Reflections On Money
Money expresses the degree of your ongoing personal growth, your maturing self and the wisdom gained on your path. This means that the relationship you have with money continues to change over time. Money links you to your physical reality and to how you use your time. It can fulfil your desires and is deeply linked to your survival needs. The kind of relationship you have with money can mirror how you live, think, feel and function in the world – who you are in the world.
The way you use money and relate to money might show you where your fears and anxieties lie, you might see how greed is constellated in you, or you might see your inner naiveté and dependency reflected in how you work with money. For some, scarcity and for others, generosity might feature. Some people use money to fulfil ego needs, others use it to control, while still others might experience a sense of superiority or entitlement if they have acquired wealth. Money can open doors and its lack can dash our hopes, plans and needs. No matter how wealthy you may be, money can also be intimately tied into your sense of self, which means that its lack or a set-back can lead to the loss of your sense of self and perhaps, lead on to depression.
George Kinder in his ‘Seven Stages of Money Maturity’ links money to the ascending levels of the Chakras. Starting with security which links into your fear of dis-empowerment, he moves onto your relational level which concerns your inner self and the outer “other” – the dynamic where your suffering, pain and shame around money are stored. From here, he maintains you move into a more adult approach where money can be linked to gathering knowledge about its use and where moral choices about money become possible. As we move onto the next levels, we are able to see the bigger picture, understanding the consequences of our use of money and becoming aware of it as the means towards personal transformation. Following on from this, you move to the level where you begin to take responsibility and bring meaning to how you relate to money.
Tibetans look at your relationship with money from the perspective that as you develop psychologically and spiritually, so your relationship with money develops.
Leslie Zimmermann is a Jungian Analyst trained in the philosophy and psychology of C.G. Jung in Zurich and is based in Johannesburg. She offers a range of services, which she integrates, to meet the needs and aspirations of people. In a word, her work is in the service of wholeness. Wholeness includes both our vulnerabilities and our strengths, becoming conscious of our own unique mix of these, honoring our own unique way of functioning and with this knowledge and confidence, contributing as only we each can in our own way, to this evolving world we find ourselves to be a part of.
Besides having a Diplomate qualification in Analytical psychology, which qualifies me to write about the theory and practice of dream interpretation, I also have an Honours degree in Applied Psychology and a Masters degree in Research psychology, which qualify me to write about theories of human development, personality, abnormal psychology, social psychology, sociology and ethics. Also, theories and knowledge pertaining to sleep and dreams from a perspective of neuropsychological and biological systems.
Leslie specializes in Analytical Psychology, Voice Dialogue, Life Coaching solutions for business executives. Consulting and coaching for family owned and home-based business
For an appointment Leslie Zimmermann can be contacted on:
Email: leslie.zimmermann@gmail.com
Mobile: +27 (0)83 384 9812
Member: SAPC (South African Psychoanalytic Confederation); AGAP (Association of Graduate Analytical Psychologists, Switzerland); SAAJA (Southern African Association of Jungian Analysts); IAAP (International Association for Analytical Psychology)