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FAIRBANKS — For many, the question of life’s meaning is a pivotal one, but for Carl Gustav Jung, the renowned father of analytical psychology, the answer to that question was not so elusive.

“(Meaning comes) when people feel they are living the symbolic life, that they are actors in the divine drama,” Jung wrote in his memoir, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections.” For Jung, then, life’s meaning lies in a person’s willingness to be active in the drama that is life.

One husband-and-wife team have dedicated much of their adult lives to studying Jung’s philosophies and applying them to the modern world. Thomas and Jean Kirsch, who teach at Stanford University, will share their message at a free lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Davis Concert Hall.

Often known as Jungians, followers of Jung’s ideas, such as the Kirsches, believe the ideals developed through Jung’s research — the concept of individuation, introvert and extrovert personality traits, dream interpretation, the significance of dreams and the power of the unconscious — remain as relevant today as they did in the early 1900s, when Jung was developing his theories.

“We like to think we are rational beings all the time but we’re not. There is a non-rational element of the psyche that we need to be aware of,” Thomas said.

Thomas has pursued his study of Jungian theory for most of his life, having been turned on to the concepts when his parents did analysis with Jung himself in Zurich — his father in 1929 and his mother in 1935. He has held a private psychology practice in Palo Alto, Calif., since 1965 and, alongside his wife, Jean, made the study of Jungian theory a specialty, even serving as president of International Jungians.

For Jean, the appeal of Jungian thought is in the power of dreams and the subconscious.

“I was drawn into the creativity of the unconscious mind. The view that what we generate from inside of us is of value and that we should not dismiss it, our dreams and our goals, that is what attracted me,” she said.

Thomas said he liked the idea that the human psyche developed continually throughout life, as is advocated by Jung, and that “sex wasn’t everything,” as is considered by some psychology experts to be the approach taken by Jung’s one-time partner Sigmund Freud.

“I also liked that the spiritual side had its own impulses and character, and the importance placed on all the stages of life, that we change and develop all through life,” he said.

Jean will discuss why Jung has been important to her personally.

“I’m going to talk about why it is meaningful for me. What interested me was the creativity of the unconscious, the importance of dreams,” she said.

Thomas hopes to get people thinking about dreams more, not necessarily analyzing them but being open to the “level of experience open to them” by looking deeper into possible meanings.

“There is a spiritual nature to the psyche, a spiritual presence in all of us, and that is quite different from religion,” he said. “Religion is an organized, man-made entity. Spirituality is a dimension in all of us.”

The two would also like to dispel some common misconceptions regarding Jungian theory and its followers. A common thought is that Jungians are mystical, relying strongly on “mystical” concepts such as Taro readings.

“We are, for the most part, a pretty serious group. We are open to other disciplines like astrology and others, because that is part of the psychological experience,” she said.

Thomas said another misleading rumor is that Jung was an anti-semitic and a Nazi. Some rumors also claim he was a womanizer. Some Jungians are viewed as being promoters of such concepts, which he said is entirely false.

“If you were to do a word-association test and said, ‘Jung,’ often Freud and Nazi would come up as being associated with him, but hopefully we can let people knew there are other ways of looking at these issues,” he said.

What: Carl Jung: A Psychologist for the 21st Century, a lecture by Jean and Thomas Kirsch

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: UAF Davis Concert Hall

Admission: Free

Contact staff writer Erica Goff at 459-7523.