Michael Gellert

Michael Gellert is a Certified Jungian Analyst and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Los Angeles, CA, and a former Director of Training at the Jung Institute of Los Angeles. A two-time Nautilus Book Award winner, he is the author of six books that bridge Jungian depth psychology with mysticism, cultural identity, and spiritual traditions both Eastern and Western. His personal background as the son of Hungarian Holocaust survivors and his training in Zen with Koun Yamada in Japan deeply inform his work.

Gellert's website describes his passionate interest in 'the mysterious workings of the psyche' and how the unconscious affects human lives—both psychologically and spiritually, both as individuals and as nations. He believes that awakening to our inner forces is increasingly essential in modern times, with profound effects not only on personal well-being but on the broader world around us.

His most recent book, Legacy of Darkness and Light: Our Cultural Icons and Their God Complex, explores what he calls the 'Yahweh complex'—a distinct god complex modeled upon the attitudes, emotional style, and behaviors of the stormy God of the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on the experiences of figures such as Machiavelli, Abraham Lincoln, Martha Stewart, Vladimir Putin, and Mel Gibson, the book examines how this complex shapes relationships, culture, public affairs, international relations, and religion, aiming to help readers recognize and engage with it in a healthy and self-empowered way.