Cryptomnesia

This updated edition features a modern, accessible translation designed to make Carl Jung's early scientific works—originally written for academic audiences—readable and engaging for contemporary readers. Complementing the translation is an illuminating Afterword by the translator, which delves into the philosophical foundations, historical context, and enduring relevance of Jung’s ideas. The Afterword not only clarifies this particular work for today’s audience but also situates it within the broader trajectory of Jung’s intellectual and clinical development. Enhanced by a detailed timeline of Jung’s life and works, along with other carefully curated supplementary materials, this edition provides rich context by embedding Jung’s theories within his personal, cultural, and historical environment. By removing dense academic references and adopting clear, straightforward language, this translation invites both newcomers and seasoned scholars to explore the origins of Jungian psychology with fresh insight and accessibility.

This was originally published in the journal "Die Zukunft" in 1905, pages 325-334. Some textual changes were made, including removing spurious graphs.

Here Jung lays the groundwork for what would become his theory of synchronicity. He explores in detail the concept of cryptomnesic recall, focusing in particular on what is known as the 'Speak of the Devil Syndrome'. This syndrome involves experiencing a sense of foreknowledge of an event that is about to occur, often triggered by the content of a dream. For example, when talking about a person, one may suddenly feel that they are about to meet that person, and indeed the person appears shortly afterwards. Jung refers to Jung's observations of such occurrences, suggesting that they come from dream memories. This is what Jung called 'waking prescience' is essentially a 'cryptomnesic memory' of a dream, suggesting that there is only one kind of prescience, firmly rooted in dreams.

Jung begins the article:

"For those of you who are psychologically trained and therefore familiar with the term 'consciousness', I should like to point out that I am not writing a scientific paper here and am using the term in its ordinary meaning. I am using the term 'consciousness' in its broadest sense to include everything that is momentarily or permanently represented or unrepresented in consciousness."

In his early 1902 On the Psychology and Pathology of so-called Occult Phenomena, he describes this French concept:

"Cryptomnesia refers to a memory image that emerges without being immediately recognized as such, possibly only becoming apparent through later recognition or abstract reasoning. These images do not bear the typical characteristics of memory images, as they are not connected to the relevant superconscious ego complex. Cryptomnesia is not an additional achievement in the true sense of the word. The conscious memory does not experience an increase in its function but merely an enrichment of its content. Automatism simply makes certain areas indirectly accessible to the conscious mind that were previously closed to it. The unconscious does not accomplish anything qualitatively or quantitatively beyond the abilities of the conscious mind. Cryptomnesia is therefore only an apparent additional performance, unlike hypermnesia, which represents an actual increase in function."