Open Lecture: “The Dark Side of the Serpent: Kundalini’s Modern Psychologisation”

Ideas about kundalini originated in medieval tantric and yogic texts, where it was portrayed as a goddess and a serpent and conceptualized as a subtle energy. While these texts did not recommend adopting a frivolous stance, kundalini was, for the most part, regarded as a beneficial force that could engender spiritual potential and ultimately lead to liberation. This stance changed drastically in the twentieth century. Against the backdrop of the anti-psychiatry movement and bolstered by theories from transpersonal psychologists, kundalini was increasingly interpreted in light of psycho-physical diseases, highlighting its potential for crisis. The initial step toward the psychologization of kundalini likely took place in a small seminar room in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1932, when the psychologist C.G. Jung (1875–961) held a seminar with the Indologist Jakob Wilhelm Hauer (1881–1962) on “Kundalini Yoga”. However, it was the writing(s) of an unknown Indian Pandit that popularized kundalini’s psychologisation: Gopi Krishna’s Kundalini: An Evolutionary Energy in Man (1967) – with comments by the psychologist James Hillman (1926–2011). Another notable figure in this process was the American author and seminar leader Christina Grof (1941–2014), who founded the Spiritual Emergency Network and offered innumerable courses for affected persons together with her husband Stan Grof (b. 1931) at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.

In this lecture, I will offer a comprehensive introduction to the historical roots and modern interpretations of kundalini, highlighting the process of its psychologisation and shedding light on some of the dark sides of the serpent kundalini.