had the visions might have given pause for thought; for in such cases the Collective Unconscious is always at work. Incidentally, the Pope himself is rumoured to have had several visions of the Mother of God on the occasion of his declaration." This is imaginative writing on Jung's part who, in many of his works, displays more insight than some of the theologians.

Of course one would expect psychological experiences to reflect metaphysical and religious truths. But that is the point: the psychological experiences must be responses to spiritual revelations and declared dogmas, whereas generally Jung seems to write as if the experiences create and generate the religious truth itself. It looks as if Jung regards his Collective Unconscious as a synonym for God.

The danger is that our psychological experiences, conscious or unconscious, can be and frequently are in error: this is bound to be the case given our understanding of human imperfection and Original Sin. The safeguard is always correct dogma. Bluntly, God precedes our idea of God and it is He alone who can reveal to us the truth about his nature.

The Assumption is one of the loveliest of feasts. I end with a few lines I wrote about it.

"The fields are all rust after the spring rain,
And the sky descends heavily, compressing the light
In which only the early insects are at home,
Silent, moist, flickering towards nightfall.
Should not spring be Our Lady's season,
The Assumption of Mary
In April's bright showers
All that blue, rainbows and new lambs;
Sharp shadows rushing across the limestone?
In the courts of heaven it was put to Our Lady,
This matter of her Feast Day.
She said, "No, not that cold spring
With its bright nails,
Love lifted up against the cruel sky:
Give me Our Father's harvest ripening,
And grace descending in the August rain,
Even as I rise."


The Revd Dr Peter Mullen is the Rector of St Michael's, Cornhill, in the City of London. For further information, visit www.st-michaels.org.uk