The Buddhabrot - The Fractal Image That Unlocked Carl Jung’s Deepest Theory

A few months ago, a groundbreaking study was published that linked fractal geometry to Carl Jung's theories. I contacted Dr Harry Shirley, the author of the study, to record a podcast about his findings. The discovery has changed the way I see everything - art, myth, culture, emotions, people - it's all fractals. Numbers are the key to this riddle. Before Carl Jung died, he hypothesized the number was the link between mind and matter, because it is both quantitative to the material world AND symbolic to the psychological realm. Several decades after Carl Jung's death, mathematicians stumbled upon the Buddhabrot set, a beautiful fractal pattern. The shape formed is entirely numerical iteration, derived from a simple mathematical formula , but the image produced looks like a spirit being. Dr Harry Shirley has made an incredible connection, linking the Buddhabrot to Carl Jung's concepts of archetypes and depth psychology. We can see hints of this connection is meaningful art, alchemical images, ancient monuments and religious architecture. I have even been unknowingly summoning the Buddhabrot in my own artwork.

To view the study here https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/6te7w_v1

Publication here - https://brill.com/view/journals/ijjs/aop/article-10.1163-19409060-bja10049/article-10.1163-19409060-bja10049.xml

Carl Jung (1875–1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. He’s one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, especially when it comes to understanding the human mind, myth, spirituality, and the unconscious.

The Buddhabrot is a mathematical fractal—a stunning visual pattern generated by iterating a simple formula in the complex number plane. It’s related to the famous Mandelbrot set, but rendered in a way that produces an image that eerily resembles a glowing spiritual figure, like a seated Buddha, hence the name.

Dr Harry Shirley has a PhD in organic chemistry and research experience at University of Oxford. Now working as a consultant, he holds a personal passion for Jungian psychology and the interplay of psyche and matter.

Get in touch with Dr Harry Shirley on X - @HarryS1964455 Or email - thebuddhabrot@gmail.com Support Dr Harry Shirley on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/DrHarryShirley

Background music: Eternity by Stellardrone

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