Ean Cochrane Macinnes Begg (1929 – 1 October 2018) was a Jungian analyst, writer, translator and broadcaster.

Career

After obtaining a Modern Languages degree from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and a spell as an officer in the British army, followed by an assortment of occupations, such as a wine merchant, headmaster and Dominican friar, Begg developed interests in comparative religion,

Gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where ...

and

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. He went on to train as an analytical psychologist at the

C.G. Jung Institute CG, Cg or cg may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Chaotic Good, an alignment in the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' * Classical guitar, a type of guitar Businesses and organizations Businesses *Central of Georgia Railway, between M ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. His dissertation was on ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

''. On his return to England in the 1970s, he joined the Association of Jungian Analysts (AJA). However, when in 1982 he was elected chairman of the organisation,

Gerhard Adler Gerhard Adler (14 April 1904 – 23 December 1988) was a major figure in the world of analytical psychology, known for his translation into English from the original German and editorial work on the '' Collected Works'' of Carl Gustav Jung. He als ...

, one of its founders, objected so strongly that a split developed and Ean Begg with a number of colleagues left AJA and went on to form a new group. It was called the Independent Group of Analytical Psychologists (IGAP) which became home to Zürich

analytical psychology Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their ...

graduates in the United Kingdom. Ean Begg was an esotericist. He had a private practice in South London and was a frequent lecturer until his death in 2018. Schwarze Madonna von Einsiedeln 10

A near-fatal car crash in Switzerland led Begg to ponder his survival which he attributed to the nearby presence of the shrine of the Einsiedeln Madonna. It led to his study of the phenomenon of the "black madonna" which he published in 1985 and was translated into other languages and appeared in several subsequent editions. Among Ean Begg's publications are: * “Myth and Today’s Consciousness”. * “The Cult of the Black Virgin” * “On the Trail of Merlin” * “In Search of the Holy Grail and the Precious Blood”, co-authored with his second wife, Deike. As a broadcaster, Begg compiled and presented and the

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

programme on C. G. Jung on the centenary of his birth. He subsequently edited and presented the 6-part

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and d ...

TV series ''Is There Something After Death?''. Among Begg's other documentaries are: * ''The Light of Experience Revisited'', 1984 * ''Gambling with Hope'', 1988 * ''Letting Go'', 1988 Begg at the British Film Institute
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References

External links

The Guild of Pastoral Psychology

video "The (terrible) Secret of the Black Virgin" with Ean Begg, produced by Jean Donohue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begg, Ean 1929 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford BBC television presenters Scottish writers Jungian psychologists 20th-century psychologists Positive psychologists Western esotericism scholars