Introduction to Carl Jung Individuation, the Persona, the Shadow and the Self
becoming a single, homogeneous being
the individuation process.
the collective unconscious is composed of
instincts and archetypes
which are common to all human beings.
Archetypes
can be viewed as evolved cognitive structures which
influence emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
 |
most suffer from imbalances where some parts of their personality suffer from
inflation, or over-expression
in consciousness, while other parts suffer from
deflation or underdevelopment
whereby they lack
proper expression in consciousness.
Imbalances:
neuroses and a lack of vitality in life.
process occurs spontaneously if unimpeded as contents of the unconscious naturally strive for outward expression in the world,
Jung put it:“Everything in the
unconscious seeks
outward manifestation”.
How to promote such integration when it does not occur naturally was a question...
...he arrived at the idea that dreams provide the greatest opportunity to access the unconscious.
 |
| 🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎷🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎺🎶🎵🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶📯🎶🎵🎶🎻🎵🎶 |
They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth...
...to give us back an attitude that accords with our basic human nature
when our consciousness has strayed too far from its foundations and run into an impasse.” (The Collected Works of C.G. Jung: Volume 10, Carl Jung)
the therapeutic effects of
dream analysis...
persona
🥝persona represents the social mask
🥝represents the personality that we try to portray to others.
over-identify with their persona...compromise between the individual and society as to what a man should appear to be
In a certain sense all this is real,
yet in relation to the essential individuality of the person concerned
it is only a secondary reality, a product of compromise, in making which others often have a greater share than he.
🥝two-dimensional reality
🥝over-identify with their “social mask”
🥝only a small component of a much larger personality
mining the unconscious
contents manifested by the archetypes
The first stage
an encounter with one’s shadow archetype
certain personality traits elicit negative feedback and even punishment from others. This negative feedback creates anxiety resulting in these traits being pushed away from awareness into the unconscious where they form the shadow – the “dark” side of one’s personality.
integrate the shadow
failure to do so can create chaos in one’s life.
shadow influences emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, in a manner which is beyond conscious control.
expression
projections
instead of seeing the disagreeable elements of the shadow as residing within ourselves we project these traits onto to others.
"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is...
If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. . .But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.” (The Essential Jung, Carl Jung and Anthony Storr)
shadow
not only composed of negative traits...
in the process of over-identifying with the persona often people reject personality traits not because they are harmful, but because they don’t fit with the dominant social attitudes of the day.
integrating
one is also exposed to positive traits and creative energies that can bring about a renewed sense of vitality to life.
The Shadow... source of renewal
an impasse, and sterile time in our lives. . .we must look to the dark, hitherto unacceptable side which has been at our conscious disposal.” (Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature)
contra-sexual archetype
anima in males and the animus in females.
the persona is oriented outward, acting as a barrier protecting the ego from the external social world,
anima/animus is oriented inward, protecting the ego from the sometimes threatening and overwhelming contents which emerge from the dark inner depths of the unconscious:
The animus and the anima should function as a bridge, or a door, leading to the images of the collective unconscious, as the persona should be a sort of bridge into the world.” (Carl Jung)
encounter
in dreams or visions
member of the opposite gender
Such a figure often arises during times of severe psychic disorientation, offering guidance as to how to remove any psychological barricades hindering the natural progression of the individuation process
Encountering such an archetype can therefore signify the coming of a deeply meaningful period in one’s life, defined by significant psychological transformations:
“The meeting with the anima/us represents a connection to the unconscious even deeper than that of the shadow.
In the case of the shadow, it is a meeting with the disdained and rejected pieces of the total psyche, the inferior and unwanted qualities.
In the meeting with the anima/us, it is a contact with levels of the psyche which has the potential to lead into the deepest and highest…reaches that the ego can attain.” (Jung’s Map of the Soul, Murray Stein)
Proper expression of the Self is the goal of the individuation process.
archetype of wholeness
“. . . the self is our life’s goal, for it is the completest expression of that fateful combination we call individuality. . .” (Carl Jung)
the Self is the central archetype of the entire psyche.
oriented toward a union of the conscious and unconscious realms.
“the more numerous and more significant the
unconscious contents which are assimilated to the ego,
the approximation of the ego to the Self, even though this approximation must be a never-ending process.”(Carl Jung)
As one increasingly identifies with the self they will notice a greater sense of harmony both within themselves and with the world as a whole. In fact, Jung saw connection with the self as so important that at various times he described it as “a treasure that would make [one] independent” and a “link to the infinite”.
the universality of symbols such as the quaternity and mandala,
“occur not only in the dreams of modern people who have never heard of them, but are widely disseminated in the historical records of many peoples and many epochs.”
A mandala”, said Jung “is the psychological expression of the totality of the self.”
Mandalas, and other “symbols of order”, Jung believed to be compensatory symbols of wholeness which are manifested by the Self in times of crisis.
individuation process
which culminates in an identification with the self
is, according to Jung, crucial for the development of a healthy functioning personality
as well as the expression of the unique potential that exists within each of us.
But along with these personal benefits, Jung thought
the process of individuation was essential for the well-being of society.
Jung believed that
conformist societies,
composed mainly of people who over-identify with their persona,
are easy prey for the rise of oppressive governments.
Therefore it is essential for any lasting positive societal change that increasing numbers of people, assisted by the individuation process come to the realization that there is more to their being then the social role dictated by the persona.
A society increasingly composed of individuated individuals would not, according to Jung, succumb as easily to the rise of oppressive governments:
“…in so far as society is itself composed of de-individualized human beings, it is completely at the mercy of ruthless individualists.
Let it band together into groups and organizations as much as it likes – it is just this banding together and the resultant extinction of the individual personality that makes it succumb so readily to a dictator.
A million zeros joined together do not, unfortunately, add up to one.” (Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung)
Introduction to Carl Jung – Individuation, the Persona, the Shadow and the Self
academyofideas.com/2016/02/introduction-to-carl-jung-individuation-the-shadow-the-persona-and-the-self/
becoming a single, homogeneous being
the individuation process
the collective unconscious is composed of
instincts and archetypes
which are common to all human beings. Archetypes can be viewed as evolved cognitive structures which
influence emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
most suffer from imbalances where some parts of their personality suffer from inflation, or over-expression in consciousness, while other parts suffer from deflation or underdevelopment whereby they lack proper expression in consciousness.
Imbalances:
neuroses and a lack of vitality in life.
confronting contents of the unconscious and thus obtaining self-knowledge, is the purpose of the individuation process.
process occurs spontaneously if unimpeded as contents of the unconscious naturally strive for outward expression in the world,
Jung put it “Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation”.
How to promote such integration when it does not occur naturally was a question
he arrived at the idea that dreams provide the greatest opportunity to access the unconscious.
They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth...
to give us back an attitude that accords with our basic human nature
when our consciousness has strayed too far from its foundations and run into an impasse.” (The Collected Works of C.G. Jung: Volume 10, Carl Jung)
the therapeutic effects of dream analysis...
persona
persona represents the social mask
represents the personality that we try to portray to others.
over-identify with their persona.
compromise between the individual and society as to what a man should appear to be
In a certain sense all this is real, yet in relation to the essential individuality of the person concerned it is only a secondary reality, a product of compromise, in making which others often have a greater share than he.
two-dimensional reality
over-identify with their “social mask” t
only a small component of a much larger personality
mining the unconscious
contents manifested by the archetypes
The first stage
an encounter with one’s shadow archetype
certain personality traits elicit negative feedback and even punishment from others. This negative feedback creates anxiety resulting in these traits being pushed away from awareness into the unconscious where they form the shadow – the “dark” side of one’s personality.
integrate the shadow
failure to do so can create chaos in one’s life.
shadow influences emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, in a manner which is beyond conscious control.
expression
projections
instead of seeing the disagreeable elements of the shadow as residing within ourselves we project these traits onto to others.
"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is...
If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. . .But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.” (The Essential Jung, Carl Jung and Anthony Storr)
shadow
not only composed of negative traits...
in the process of over-identifying with the persona often people reject personality traits not because they are harmful, but because they don’t fit with the dominant social attitudes of the day.
integrating
one is also exposed to positive traits and creative energies that can bring about a renewed sense of vitality to life.
The Shadow... source of renewal
an impasse, and sterile time in our lives. . .we must look to the dark, hitherto unacceptable side which has been at our conscious disposal.” (Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature)
contra-sexual archetype
anima in males and the animus in females.
the persona is oriented outward, acting as a barrier protecting the ego from the external social world,
anima/animus is oriented inward, protecting the ego from the sometimes threatening and overwhelming contents which emerge from the dark inner depths of the unconscious:
The animus and the anima should function as a bridge, or a door, leading to the images of the collective unconscious, as the persona should be a sort of bridge into the world.” (Carl Jung)
encounter
in dreams or visions
member of the opposite gender
Such a figure often arises during times of severe psychic disorientation, offering guidance as to how to remove any psychological barricades hindering the natural progression of the individuation process
Encountering such an archetype can therefore signify the coming of a deeply meaningful period in one’s life, defined by significant psychological transformations:
“The meeting with the anima/us represents a connection to the unconscious even deeper than that of the shadow.
In the case of the shadow, it is a meeting with the disdained and rejected pieces of the total psyche, the inferior and unwanted qualities.
In the meeting with the anima/us, it is a contact with levels of the psyche which has the potential to lead into the deepest and highest…reaches that the ego can attain.” (Jung’s Map of the Soul, Murray Stein)
Proper expression of the Self is the goal of the individuation process.
archetype of wholeness
“. . . the self is our life’s goal, for it is the completest expression of that fateful combination we call individuality. . .” (Carl Jung)
the Self is the central archetype of the entire psyche.
oriented toward a union of the conscious and unconscious realms.
“the more numerous and more significant the
unconscious contents which are assimilated to the ego,
the approximation of the ego to the Self, even though this approximation must be a never-ending process.”(Carl Jung)
As one increasingly identifies with the self they will notice a greater sense of harmony both within themselves and with the world as a whole. In fact, Jung saw connection with the self as so important that at various times he described it as “a treasure that would make [one] independent” and a “link to the infinite”.
the universality of symbols such as the quaternity and mandala,
“occur not only in the dreams of modern people who have never heard of them, but are widely disseminated in the historical records of many peoples and many epochs.”
A mandala”, said Jung “is the psychological expression of the totality of the self.”
Mandalas, and other “symbols of order”, Jung believed to be compensatory symbols of wholeness which are manifested by the Self in times of crisis.
individuation process
which culminates in an identification with the self
is, according to Jung, crucial for the development of a healthy functioning personality
as well as the expression of the unique potential that exists within each of us.
But along with these personal benefits, Jung thought
the process of individuation was essential for the well-being of society.
Jung believed that
conformist societies,
composed mainly of people who over-identify with their persona,
are easy prey for the rise of oppressive governments.
Therefore it is essential for any lasting positive societal change that increasing numbers of people, assisted by the individuation process come to the realization that there is more to their being then the social role dictated by the persona.
A society increasingly composed of individuated individuals would not, according to Jung, succumb as easily to the rise of oppressive governments:
“…in so far as society is itself composed of de-individualized human beings, it is completely at the mercy of ruthless individualists.
Let it band together into groups and organizations as much as it likes – it is just this banding together and the resultant extinction of the individual personality that makes it succumb so readily to a dictator.
A million zeros joined together do not, unfortunately, add up to one.” (Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung)
No comments:
Post a Comment