Rosenkreutz, he explores the ability of Freudian analysis to interpret it. Having conducted a detailed Freudian interpretation of the allegory Silberer then compares this method to the wider symbolic methods of alchemy, hermeticism, Rosicrucianism and other mystical traditions and texts such as Kundalini Yoga, the Bhagavad Gita and the writings of English mystic Jane Leade. Silberer's vision is syncretic, the range of his reading extraordinary as he unites the esoteric traditions of the world into the concept of introversion: the descent of the individual into the soul/psyche from which immense psychic and spiritual treasures can be drawn. The thesis of the book is that while Freudian analysis can provide certain insights it does not go far enough in interpreting the inner psychological and spiritual meanings of dreams, mental processes or creative output – a view which Jung also eventually took up, precipitating his own subsequent split with Freud. Silberer seeks to fuse Freudian ideas with mystical thought processes to create a 'Royal Art' which is, in effect, the spiritual transmutation of the soul as propounded in the different mystical traditions of the world. In a very real sense Problems Of Mysticism And Its Symbolism ceases at one point to be a purely scientific work of psychological study and becomes a work of mysticism in its own right (in the final chapter Silberer talks openly about 'the perfecting [of] mankind' being the aim of the Work). Selected publications Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts. Translated by Smith Ely Jelliffe (First edition: Moffat, Yard and Company, New York, 1917); Dover Publications, New York, 1971, . First published in German as Probleme der Mystik und ihrer Symbolik. Der Traum: Einführung in die Traumpsychologie. (Amsterdam, 1966). Viertausend Kilometer im Ballon. (Leipzig, 1903). Der Zufall und die Koboldstreiche des Unbewussten. (Bern and Leipzig, 1921). References External links Psychoanalysts from Vienna Hermeticists History of psychiatry Suicides by hanging in Austria 1882 births 1923 suicides