Senex and Puer: The old and the new within
with Jon Wilson
Senex and puer are Latin terms for “old man” and “youth,” and personify the poles of tradition, stasis, structure, and authority on one side, and immediacy, wandering, invention and idealism on the other. The senex consolidates, grounds and disciplines; the puer flashes with insight and thrives on fantasy and creativity. These diverging, conflicting tendencies are ultimately interdependent, forming two faces of the one configuration, each face never far from the other.
Why is it that some of the best old people you meet still seem to have youth in them? What does it mean to become an elder? Old people often seem to be discarded but have things to pass on to the youth? How do the young and the old contribute to society?
Jon says: “I like the idea of moving into a conversation about senex/puer, old man/youth, old woman/puella within our own lives. It is a rich and complicated topic. How do we get room for the old and the new in our own 'psyche'? How can I keep some of the adventurous free spirit of youth when my bones are starting to creak and my elbows hurt and I seem to be learning a lot about the limitations and constraints of Saturn?”
Jon Wilson lives in Fremantle in Western Australia. He is influenced by the work of Jung and Hillman, in particular. He writes prolifically, online, about Jungian subjects and has interviewed many and varied Jungian and philosophical thinkers in his Jung and the World Podcast over the years. A lover of dialogue, he is fascinated to hear the thoughts of those he interacts with, creating an opportunity for discussion during this presentation.