About the Class
It was in The Gay Science (1882) that Nietzsche famously declared that God is dead!
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”, writes Nietzsche, before moving on to ask, “What sacred games shall we have to invent to atone for this sin?”
This question stirred the depths of the psyche, and the answer soon arrived in the form of an inspired piece of writing, Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883).
In Thus Spake Zarathustra, the old prophet returns with a new teaching. It is through Zarathustra that we first learn of the Übermensch, a future being to which we should all aspire. Zarathustra also introduces the greater Self – a deeper force that resides within each of us and directs our thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
At the time of writing, the rise of science had robbed the heavens of its deity. Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra now offered a new vision.
The Übermensch and the Greater Self would go on to underpin Adler’s psychology of striving to become and the Self-oriented psychology of Carl Jung. Jung’s concept of the individuation process can be directly traced back to Nietzsche’s vision of our continued evolution.
Despite Jung's efforts articulating Nietzsche's vision, it remains largely unappreciated and unintegrated.
In this session, we will explore critical passages of Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra, and follow its path through to a new worldview.