Puer Aeternus - The Psychology of Eternal Youth

The term puer aeternus is Latin for eternal boy. Carl Jung used the term in the exploration of the psychology of eternal youth and creative child within every person.

It is an archetype, and like all archetypes, has both a positive and a negative side. It can bring the energy, beauty and creativity of childhood into adult life, or thwart self-realisation and doom us to both unrealistic adolescent fantasies and experiencing life as a prison.

The puer tries to go as high as possible away from reality, ending up like Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, who lives in Neverland, a place where people cease to age and are eternally young. The puer aeternus is also known as the Peter Pan syndrome. This has become an increasingly common problem in our modern age.

Those who find themselves unable to commit to work, to form satisfactory relationships, to commit to the discipline of education, to carry the weight of responsibility, or who feel that their life has become meaningless, will find the integration of the archetype of eternal youth invaluable in their life.

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
https://amzn.to/3EuWMiW
▶ Puer Aeternus: A Psychological Study of the Adult Struggle With the Paradise of Childhood - Marie-Louise von Franz
https://amzn.to/3CnSAyK
▶ Now or Neverland: Peter Pan and the Myth of Eternal Youth : A Psychological Perspective on a Cultura - Ann Yeoman
https://amzn.to/3MiAN0w

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🎶 Music used

1. Smoother Move – Kevin MacLeod
2. Cryptic Sorrow – Kevin MacLeod
3. Mysterious Ambient Background Music – The Rake – CO.AG. Music
4. Trio for Piano Cello and Clarinet – Kevin MacLeod
5. Midsommar – Scott Buckley
6. Promising Relationship – Kevin MacLeod
7. Relent – Kevin MacLeod
8. Evening Fall Harp – Kevin MacLeod
9. Charms – Train – Sergey Cheremisinov
10. Charms – Waves – Sergey Cheremisinov

Support the artists:

CO.AG Music
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA

Sergey Cheremisinov - https://www.s-cheremisinov.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/SergeyCheremisinov

Scott Buckley - https://www.scottbuckley.com.au
https://www.youtube.com/c/ScottBuckley

Kevin MacLeod - https://incompetech.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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📝 Sources

- Puer Aeternus: A Psychological Study of the Adult Struggle with the Paradise of Childhood by Marie Louise von Franz
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung
- Now or Neverland: Peter Pan and the Myth of Eternal Youth by Ann Yeoman
- Jung on the Provisional Lifehttps://jungiancenter.org/jung-on-the-provisional-life/#_ftn2
- Senex Play and Puer Play: A Jungian Interpretation of the Varieties of Recreation https://jungiancenter.org/senex-play-and-puer-play-a-jungian-interpretation-of-the-varieties-of-recreation/#_ftn23
- Marie Louise von Franz's Puer Aeturnus: Lectures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHX0CN3C0gE&list=LL&index
- Episode 125 – The Provisional Life: Redeeming the Real https://thisjungianlife.com/episode-125-the-provisional-life-redeeming-the-real/
- Episode 072 - Puer – Puella: Trapped in the Inner Child https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWVTqvlC1lg&list=LL&index=15&t- An
- Answer to the Question: "Why does the Puer Aeternus need to Work?" https://www.reddit.com/r/Jung/comments/su8boz/an_answer_to_the_question_why_does_the_puer/

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⌛ Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
2:36 Adult Struggle with the Paradise of Childhood
15:08 Senex and Puer
16:55 The Role of Play in Jung’s Life
19:24 The Puer Aeternus and The Little Prince
26:16 Integration of Puer Aeternus

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#eternalyouth #psychology #jung