To Darkness . . .
JUNGIAN INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ZURICH FOUNDATION
presents
Civilization in Transition 9
To Darkness . . .
November 5–9, 2025
Hotel Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Jungian International Training Zurich (JITZ) invites you to Civilization in Transition (CIT) 9, an interdisciplinary, experiential, and community-focused conference being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from November 5 to 9, 2025. Our 2025 conference theme is “To Darkness . . .” from a Jungian perspective.
Click the To GENERAL INFORMATION button below for details about the location, how to register, how to book a room, and suggested excursions. Click the To PROGRAM button for descriptions of conference seminars, panels, workshops, practices, and presenters.
THE THEME
For the darkness has its own peculiar intellect and its own logic, which should be taken very seriously. Only the ‘light which the darkness comprehendeth not’ can illuminate the darkness. Everything that the darkness thinks, grasps, and comprehends by itself is dark; therefore it is illuminated only by what, to it, is unexpected, unwanted, and incomprehensible.
— C.G. Jung, Mysterium Coniuntionis par. 345
We live in times of profound uncertainty and increasing chaos. Many feel that darkness is descending on our present civilization. Alchemically speaking, darkness can represent the first phase of transformation—the nigredo—potentially marking the beginning of a magnum opus or great work. It is a phase when “things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” (W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”).
Alchemy, according to C.G. Jung, can be understood as an inner psychological process projected onto outer situations. Actively engaging with darkness—unconsciousness, otherness, the shadow—transforms us, and in so doing, we transform the world. How can we meet and work with the mad, chaotic, and destructive parts of life? Existing at the edge of what is already known, such nigredo experiences represent boundary phenomena, intruding upon and disrupting any sense of containment. Yet, these states of unraveling belong to the human condition (hence, familiar to all of us) and are crucial to change and regeneration (cf. N. Schwartz-Salant, The Mystery of Human Relationship p. 37).
The way forward includes sacred work. It is a process requiring curiosity about and engagement with the dark situations at hand. Only then can something illuminating and “incomprehensible” to darkness emerge.
A Responsible Conference
We, the wealthiest 10% of the world’s population, are responsible for some 50% of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions and impacts due to human activity that are heating the planet at a rate of four Hiroshima atomic bombs per second. Since the industrial revolution we have been adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere much faster than they can be removed through natural processes. Our leaders are failing us, so it is up to each of us to do what we can to avert, or at least ameliorate, this crisis.
Fortunately, we know what to do—minimize our demand for goods and services and negate the impact of what remains by investing in projects that commensurately reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere, a measure often called “carbon offsetting”. To bear active witness to the conference theme, we therefore aim to make this a “carbon-neutral” conference.
We have therefore estimated the emissions associated with conference presenter and participant travel, hotel energy use, and food production, and will invest in carbon offset projects in less developed countries via myclimate, which has been carefully chosen by ISAP and its parent body, AGAP for their own offsets. The rationale for this is scientific and economic—it makes no physical difference where offsets are implemented, and this achieves the maximum reductions per dollar invested. To this end, $25 has been incorporated into your registration fee. In this way, each of us can play an active and responsible part in fighting climate disruption.
About the
JUNGIAN INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ZURICH FOUNDATION
The annual Civilization in Transition conference is sponsored by the Jungian International Training Zurich (JITZ) Foundation. Conference proceeds support the International School of Analytical Psychology (ISAP) in Zurich. ISAP offers the world’s only full-time residential in-person training program in Jungian Psychology.
Jungian International Training Zurich is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Board members are Deborah Egger, Chair; Ursula Ulmer, Co-chair; Robert Zieserl, Treasurer; and Carol Brandt, Secretary.
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