I developed a passionate interest in nurturing a better understanding of The Foundations of Jungian Psychology after discovering how incredibly helpful Dr. C. G. Jung's contributions have been to people searching for more meaning and purpose in their lives.  I started McKenzie Oaks Films as a way to help continue what Dr. Jung began when he agreed to participate in the making of the book Man and His Symbols back in the 1960’s. The authors of that book intended to make the fundamental concepts of Jung’s psychology accessible to the general reader, regardless of age or background. It is likewise my desire to offer another resource, both for students of Dr. Jung and for others who are just discovering his ideas and teachings. Through the use of informal discussions and teaching diagrams in our films, we have tried to simplify Jung’s ideas about the structure and function of the psyche so anyone can realize the impact which the invisible Archetypal Unconscious has on one’s Life Spirit Drama.

I selected an oak tree with its roots revealed and an acorn falling from its limbs as the logo for McKenzie Oaks Films for many reasons. All of the elements represented in the logo have symbolic significance. The tree itself symbolically represents the wholeness of the SELF as postulated by Jung.  Psychologically, the oak’s leafy abundance in summer represents the ego’s adaptation to the outer world and the more introverted aspects of the SELF are symbolically represented by the oak’s leafless gnarled branches in winter, the strength of its wood and its roots reaching deep in the ground of Mother Earth.  Also, the roots in the darkness below the ground represent the unconscious, while the parts of the tree exposed to the light of the sun represent conscious understanding.

The ancient Celts revered the oak as a protective, nurturing mother symbol and the Druids worshipped it as a sacred representation of the divine wisdom in the Archetype of the Great Mother and Great Father principles. Perhaps because of my Irish, Scotch, Welsh and English heritage, the symbol of the Oak Tree holds special significance for me.

The majestic oak has been both physically and symbolically important in my development.  I spent much of the first 25 years of my life on my family’s California desert ranch where I climbed in the branches and enjoyed the shade and shadows of the many great old oak trees there. For nearly the last half century of my life, John Jaqua and I have lived on McKenzie Oaks Ranch, north of Eugene, Oregon.  Here we raised our four children and have enjoyed the company of our eight grandchildren.  The ranch is bounded by the McKenzie River to the South and the forest covered Coburg Hills to the North. Between are open fields dotted with groves of lovely oaks.