esotericism; Holism I am currently supervising the following PhD students: Reginald Ajuonuma, 'Archetypes as emplotment: A narrative approach to Jungian psychology' Jingchao Zeng, 'A practice of esotericism or psychology: Adaptations of Jungian ideas to divinatory techniques' Antje Barber, 'A new perspective on Erich Neumann's contribution to the concept of the transpersonal through examination of his own works on Hasidism' Yunlan Fang, 'Jung and Tao: A comparative analysis of analytical psychology and Taoism regarding major concepts' Sulagna Sengupta, 'The narrative myth of the Ramayana: The anima in individuation' Rohan Naidoo, 'The problem of identity in Buddhist modernism: What contribution can analytical psychology make to this area?' Robert Langan, ‘Jung and Spinoza: Search for the blessed self’ Yichi Zhang, ‘Bion, Buddhism, and Chinese culture’ (co-supervised with Professor Matt ffytche) Naoko Nakamura, 'Japanese mentality: Subjectivity, consciousness, and ego-self relationships' Luis Moris, 'Post-mortal phenomena, C. G. Jung, and his psychology' I have supervised the following successful doctoral theses: Stefano Carpani, 'Absolute freedom. The I+I (individuation + individualization) as a metanarrative of self-development in a second-late-modern society' (2023, PhD; completed supervision begun by Professor Andrew Samuels) John Boyle, ''Before and after science: Esoteric traces in the formation of psychoanalysis' (2023, PhD) Stephen Claffey, 'Psychological surrender: A phenomenological study interpreted from an analytical psychology perspective' (2022, PhD) Adriana Giotta, 'Clinical, cultural, and personal dimensions of fashion modelling as a basis for phenomenological and depth psychological exploration of femininity in Western societies' (2021, PhD; completed supervision begun by Professor Andrew Samuels) Huseyin Firat, 'A comparative study of Jungian psychology and Sufism' (2020, PhD) Mark Saban, ‘“Two souls, alas…”: Jung’s two personalities and the making of analytical psychology’ (2019, PhD; co-supervised with Professor Matt ffytche) Henriette Heide-Jorgensen, 'Religion and transformation' (2019, PhD) Orsolya Lukacs, ‘C. G. Jung and Albert Einstein: From the physical to the psychical relativity of space and time’ (2018, PhD; co-supervised with Dr Kevin Lu) Xiao You, 'Archetype and archetypal image in Chinese myths, legends, and tales' (2018, PhD) Steve Myers, 'Mythology for Christians: Dreaming onwards the Christian myth' (2017, PhD) Valeria Cespedes Musso, 'Marian apparitions in cultural contexts: Applying Jungian depth psychological concepts to mass visions of the Virgin Mary' (2017, PhD) Giovanni Colacicchi, 'Jung and ethics: A conceptual exploration' (2016, PhD) Patrick Schotanus, 'The archetypal market hypothesis: A complex psychology perspective on the market's mind' (2016, PhD; co-supervised with Professor Andrew Wood, Essex Business School) Ann Addison, ‘A study of transference phenomena in the light of Jung’s psychoid concept’ (2016, PhD; completed supervision begun by Professor Karl Figlio) Christian McMillan, 'The image of thought in Jung's Whole-Self: A critique' (co-supervised with Dr Matt ffytche) (2015, PhD) Christina Sjostrum, 'Searches for s/Self: Personal and spiritual transformation in Jung's psychology and holistic spirituality' (2015, PhD) Teodora Velletri, 'Mircea Eliade and C. G. Jung: A comparative study' (2015, PhD) Marcel van den Akker, '"To be full of things is to be empty of God": Renunciation in Catholicism and analytical psychology' (2013, PhD) Mathew Mather, 'The alchemical Mercurius: Esoteric symbol of Jung's life and works' (2013, PhD) David Henderson, 'Apophatic elements in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis: Pseudo-Dionysius and C. G. Jung' (2012, PhD; external supervisor for Goldsmiths College, University of London) Kevin Lu, 'Jung and history' (2011, PhD) Christine Driver, 'The Holy Mother and the shadow of death: The psychological impact of conflated shadows and Catholicism' (2009, D. An. Psych.) Lloyd Keane, 'Routes of wholeness: Jung and the western esoteric tree of life' (2006, PhD) Trudy Bendayan, 'Ecce mulier: Nietzsche and the eternal feminine -- an analytical psychological perspective' (2005, PhD) Lucy Huskinson, 'Nietzsche and Jung: The whole self in the union of opposites' (2002, PhD; co-supervised with Professor Simon Critchley)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Historical, philosophical, religious and cultural contexts of the work of C G Jung

Open to supervise

Depth psychology (especially Jungian psychology), religion and modernity

Open to supervise

Analytical psychology and society

Open to supervise

Synchronicity

Open to supervise

Myth

Open to supervise

Conferences and presentations

Experiencing, Interpreting, and Explaining synchronicity: some suggestions for future research

Invited presentation, Galileo Commission Summit: Synchronicity and the Nature of Consciousness, Scientific and Medical Network and Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences, 28/10/2023

Breaking the spell of disenchantment: Mystery, meaning, and metaphysics in the work of C. G. Jung

Invited presentation, Netherlands Association for Analytical Psychology, Embassy of the Free Mind, Amsterdam, Netherlands [Online], 29/9/2023

The hermeneutics of exceptional experiences

Invited presentation, Pari Dialogue on ‘Edges of Consciousness’, Pari, Italy, 8/6/2023

A guided (magical mystery) tour of Jung’s “Synchronicity: An acausal connecting principle”

Invited presentation, Inaugural Conference on Jungian Psychology, West Suffolk College, 26/4/2023

Holism, synchronicity, and meaning

Invited presentation, The Jungian Mystery School, Centre for Applied Jungian Studies, South Africa, 15/4/2023

Jung's pagan unconscious

Invited presentation, Leaping Hare Pagan Federation Convention, Colchester, 25/3/2023

The cultural significance for Jung of the concept of the unus mundus

Invited presentation, The Unus Mundus, The Jungian Mystery School, Centre for Applied Jungian Studies [online], South Africa, 10/9/2022

Pauli's dreams

Invited presentation, Netherlands Association for Analytical Psychology [online], Amsterdam, Netherlands, 24/6/2022

Breaking the spell of disenchantment: the countermagic of individuation

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Thiasos [online], Rio de Janeiro,, Brazil, 29/4/2022

Jung, Weber, and the unio mystica

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Psychosocial Wednesdays, United Kingdom, 15/12/2021

The importance of myth for C. G. Jung

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Mythos: Myth and Metamorphosis [Online lecture series], South Africa, 9/10/2021

The undoing of disenchantment: mystery, meaning, and metaphysics in the work of C. G. Jung

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, 2021 Zurich Lecture Series [4 lectures, 1-2 October 2021], Zurich, Switzerland, 1/10/2021

Synchronicity and mystical experience

Invited presentation, The Jungian Mystery School [Online lecture series], South Africa, 10/7/2021

“This cannot be described; it is far too wonderful”: Jung’s 1944 near-death experience and mystical visions

Invited presentation, Accessing the Ineffable: Depth Psychology, Religious Experience, and the Further Reaches of Consciousness [Online conference], Carpinteria, United States, 19/6/2021

Mundane and mystical: a panentheistic perspective on C. G. Jung’s late thoughts about consciousness, ego, and the self

Invited presentation, 'What is Consciousness?' [Online lecture series], Pari Center for New Learning, Pari, Italy, 13/6/2021

Poetry, the I Ching, and synchronicity: Reflections on Richard Berengarten’s Changing

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Psychreative, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 15/5/2021

Jung in a secular age

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, São Paulo, Brazil, 26/3/2021

Numinous matter: synchronicity and the re-animation of the physical world

Invited presentation, ‘Synchronicity, Mind, and Matter’ [Online lecture series], Pari Center for New Learning, Pari, Italy, 20/2/2021

Teaching and supervision

Current teaching responsibilities

  • Popular Film, Literature and Television: A Psychosocial Approach (PA108)

  • Dream, Myth, and Magic (PA241)

  • Current Debates in Psychosocial Studies (PA407)

  • Key Texts of C G Jung (PA971)

  • Jung in Contexts: Historical, Philosophical, Cultural (PA972)

  • Key Concepts in Jungian and Post-Jungian Analytical Psychology (PA973)

  • Selected Applications of Analytical Psychology (PA974)

  • Research Methods and Dissertation (PA981)

Current supervision

Previous supervision

Sofie Margareta Qwarnstroem
Sofie Margareta Qwarnstroem
Thesis title: “… Into Something Rich and Strange”: The Inferior Function and Variants of One-Sidedness in Shakespeare’S Plays
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 12/8/2024
Robert Harrison Langan
Robert Harrison Langan
Thesis title: Jung & Spinoza: Passage Through the Blessed Self
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 30/1/2024
Stefano Carpani
Stefano Carpani
Thesis title: Absolute Freedom. the I+I (Individuation + Individualization) as a Metanarrative of Self-Development in a Second-Late-Modern Society.
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 11/4/2023
John Boyle
John Boyle
Thesis title: ‘Before and After Science’: Esoteric Traces in the Formation of Psychoanalysis
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 16/3/2023
Stephen Patrick Claffey
Stephen Patrick Claffey
Thesis title: Psychological Surrender: A Phenomenological Study Interpreted From an Analytical Psychology Perspective
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 9/8/2022
Adriana Giotta
Adriana Giotta
Thesis title: Clinical, Cultural and Personal Dimensions of Fashion Modelling as a Basis for Phenomenological and Depth Psychological Exploration of Femininity in Western Societies.
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 17/5/2021
Huseyin Firat
Huseyin Firat
Thesis title: A Comparative Study of Jungian Psychology and Sufism
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 1/4/2020
Mark Saban
Mark Saban
Thesis title: 'two Souls, Alas...': Jung's Two Personalities and the Making of Analytical Psychology
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 10/2/2020
Henriette Helene Heide-Jorgensen
Henriette Helene Heide-Jorgensen
Thesis title: Revisiting Jung's Psychology of Religion in Light of the Relational Turn and the Resurgence of Religion in Organised Forms
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 15/5/2019
Xiao You
Xiao You
Thesis title: Archetype and Archetypal Images in Chinese Myths, Legends and Tales
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 30/11/2018
Orsolya Lukacs
Orsolya Lukacs
Thesis title: C. G. Jung and Albert Einstein: From the Physical to the Psychical Relativity of Space and Time
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 5/6/2018
Stephen Philip Myers
Stephen Philip Myers
Thesis title: Mythology for Christians: An Investigation and Empirical Test of C.G. Jung's Proposal That Protestant Theologians and Adherents Should Think of God as a Mythologem
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 13/7/2017
Valeria Cespedes Musso
Valeria Cespedes Musso
Thesis title: Marian Apparitions in Cultural Contexts: Applying Jungian Depth Psychological Concepts to Mass Visions of the Virgin Mary
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 3/7/2017
Giovanni Colacicchi
Giovanni Colacicchi
Thesis title: Jung and Ethics: A Conceptual Exploration.
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 8/6/2016
Patrick Richard Schotanus
Patrick Richard Schotanus
Thesis title: The Archetypal Market Hypothesis: A Complex Psychology Perspective on the Market's Mind
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 6/5/2016
Charlotte Christina Sjostrom
Charlotte Christina Sjostrom
Thesis title: Searches for S/Self: Personal and Spiritual Transformation in Jung's Psychology and Holistic Spirituality
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 19/6/2015
Karl Hans Christian Mcmillan
Karl Hans Christian Mcmillan
Thesis title: The 'Image of Thought' in Jung's 'Whole-Self': A Critical Study
Degree subject: Psychoanalytic Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 21/5/2015

Publications

Journal articles (15)

Main, R., (2023). Jung Among the Physicists: A Review Essay of Dual‐Aspect Monism and the Deep Structure of Meaning. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 68 (3), 534-547

Main, R., (2019). Synchronicity and holism. Revue de Psychologie Analytique. Hors série, 59-74

Main, RM., (2017). Panentheism and the undoing of disenchantment. Zygon. 52 (4), 1098-1122

Main, RM., (2017). Myth, synchronicity and re-enchantment. Jaarboek van de C. G. Jung Vereniging Nederland & Interdisciplinaire Vereniging voor Analytische Psychologie. 32, 87-107

Main, RM., (2016). Review of R. Jones (ed.), Jung and the Question of Science

Main, RM., (2015). Theorizing rogue phenomena. Mind and Matter. 13 (2), 249-256

Main, RM., (2015). Review of Jean Kirsch and Murray Stein (eds.), How and Why We Still Read Jung: Personal and Professional Reflections

Main, R., (2014). The cultural significance of synchronicity for Jung and Pauli. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 59 (2), 174-180

Main, R., (2013). In a secular age: Weber, Taylor, Jung. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. 18 (3), 277-294

Main, R., (2013). Secular and religious: the intrinsic doubleness of analytical psychology and the hegemony of naturalism in the social sciences.. The Journal of analytical psychology. 58 (3), 366-386

Huskinson, L., Hockley, L., Main, R. and Burnett, L., (2012). Editors' introduction. International Journal of Jungian Studies. 4 (2), 85-86

Main, R., (2011). Synchronicity and the limits of re-enchantment. International Journal of Jungian Studies. 3 (2), 144-158

Main, R., (2010). Jung's uncertain separation of psychology from philosophy: a response to Segal. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 55 (3), 385-388

Main, R., (2008). Psychology of Religion: An Overview of its History and Current Status. Religion Compass. 2 (4), 708-733

Main, R., (2008). Secularisation and the Holistic Milieu: Social and Psychological Perspectives. Religion Compass. 2 (3), 365-384

Books (4)

Main, R., (2022). Breaking The Spell Of Disenchantment Mystery, Meaning, And Metaphysics In The Work Of C. G. Jung [ZLS Edition]. Chiron Publications. 1685030815. 9781685030810

Main, R., Henderson, D. and McMillan, C., (2021). Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole. Routledge. 036742875X. 9780367428754

McMillan, C., Main, R. and Henderson, D., (2019). Holism: Possibilities and Problems. Routledge. 9780367424817

Burnett, L., Bahun, S. and Main, R., (2013). Myth, Literature, and the Unconscious. Karnac books. 978 1 78220 002 4

Book chapters (17)

Main, R., (2022). Poetry, the I Ching, and synchronicity: Reflections on Richard Berengarten's Changing. In: The Book of Changing. Editors: Nicolaou, P., Smith, R. and Shangzhen, C., . Shearsman Books

Main, R., (2022). Individuation as Re-enchantment. In: Individuation Psychology: Essays in Honor of Murray Stein. Editors: Buser, S. and Cruz, L., . Chiron Publications. 45- 62. 978-1-68503-080-3

Main, R., (2021). Psychology of Religion. In: The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (second edition). Editors: Segal, RA. and Roubekas, NP., . Blackwell. 9780470656563

Main, R., McMIllan, C. and Henderson, D., (2021). Introduction. In: Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole. Editors: Main, R., McMillan, C. and Henderson, D., . Routledge. 1- 19. 9780367428754

Main, R., (2021). Mystical experience and the scope of C. G. Jung's holism. In: Consciousness Unbound: Liberating Mind from the Tyranny of Materialism. Editors: Kelly, E. and Marshall, P., . Rowman & Littlefield. 139- 174. 978-1-5381-3942-4

Main, R., (2021). The ethical ambivalence of holism: An exploration through the thought of Carl Jung and Gilles Deleuze. In: Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole. Editors: Main, R., McMillan, C. and Henderson, D., . Routledge. 20- 50. 9780367428754

Main, R., McMillan, C. and Henderson, D., (2020). Introduction. In: Holism: Possibilities and Problems. Editors: McMillan, C., Main, R. and Henderson, D., . Routledge. 1- 14. 978-0-367-42482-4

Main, R., (2020). Myth, synchronicity, and the physical world. In: Explaining, Interpreting, and Theorizing Religion and Myth: Contributions in Honor of Robert A. Segal. Editors: Ryba, T. and Roubekas, N., . Brill. 248- 262. 978-90-04-43501-8

Main, RM., (2019). In a secular age: Weber, Taylor, Jung. In: Contemporary Influences of C. G. Jung's Thought. Editors: Blocian, I. and Kuzmicki, A., . Brill. 169- 192

Main, R., (2018). Research on synchronicity: status and prospects. In: Research in Analytical Psychology: Applications from Scientific, Historical, and Cross-Cultural Research. Editors: Cambray, J. and Sawin, L., . Routledge. 135- 156. 978-1138213265

Main, R., (2015). Archetypes. In: Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, Volume 1. Editors: Segal, RA. and von Stuckrad, K., . Brill. 116- 120. 9789004290433

Main, R., (2015). Psychology and the occult: dialectics of disenchantment and re-enchantment in the modern self. In: The Occult World. Editors: Partridge, C., . Routledge. 0-415-69596-1. 978-0-415-69596-1

Main, R., (2015). Psychology of Religion. In: Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, Volume 3. Editors: Segal, RA. and von Stuckrad, K., . Brill. 161- 166. 9789004290433

Main, R., (2014). The Cultural Significance of Synchronicity for Jung and Pauli. In: Copenhagen 2013 100 Years On: Origins, Innovations and Controversies Proceedings of the 19th Congress of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. Editors: Kiehl, E., . Daimon Publishers. 158- 164. 978-3-85630-755-4

Main, R., (2014). Foreword - The Alchemical Mercurius: Esoteric Symbol of Jung's Life and Works. In: The Alchemical Mercurius: Esoteric Symbol of Jung?s Life and Works. Editors: Mather, M., . Routledge Mental Health - Taylor & Francis Group. x- xii. 978-0-415-70525-7

Main, R., (2014). Synchronicity and the problem of meaning in science. In: The Pauli-Jung Conjecture and its Impact Today. Editors: Atmanspacher, H. and Fuchs, C., . Imprint Academic. 978-1845406684

Main, R., (2013). Myth, synchronicity, and re-enchantment. In: Myth, Literature, and the Unconscious. Editors: Burnett, L., Bahun, S. and Main, R., . Karnac books. 978 1 78220 002 4

Grants and funding

2016

One World': Logical and ethical implications of holism

Arts And Humanities Research Council

Contact

rmain@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 874842

Location:

5A.207, Colchester Campus

Academic support hours:

Mondays 2 - 3 pm Tuesdays 12 - 1 pm Otherwise by appointment; please email