JUNG's LEXICON

Preface

C. G. Jung died in 1961, without ever having presented a systematic summary
of his psychology. For the past thirty years his ideas have been explained,
explored and amplified by thousands of others, with varying results.

Jung Lexicon takes the reader to the source. It was designed for
those seeking an understanding of relevant terms and concepts as they were
used by Jung himself. There are choice extracts from Jung's Collected
Works, but no references to other writers.

Jung Lexicon is not a critique or a defence of Jung's thoughts,
but a guide to its richness and an illustration of the broad scope and 
interrelationship of his interests.
Informed by a close reading of Jung's major writings, Jung Lexicon
contains a comprehensive overview of the basic principles of Jungian psychology.
The implications and practical application of Jung's ideas are well covered
by other volumes in this series.

The designation CW in the citations refers to the twenty volumes of Jung's
Collected Works. The title of the individual volumes are given in
the Bibliography.



Hero. An archetypal motif based on overcoming obstacles and achieving

certain goals.





  
The hero's main feat is to overcome the monster of darkness: it is the

  long-hoped-for and expected triumph of consciousness over the unconscious.[The Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 284.]

  
The hero myth is an unconscious drama seen only in projection, like

  the happenings in Plato's parable of the cave.[The Dual Mother,"

  CW 5, par. 612.]

  
The hero symbolizes a man's unconscious self, and this manifests itself

  empirically as the sum total of all archetypes and therefore includes the

  archetype of the father and of the wise old man. To that extent the hero

  is his own father and his own begetter [Ibid., par. 516.]





Mythologically, the hero's goal is to find the treasure, the princess,

the ring, the golden egg, elixir of life, etc. Psychologically these are

metaphors for one's true feelings and unique potential. In the process of

individuation, the heroic task is to assimilate unconscious contents as

opposed to being overwhelmed by them. The potential result is the release

of energy that has been tied up with unconscious complexes.





  
In myths the hero is the one who conquers the dragon, not the one who

  is devoured by it. And yet both have to deal with the same dragon. Also,

  he is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if he once saw it, declared

  afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight

  with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the "treasure

  hard to attain." He alone has a genuine claim to self-confidence,

  for he has faced the dark ground of his self and thereby has gained himself.

  . . . He has acquired the right to believe that he will be able to overcome

  all future threats by the same means.["The Conjunction,"

  CW 14, par. 756.]





The hero's journey is a round as illustrated in the diagram. [Adapted

from Joseph Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Bollingen Series

XVII (Princeton University press, 1949), p. 245.]



























In myth and legend, the hero typically travels by ship, fights a sea

monster, is swallowed, struggles against being bitten or crushed to death,

and having arrived inside the belly of the whale, like Jonah, seeks the

vital organ and cuts it off, thereby winning release. Eventually he must

return to his beginnings and bear witness.





In terms of a man's individuation, the whale-dragon is the mother or the

mother-bound anima. The vital organ that must be severed is the umbilical

cord.





  
The hero is the ideal masculine type: leaving the mother, the source

  of life, behind him, he is driven by an unconscious desire to find her

  again, to return to her womb. Every obstacle that rises in his path and

  hampers his ascent wears the shadowy features of the Terrible Mother, who

  saps his strength with the poison of secret doubt and retrospective longing.["The Dual Mother," CW 5, par. 611.]





In a woman's psychology, the hero's journey is lived out through the

worldly exploits of the animus, or else in a male partner, through projection.







Homosexuality. Usually characterized psychologically by identification

with the anima. (See also mother complex.) Jung acknowledged

the potential neurotic effects of homosexuality, but he did not see it as

an illness in itself.





  
In view of the recognized frequency of this phenomenon, its interpretation

  as a pathological perversion is very dubious. The psychological findings

  show that it is rather a matter of incomplete detachment from the hermaphroditic

  archetype, coupled with a distinct resistance to identify with the role

  of a one-sided sexual being. Such a disposition should not be adjudged

  negative in all circumstances, in so far as it preserves the archetype

  of the Original Man, which a one-sided sexual being has, up to a point,

  lost.["Concerning the Archetypes and the Anima Concept,"

  CW 9i, par. 146.]









Hostile brothers. An archetypal motif associated with the opposites

constellated in a conflict situation. Examples of the hostile brothers

motif in mythology are the struggle between Gilgamesh and Enkidu in The

Gilgamesh Epic, and the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Psychologically,

it is generally interpreted in terms of the tug of war between ego and shadow.







Hysteria. A state of mind marked by an exaggerated rapport with

persons in the immediate environment and an adjustment to surrounding conditions

that amounts to imitation.





  
Hysteria is, in my view, by far the most frequent neurosis of the extraverted

  type. . . . A constant tendency to make himself interesting and produce

  an impression is a basic feature of the hysteric. The corollary of this

  is his proverbial suggestibility, his proneness to another person's influence.

  Another unmistakable sign of the extraverted hysteric is his effusiveness,

  which occasionally carries him into the realm of fantasy, so that he is

  accused of the "hysterical lie."["General

  Description of the Types," CW 6, par. 566.]





Hysterical neurosis is usually accompanied by compensatory reactions

from the unconscious.





  
[These] counteract the exaggerated extraversion by means of physical

  symptoms that force the libido to introvert. The reaction of the unconscious

  produces another class of symptoms having a more introverted character,

  one of the most typical being a morbid intensification of fantasy activity.[ Ibid., par. 566.]









Identification. A psychological process in which the personality

is partially or totally dissimilated. (See also participation mystique

and projection.)





Identity, denoting an unconscious conformity between subject and object,

oneself and others, is the basis for identification, projection and introjection.





  
Identity is responsible for the naïve assumption that the psychology

  of one man is like that of another, that the same motives occur everywhere,

  that what is agreeable to me must obviously be pleasurable for others,

  that what I find immoral must also be immoral for them, and so on. It is

  also responsible for the almost universal desire to correct in others what

  most needs correcting in oneself.["Definitions,"

  ibid., par. 742.]





Identification facilitates early adaptation to the outside world, but

in later life becomes a hindrance to individual development.





  
For example, identification with the father means, in practice, adopting

  all the father's ways of behaving, as though the son were the same as the

  father and not a separate individuality. Identification differs from imitation

  in that it is an unconscious imitation, whereas imitation is a conscious

  copying. . . . Identification can be beneficial so long as the individual

  cannot go his own way. But when a better possibility presents itself, identification

  shows its morbid character by becoming just as great a hindrance as it

  was an unconscious help and support before. It now has a dissociative effect,

  splitting the individual into two mutually estranged personalities.[ Ibid., par. 738.]





Identification with a complex (experienced as possession) is a frequent

source of neurosis, but it is also possible to identify with a particular

idea or belief.





  
The ego keeps its integrity only if it does not identify with one of

  the opposites, and if it understands how to hold the balance between them.

  This is possible only if it remains conscious of both at once. However,

  the necessary insight is made exceedingly difficult not by one's social

  and political leaders alone, but also by one's religious mentors. They

  all want decision in favour of one thing, and therefore the utter identification

  of the individual with a necessarily one-sided "truth." Even

  if it were a question of some great truth, identification with it would

  still be a catastrophe, as it arrests all further spiritual development.[On the Nature of the Psyche," CW 8, par. 425.]





One-sidedness is usually due to identifying with a particular conscious

attitude. This can result in losing touch with the compensating powers of

the unconscious.





  
In a case like this the unconscious usually responds with violent emotions,

  irritability, lack of control, arrogance, feelings of inferiority, moods,

  depressions, outbursts of rage, etc., coupled with lack of self-criticism

  and the misjudgments, mistakes, and delusions which this entails.["The Philosophical Tree," CW 13, par. 454.]









Image, primordial. See archetype and archetypal

image.







Imago. A term used to differentiate the objective reality of a

person or a thing from the subjective perception of its importance.





  
The image we form of a human object is, to a very large extent, subjectively

  conditioned. In practical psychology, therefore, we would do well to make

  a rigorous distinction between the image or imago of a man and his

  real existence. Because of its extremely subjective origin, the imago

  is frequently more an image of a subjective functional complex than of

  the object itself. In the analytical treatment of unconscious products

  it is essential that the imago should not be assumed to be identical

  with the object; it is better to regard it as an image of the subjective

  relation to the object. ["Definitions," CW 6, par.

  812.]





Imagos are the consequence of personal experience combined with archetypal

images in the collective unconscious. Like everything else unconscious,

they are experienced in projection.





  
The more limited a man's field of consciousness is, the more numerous

  the psychic contents (imagos) which meet him as quasi-external apparitions,

  either in the form of spirits, or as magical potencies projected upon living

  people (magicians, witches, etc.)["The Function of the

  Unconscious," CW 7, par. 295.]









Incest. Psychologically, the regressive longing for the security

of childhood and early youth.


Jung interpreted incest images in dreams and fantasies not concretely but

symbolically, as indicating the need for a new adaptation more in accord

with the instincts. (This differed so radically from the psychoanalytic

view that it led to his break with Freud.)





  
So long as the child is in that state of unconscious identity with the

  mother, he is still one with the animal psyche and is just as unconscious

  as it. The development of consciousness inevitably leads not only to separation

  from the mother, but to separation from the parents and the whole family

  circle and thus to a relative degree of detachment from the unconscious

  and the world of instinct. Yet the longing for this lost world continues

  and, when difficult adaptations are demanded, is forever tempting one to

  make evasions and retreats, to regress to the infantile past, which then

  starts throwing up the incestuous symbolism. [Symbols of

  the Mother and of Rebirth," CW 5, par. 351.]

  
Whenever [the] drive for wholeness appears, it begins by disguising

  itself under the symbolism of incest, for, unless he seeks it in himself,

  a man's nearest feminine counterpart is to be found in his mother, sister,

  or daughter. ["The Psychology of the Transference,"

  CW 16, par. 471.]









Individual. Unique and unlike anyone else, distinguished from

what is collective. (See also individuality.)





  
A distinction must be made between individuality and the individual.

  The individual is determined on the one hand by the principle of uniqueness

  and distinctiveness, and on the other by the society to which he belongs.

  He is an indispensable link in the social structure. [The

  Structure of the Unconscious," CW 7, par. 519.]

  
The individual is precisely that which can never be merged with the

  collective and is never identical with it.[ Ibid., par. 485.]

  
The larger a community is, and the more the sum total of collective

  factors peculiar to every large community rests on conservative prejudices

  detrimental to individuality, the more will the individual be morally and

  spiritually crushed, and, as a result, the one source of moral and spiritual

  progress for society is choked up.[The Assimilation of the

  Unconscious," ibid., par. 240.]





The individual standpoint is not antagonistic to collective norms, only

differently oriented.





  
The individual way can never be directly opposed to the collective norm,

  because the opposite of the collective norm could only be another, but

  contrary, norm. But the individual way can, by definition, never be a norm.

  [Definitions," CW 6, par. 761.]





Jung believed that the survival of the individual within a group depended

not only on psychological self-understanding, but also on the personal experience

of a higher truth.





  
The individual will never find the real justification for his existence

  and his own spiritual and moral autonomy anywhere except in an extramundane

  principle capable of relativizing the overpowering influence of external

  factors. . . . For this he needs the evidence of inner, transcendent experience

  which alone can protect him from the otherwise inevitable submersion in

  the mass.[The Undiscovered Self," CW 10, par. 511.]

  
Resistance to the organized mass can be effected only by the man

  who is as well organized in his individuality as the mass itself. [Ibid., par. 540 (italics in original).]









Individualism. A belief in the supremacy of individual interests

over those of the collective, not to be confused with individuality

or individuation.





  
Individualism means deliberately stressing and giving prominence to

  some supposed peculiarity rather than to collective considerations and

  obligations. But individuation means precisely the better and more complete

  fulfilment of the collective qualities of the human being, since adequate

  consideration of the peculiarity of the individual is more conducive to

  a better social performance than when the peculiarity is neglected or suppressed.


  . . . . Since the universal factors always appear only in individual form,

  a full consideration of them will also produce an individual effect, and

  one which cannot be surpassed by anything else, least of all by individualism.["The Function of the Unconscious," CW 7, pars. 267f.]









Individuality. The qualities or characteristics that distinguish

one person from another. (See also personality.)





  
By individuality I mean the peculiarity and singularity of the individual

  in every psychological respect. Everything that is not collective is individual,

  everything in fact that pertains only to one individual and not to a larger group of individuals.["Definitions,"

  CW 6, par. 756.]

  
The psychological individual, or his individuality, has an a priori

  unconscious existence, but exists consciously only so far as a consciousness

  of his peculiar nature is present . . . . A conscious process of differentiation,

  or individuation, is needed to bring the individuality to consciousness,

  i.e., to raise it out of the state of identity with the object.[

  Ibid., par. 755.]





In the undifferentiated psyche, individuality is subjectively identified

with the persona but is actually possessed by an inner, unrecognized aspect

of oneself. In such cases, one's individuality is commonly experienced in

another person, through projection. If and when this situation becomes intolerable

to the psyche, appropriate images appear in an attempt at compensation.





  
This . . . frequently gives rise in dreams to the symbol of psychic

  pregnancy, a symbol that goes back to the primordial image of the hero's

  birth. The child that is to be born signifies the individuality, which,

  though present, is not yet conscious.[Ibid., par. 806.]









Individuation. A process of psychological differentiation,

having for its goal the development of the individual personality.





  
In general, it is the process by which individual beings are formed

  and differentiated; in particular, it is the development of the psychological

  individual as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology.[ Ibid., par. 757.]

  
The aim of individuation is nothing less than to divest the self of

  the false wrappings of the persona on the one hand, and of the suggestive

  power of primordial images on the other.["The Function

  of the Unconscious," CW 7, par. 269. ]





Individuation is a process informed by the archetypal ideal of wholeness,

which in turn depends on a vital relationship between ego and unconscious.

The aim is not to overcome one's personal psychology, to become perfect,

but to become familiar with it. Thus individuation involves an increasing

awareness of one's unique psychological reality, including personal strengths

and limitations, and at the same time a deeper appreciation of humanity

in general.





  
As the individual is not just a single, separate being, but by his very

  existence presupposes a collective relationship, it follows that the process

  of individuation must lead to more intense and broader collective relationships

  and not to isolation.[Definitions," CW 6, par. 758.]

  
Individuation does not shut one out from the world, but gathers the

  world to itself.["On the Nature of the Psyche,"

  CW 8, par. 432.]

  
Individuation has two principle aspects: in the first place it is an

  internal and subjective process of integration, and in the second it is

  an equally indispensable process of objective relationship. Neither can

  exist without the other, although sometimes the one and sometimes the other

  predominates.[The Psychology of the Transference," CW

  16, par. 448.]





Individuation and a life lived by collective values are nevertheless

two divergent destinies. In Jung's view they are related to one another

by guilt. Whoever embarks on the personal path becomes to some extent estranged

from collective values, but does not thereby lose those aspects of the psyche

which are inherently collective. To atone for this "desertion,"

the individual is obliged to create something of worth for the benefit of

society.





  
Individuation cuts one off from personal conformity and hence from collectivity.

  That is the guilt which the individuant leaves behind him for the world,

  that is the guilt he must endeavor to redeem. He must offer a ransom in

  place of himself, that is, he must bring forth values which are an equivalent

  substitute for his absence in the collective personal sphere. Without this

  production of values, final individuation is immoral and-more than that-suicidal.

  . . .


  The individuant has no a priori claim to any kind of esteem. He

  has to be content with whatever esteem flows to him from outside by virtue

  of the values he creates. Not only has society a right, it also has a duty

  to condemn the individuant if he fails to create equivalent values.["Adaptation, Individuation, Collectivity," CW 18, pars.

  1095f.]





Individuation differs from individualism in that the former deviates

from collective norms but retains respect for them, while the latter eschews

them entirely.





  
A real conflict with the collective norm arises only when an individual

  way is raised to a norm, which is the actual aim of extreme individualism.

  Naturally this aim is pathological and inimical to life. It has, accordingly,

  nothing to do with individuation, which, though it may strike out on an

  individual bypath, precisely on that account needs the norm for its orientation

  to society and for the vitally necessary relationship of the individual

  to society. Individuation, therefore, leads to a natural esteem for the

  collective norm. [Definitions," CW 6, par. 761.]





The process of individuation, consciously pursued, leads to the realization

of the self as a psychic reality greater than the ego. Thus individuation

is essentially different from the process of simply becoming conscious.





  
The goal of the individuation process is the synthesis of the self. [The Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 278.]

  
Again and again I note that the individuation process is confused with

  the coming of the ego into consciousness and that the ego is in consequence

  identified with the self, which naturally produces a hopeless conceptual

  muddle. Individuation is then nothing but ego-centredness and autoeroticism.

  But the self comprises infinitely more than a mere ego, as the symbolism

  has shown from of old. It is as much one's self, and all other selves,

  as the ego.[On the Nature of the Psyche," CW 8, par.

  432.]





In Jung's view, no one is ever completely individuated. While the goal

is wholeness and a healthy working relationship with the self, the true

value of individuation lies in what happens along the way.





  
The goal is important only as an idea; the essential thing is the opus

  which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime.["The

  Psychology of the Transference," CW 16, par. 400.]









Inferior function. The least differentiated of the four psychological

functions. (Compare primary function.)





  
The inferior function is practically identical with the dark side of

  the human personality.["Concerning Rebirth," CW

  9i, par. 222.]





In Jung's model of typology, the inferior or fourth function is opposite

to the superior or primary function. Whether it operates in an introverted

or extraverted way, it behaves like an autonomous complex; its activation

is marked by affect and it resists integration.





  
The inferior function secretly and mischievously influences the superior

  function most of all, just as the latter represses the former most strongly.["The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales," ibid.,

  par. 431.]

  
Positive as well as negative occurrences can constellate the inferior

  counter-function. When this happens, sensitiveness appears. Sensi-tiveness

  is a sure sign of of the presence of inferiority. This provides the psychological

  basis for discord and misunderstanding, not only as between two people,

  but also in ourselves. The essence of the inferior function is autonomy:

  it is independent, it attacks, it fascinates and so spins us about that

  we are no longer masters of ourselves and can no longer rightly distinguish

  between ourselves and others["The Problem of the Attitude-Type,"

  CW 7, par. 85.]





The inferior function is always of the same nature, rational or irrational,

as the primary function: when thinking is most developed, the other rational

function, feeling, is inferior; if sensation is dominant, then intuition,

the other irrational function, is the fourth function, and so on. This accords

with general experience: the thinker is tripped up by feeling values; the

practical sensation type gets into a rut, blind to the possibilities seen

by intuition; the feeling type is deaf to logical thinking; and the intuitive,

at home in the inner world, runs afoul of concrete reality.





One may be aware of the perceptions or judgments associated with the inferior

function, but these are generally over-ridden by the superior function.

Thinking types, for example, do not give their feelings much weight. Sensation

types have intuitions, but they are not motivated by them. Similarly, feeling

types brush away disturbing thoughts and intuitives ignore what is right

in front of them.





  
Although the inferior function may be conscious as a phenomenon its

  true significance nevertheless remains unrecognized. It behaves like many

  repressed or insufficiently appreciated contents, which are partly conscious

  and partly unconscious . . . . Thus in normal cases the inferior function

  remains conscious, at least in its effects; but in a neurosis it sinks

  wholly or in part into the unconscious. ["Definitions,"

  CW 6, par. 764.]





To the extent that a person functions too one-sidedly, the inferior function

becomes correspondingly primitive and troublesome. The overly dominant primary

function takes energy away from the inferior function, which falls into

the unconscious. There it is prone to be activated in an unnatural way,

giving rise to infantile desires and other symptoms of imbalance. This is

the situation in neurosis.





  
In order to extricate the inferior function from the unconscious by

  analysis, the unconscious fantasy formations that have now been activated

  must be brought to the surface. The conscious realization of these fantasies

  brings the inferior function to consciousness and makes further development

  possible.[Ibid., par. 764.]





When it becomes desirable or necessary to develop the inferior function,

this can only happen gradually.





  
I have frequently observed how an analyst, confronted with a terrific

  thinking type, for instance, will do his utmost to develop the feeling

  function directly out of the unconscious. Such an attempt is foredoomed

  to failure, because it involves too great a violation of the conscious

  standpoint. Should the violation nevertheless be successful, a really compulsive

  dependence of the patient on the analyst ensues, a transference that can

  only be brutally terminated, because, having been left without a standpoint,

  the patient has made his standpoint the analyst. . . . [Therefore] in order

  to cushion the impact of the unconscious, an irrational type needs a stronger

  development of the rational auxiliary function present in consciousness

  [and vice versa].["General Description of the Types,"

  ibid., par. 670.]





Attempts to assimilate the inferior function are usually accompanied

by a deterioration in the primary function. The thinking type can't write

an essay, the sensation type gets lost and forgets appointments, the intuitive

loses touch with possibilities, and the feeling type can't decide what something's

worth.





  
And yet it is necessary for the development of character that we should

  allow the other side, the inferior function, to find expression. We cannot

  in the long run allow one part of our personality to be cared for symbiotically

  by another; for the moment when we might have need of the other function

  may come at any time and find us unprepared. ["The Problem

  of the Attitude-Type," CW 7, par. 86.]









Inflation. A state of mind characterized by an exaggerated sense

of self-importance, often compensated by feelings of inferiority. (See also

mana-personality and negative inflation.)


Inflation, whether positive or negative, is a symptom of psychological possession,

indicating the need to assimilate unconscious complexes or disidentify from

the self.





  
An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing

  but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable

  of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions

  about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued

  with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.

  Paradoxically enough, inflation is a regression of consciousness into unconsciousness.

  This always happens when consciousness takes too many unconscious contents

  upon itself and loses the faculty of discrimination, the sine qua non of

  all consciousness.["Epilogue," CW 12, par. 563.]

  
[Inflation] should not be interpreted as . . . conscious self-aggrandizement.

  Such is far from being the rule. In general we are not directly conscious

  of this condition at all, but can at best infer its existence indirectly

  from the symptoms. These include the reactions of our immediate environment.

  Inflation magnifies the blind spot in the eye.[The Self,"

  CW 9ii, par. 44.]









Instinct. An involuntary drive toward certain activities. (See

also archetype and archetypal image.)





  
All psychic processes whose energies are not under conscious control

  are instinctive.[Definitions," CW 6, par. 765.]

  
Instincts in their original strength can render social adaptation almost

  impossible.["The Transcendent Function," CW 8,

  par. 161.]

  
Instinct is not an isolated thing, nor can it be isolated in practice.

  It always brings in its train archetypal contents of a spiritual nature,

  which are at once its foundation and its limitation. In other words, an

  instinct is always and inevitably coupled with something like a philosophy

  of life, however archaic, unclear, and hazy this may be. Instinct stimulates

  thought, and if a man does not think of his own free will, then you get

  compulsive thinking, for the two poles of the psyche, the physiological

  and the mental, are indissolubly connected. ["Psychotherapy

  and a Philosophy of Life," CW 16, par. 185.]









Psychic processes which ordinarily are consciously controlled can become

instinctive when imbued with unconscious energy. This is liable to occur

when the level of consciousness is low, due to fatigue, intoxication, depression,

etc. Conversely, instincts can be modified according to the extent that

they are civilized and under con-scious control, a process Jung called psychization.





  
An instinct which has undergone too much psychization can take its revenge

  in the form of an autonomous complex. This is one of the chief causes of

  neurosis.["Psychological Factors in Human Behaviour,"

  CW 8, par. 255.]

  
Too much of the animal distorts the civilized man, too much civilization

  makes sick animals.[The Eros Theory," CW 7, par. 32.]





Jung identified five prominent groups of instinctive factors: creativity,

reflection, activity, sexuality and hunger. Hunger is a primary instinct

of self-preservation, perhaps the most fundamental of all drives. Sexuality

is a close second, particularly prone to psychization, which makes it possible

to divert its purely biological energy into other channels. The urge to

activity manifests in travel, love of change, restlessness and play.

Under reflection, Jung included the religious urge and the search

for meaning. Creativity was for Jung in a class by itself. His descriptions

of it refer specifically to the impulse to create art.





  
Though we cannot classify it with a high degree of accuracy, the

  creative instinct is something that deserves special mention. I do

  not know if "instinct" is the correct word. We use the term "creative

  instinct" because this factor behaves at least dynamically, like an

  instinct. Like instinct it is compulsive, but it is not common, and it

  is not a fixed and invariably inherited organization. Therefore I prefer

  to designate the creative impulse as a psychic factor similar in nature

  to instinct, having indeed a very close connection with the instincts,

  but without being identical with any one of them. Its connections with

  sexuality are a much discussed problem and, furthermore, it has much in

  common with the drive to activity and the reflective instinct. But it can

  also suppress them, or make them serve it to the point of the self-destruction

  of the individual. Creation is as much destruction as construction.["Psychological Factors in Human Behaviour," CW 8,

  par. 245.]





Jung also believed that true creativity could only be enhanced by the

analytic process.





  
Creative power is mightier than its possessor. If it is not so, then

  it is a feeble thing, and given favourable conditions will nourish an endearing

  talent, but no more. If, on the other hand, it is a neurosis, it often

  takes only a word or a look for the illusion to go up in smoke. . . . Disease

  has never yet fostered creative work; on the contrary, it is the most formidable

  obstacle to creation. No breaking down of repressions can ever destroy

  true creativeness, just as no analysis can ever exhaust the unconscious.[Analytical Psychology and Education," CW 17, par. 206.]





Instinct and archetype are a pair of opposites, inextricably linked and

therefore often difficult to tell apart.





  
Psychic processes seem to be balances of energy flowing between spirit

  and instinct, though the question of whether a process is to be described

  as spiritual or as instinctual remains shrouded in darkness. Such evaluation

  or interpretation depends entirely upon the standpoint or state of the

  conscious mind.[On the Nature of the Psyche," CW 8,

  par. 407.]





When consciousness become overspiritualized, straying too far from its

instinctual foundation, self-regulating processes within the psyche become

active in an attempt to correct the balance. This is often signaled in dreams

by animal symbols, particularly snakes.





  
The snake is the representative of the world of instinct, especially

  of those vital processes which are psychologically the least accessible

  of all. Snake dreams always indicate a discrepancy between the attitude

  of the conscious mind and instinct, the snake being a personification of

  the threatening aspect of that conflict.[The Sacrifice,"

  CW 5, par. 615.]









Introjection. A process of assimilation of object to subject,

the opposite of projection.





  
Introjection is a process of extraversion, since assimilation to the

  object requires empathy and an investment of the object with libido. A

  passive and an active introjection may be distinguished: transference phenomena

  in the treatment of the neuroses belong to the former category, and, in

  general, all cases where the object exercises a compelling influence on

  the subject, while empathy as a process of adaptation belongs to the latter

  category.[Definitions," CW 6, par. 768.]









Introspection. A process of reflection that focuses on

personal reactions, behavior patterns and attitudes. (See also meditation.)





The difference between introspection and introversion is that the latter

refers to the direction in which energy naturally moves, while the former

refers to self-examination. Neither introverts nor those with a well-developed

thinking function have a monopoly on introspection.







Introversion. A mode of psychological orientation where

the movement of energy is toward the inner world. (Compare extraversion.)





  
Everyone whose attitude is introverted thinks, feels, and acts in a

  way that clearly demonstrates that the subject is the prime motivating

  factor and that the object is of secondary importance. [

  Ibid., par. 769.]

  
Always he has to prove that everything he does rests on his own decisions

  and convictions, and never because he is influenced by anyone, or desires

  to please or conciliate some person or opinion.["Psychological

  Types," CW 6, par. 893.]





An introverted consciousness can be well aware of external conditions,

but is not motivated by them. The extreme introvert responds primarily to

internal impressions.





  
In a large gathering he feels lonely and lost. The more crowded it is,

  the greater becomes his resistance. He is not in the least "with it,"

  and has no love of enthusiastic get-togethers. He is not a good mixer.

  What he does, he does in his own way, barricading himself against influences

  from outside. . . . Under normal conditions he is pessimistic and worried,

  because the world and human beings are not in the least good but crush

  him. . . .His own world is a safe harbour, a carefully tended and walled-in

  garden, closed to the public and hidden from prying eyes. His own company

  is the best.["Psychological Typology," ibid., pars.

  976f.]





Signs of introversion in a child are a reflective, thoughtful manner

and resistance to outside influences.





  
The child wants his own way, and under no circumstances will he submit

  to an alien rule he cannot understand. When he asks questions, it is not

  from curiosity or a desire to create a sensation, but because he wants

  names, meanings, explanations to give him subjective protection against

  the object.["Psychological Types," ibid., par.

  897.]





The introverted attitude tends to devalue things and other persons, to

deny their importance. Hence, by way of compensation, extreme introversion

leads to an unconscious reinforcement of the object's influence. This makes

itself felt as a tie, with concomitant emotional reactions, to outer circumstances

or another person.





  
The individual's freedom of mind is fettered by the ignominy of his

  financial dependence, his freedom of action trembles in the face of public

  opinion, his moral superiority collapses in a morass of inferior relationships,

  and his desire to dominate ends in a pitiful craving to be loved. It is

  now the unconscious that takes care of the relation to the object, and

  it does so in a way that is calculated to bring the illusion of power and

  the fantasy of superiority to utter ruin.["General Description

  of the Types," ibid., par. 626.]





A person in this situation can be worn out from fruitless attempts to

impose his or her will.





  
These efforts are constantly being frustrated by the overwhelming impressions

  received from the object. It continually imposes itself on him against

  his will, it arouses in him the most disagreeable and intractable affects

  and persecutes him at every step. A tremendous inner struggle is needed

  all the time in order to "keep going." The typical form his neurosis

  takes is psychasthenia, a malady characterized on the one hand by extreme

  sensitivity and on the other by great proneness to exhaustion and chronic

  fatigue.[ Ibid.]





In less extreme cases, introverts are simply more conservative than not,

preferring the familiar surroundings of home and intimate times with a few

close friends; they husband their energy and would rather stay put than

go from place to place. Their best work is done on their own resources,

on their own initiative and in their own way.





  
His retreat into himself is not a final renunciation of the world, but

  a search for quietude, where alone it is possible for him to make his contribution

  to the life of the community.[Psychological Typology,"

  ibid., par. 979.]









Intuition. The psychic function that perceives possibilities inherent

in the present. (Compare sensation.)





  
Intuition gives outlook and insight; it revels in the garden of magical

  possibilities as if they were real.[The Psychology of the

  Transference," CW 16, par. 492.]





In Jung's model of typology, intuition, like sensation, is an irrational

function because its apprehension of the world is based on the perception

of given facts. Unlike sensation, however, it perceives via the unconscious

and is not dependent on concrete reality.





  
In intuition a content presents itself whole and complete, without our

  being able to explain or discover how this content came into existence.

  Intuition is a kind of instinctive apprehension, no matter of what contents.

  . . . Intuitive knowledge possesses an intrinsic certainty and conviction.[Definitions," CW 6, par. 770.]





Intuition may receive information from within (for instance, as a flash

of insight of unknown origin), or be stimulated by what is going on in someone

else.





  
The first is a perception of unconscious psychic data originating in

  the subject, the second is a perception of data dependent on subliminal

  perceptions of the object and on the feelings and thoughts they evoke.[Ibid., par. 771.]









Irrational. Not grounded in reason. (Compare rational.)



Jung pointed out that elementary existential facts fall into this category-for

instance, that the earth has a moon, that chlorine is an element or that

water freezes at a certain temperature and reaches its greatest density

at four degrees centigrade-as does chance. They are irrational not because

they are illogical, but because they are beyond reason.





In Jung's model of typology, the psychological functions of intuition and

sensation are described as irrational.





  
Both intuition and sensation are functions that find fulfilment in the

  absolute perception of the flux of events. Hence, by their very

  nature, they will react to every possible occurrence and be attuned to

  the absolutely contingent, and must therefore lack all rational direction.

  For this reason I call them irrational functions, as opposed to thinking

  and feeling, which find fulfilment only when they are in complete harmony

  with the laws of reason.[Ibid., pars. 776f.]

  
Merely because [irrational types] subordinate judgment to perception,

  it would be quite wrong to regard them as "unreasonable." It

  wouldbe truer to say that they are in the highest degree empirical.

  They base themselves entirely on experience. ["General

  Description of the Types," ibid., par. 616.]









Kore. In Greek mythology, a term for the personification of feminine

innocence (e.g., Persephone); psychologically, in man or wom-an, it refers

to an archetypal image of potential renewal.





The phenomenology of the Kore is essentially bipolar (as is that of any

archetype), associated with the mother-maiden dyad. When observed in the

products of a woman's unconscious, it is an image of the supraordinate personality

or self. In a man, the Kore is an aspect of the anima and partakes in all

the symbolism attached to his inner personality.





  
As a matter of practical observation, the Kore often appears in woman

  as an unknown young girl . . . . The maiden's helplessness exposes

  her to all sorts of dangers, for instance of being devoured by reptiles

  or ritually slaughtered like a beast of sacrifice. Often there are bloody,

  cruel, and even obscene orgies to which the innocent child falls victim.

  Sometimes it is a true nekyia, a descent into Hades and a quest

  for the "treasure hard to attain," occasionally connected with

  orgiastic sexual rites or offerings of menstrual blood to the moon. Oddly

  enough, the various tortures and obscenities are carried out by an "Earth

  Mother." . . . The maiden who crops up in case histories differs not

  inconsiderably from the vaguely flower-like Kore in that the modern figure

  is more sharply delineated and not nearly so "unconscious."[The Psychological Aspects of the Kore," CW 9i, par. 311.]

  
Demeter and Kore, mother and daughter, extend the feminine consciousness

  both upwards and downwards. They add an "older and younger,"

  "stronger and weaker" dimension to it and widen out the narrowly

  limited conscious mind bound in space and time, giving it intimations of

  a greater and more comprehensive personality which has a share in the eternal

  course of things. . . . We could therefore say that every mother contains

  her daughter in herself and every daughter her mother, and that every woman

  extends backwards into her mother and forwards into her daughter. . . .

  The conscious experience of these ties produces the feeling that her life

  is spread out over generations-the first step towards the immediate experience

  and conviction of being outside time, which brings with it a feeling of

  immortality.[ Ibid., par. 316.]









Libido. Psychic energy in general. (See also final.)





  
Libido can never be apprehended except in a definite form; that is to

  say, it is identical with fantasy-images. And we can only release it from

  the grip of the unconscious by bringing up the corresponding fantasy-images.[The Technique of Differentiation," CW 7, par. 345.]





Jung specifically distanced his concept of libido from that of Freud,

for whom it had a predominantly sexual meaning.





  
All psychological phenomena can be considered as manifestations of energy,

  in the same way that all physical phenomena have been understood as energic

  manifestations ever since Robert Mayer discovered the law of the conservation

  of energy. Subjectively and psychologically, this energy is conceived as

  desire. I call it libido, using the word in its original sense,

  which is by no means only sexual.[Psychoanalysis and Neurosis,"

  CW 4, par. 567.]

  
[Libido] denotes a desire or impulse which is unchecked by any kind

  of authority, moral or otherwise. Libido is appetite in its natural state.

  From the genetic point of view it is bodily needs like hunger, thirst,

  sleep, and sex, and emotional states or affects, which constitute the essence

  of libido.["The Concept of Libido," CW 5, par.

  194.]





In line with his belief that the psyche is a self-regulating system,

Jung associated libido with intentionality. It "knows" where it

ought to go for the overall health of the psyche.





  
The libido has, as it were, a natural penchant: it is like water, which

  must have a gradient if it is to flow.[Symbols of the Mother

  and of Rebirth," ibid., par. 337.]





Where there is a lack of libido (depression), it has backed up (re-gressed)

in order to stir up unconscious contents, the aim being to compensate the

attitudes of consciousness. What little energy is left resists being applied

in a consciously chosen direction.





  
It does not lie in our power to transfer "disposable" energy

  at will to a rationally chosen object. The same is true in general of the

  apparently disposable energy which is disengaged when we have destroyed

  its unserviceable forms through the corrosive of reductive analysis. [It]

  can at best be applied voluntarily for only a short time. But in most cases

  it refuses to seize hold, for any length of time, of the possibilities

  rationally presented to it. Psychic energy is a very fastidious thing which

  insists on fulfilment of its own conditions. However much energy may be

  present, we cannot make it serviceable until we have succeeded in finding

  the right gradient.[The Problem of the Attitude-Type,"

  CW 7, par. 76]





The analytic task in such a situation is to discover the natural gradient

of the person's energy.





  
What is it, at this moment and in this individual, that represents the

  natural urge of life? That is the question.[The Structure

  of the Unconscious," ibid., par. 488.]





]



Logos. The principle of logic and structure, traditionally associated

with spirit, the father world and the God-image. (See also animus

and Eros.)





  
There is no consciousness without discrimination of opposites. This

  is the paternal principle, the Logos, which eternally struggles to extricate

  itself from the primal warmth and primal darkness of the maternal womb;

  in a word, from unconsciousness.["Psychological

  Aspects of the Mother Archetype," CW 9i, par. 178.]





In Jung's earlier writings, he intuitively equated masculine consciousness

with the concept of Logos and feminine consciousness with that of Eros.

Either one could be dominant in a particular man or woman, due to the contrasexual

complexes.





  
By Logos I meant discrimination, judgment, insight, and by Eros I meant

  the capacity to relate. I regarded both concepts as intuitive ideas which

  cannot be defined accurately or exhaustively. From the scientific point

  of view this is regrettable, but from a practical one it has its value,

  since the two concepts mark out a field of experience which it is equally

  difficult to define.


  


  As we can hardly ever make a psychological proposition without immediately

  having to reverse it, instances to the contrary leap to the eye at once:

  men who care nothing for discrimination, judgment, and insight, and women

  who display an almost excessively masculine proficiency in this respect.

  . . . Wherever this exists, we find a forcible intrusion of the unconscious,

  a corresponding exclusion of the consciousness specific to either sex,

  predominance of the shadow and of contrasexuality.[The Personification

  of the Opposites," CW 14, pars. 224f.]





In his later writing on alchemy, Jung described Logos and Eros as psychologically

equivalent to solar and lunar consciousness, arche-typal ideas analogous

to the Eastern concepts of yang and yin-different qualities of energy. This

did not change his view that Eros was more "specific" to feminine

consciousness and Logos to masculine. Hence he attributed Eros in a man

to the influence of the anima, and Logos in a woman to that of the animus.





  
In a man it is the lunar anima, in a woman the solar animus, that influences

  consciousness in the highest degree. Even if a man is often unaware of

  his own anima-possession, he has, understandably enough, all the more vivid

  an impression of the animus-possession of his wife, and vice

  versa. [Ibid., par. 225.]









Loss of soul. A concept borrowed from anthropology, referring

psychologically to a state of general malaise.





  
The peculiar condition covered by this term is accounted for in the

  mind of the primitive by the supposition that a soul has gone off, just

  like a dog that runs away from his master overnight. It is then the task

  of the medicine man to fetch the fugitive back. . . . Some-thing similar

  can happen to civilized man, only he does not describe it as "loss

  of soul" but as an "abaissement du niveau mental."[Concerning Rebirth," CW 9i, par. 213.]









Mana-personality. A personified archetypal image of a supernatural

force.





  
The mana-personality is a dominant of the collective unconscious, the

  well-known archetype of the mighty man in the form of hero, chief, magician,

  medicine-man, saint, the ruler of men and spirits, the friend of God.[The Mana-Personality," CW 7, par. 377.]

  
Historically, the mana-personality evolves into the hero and the godlike

  being, whose earthly form is the priest. How very much the doctor is still

  mana is the whole plaint of the analyst![Ibid., par. 389.]





Mana is a Melanesian word referring to a bewitching or numinous

quality in gods and sacred objects. A mana-personality embodies this magical

power. In individual psychology, Jung used it to describe the inflationary

effect of assimilating autonomous unconscious contents, particularly those

associated with anima and animus.





  
The ego has appropriated something that does not belong to it. But how

  has it appropriated the mana? If it was really the ego that conquered the

  anima, then the mana does indeed belong to it, and it would be correct

  to conclude that one has become important. But why does not this importance,

  the mana, work upon others? . . . It does not work because one has not

  in fact become important, but has merely become adulterated with an archetype,

  another unconscious figure. Hence we must conclude that the ego never conquered

  the anima at all and therefore has not acquired the mana. All that has

  happened is a new adulteration. [ Ibid., par. 380.]









Mandala. See quaternity and temenos.







Masculine. See animus and Logos.







Mechanistic. See causal, objective level and reductive.







Meditation. A technique of focused introspection.



Jung distinguished between meditation practiced in the East or in traditional

Western religious exercises, and its use as a tool for self-understanding,

particularly in the realization of projections.





  
If the ancient art of meditation is practised at all today, it is practised

  only in religious or philosophical circles, where a theme is subjectively

  chosen by the meditant or prescribed by an instructor, as in the Ignatian

  Exercitia or in certain theosophical exercises that developed under

  Indian influence. These methods are of value only for increasing concentration

  and consolidating consciousness, but have no significance as regards affecting

  a synthesis of the personality. On the contrary, their purpose is to shield

  consciousness from the unconscious and to suppress it.[The

  Conjunction," CW 14, par. 708.]

  
When meditation is concerned with the objective products of the unconscious

  that reach consciousness spontaneously, it unites the conscious with contents

  that proceed not from a conscious causal chain but from an essentially

  unconscious process. . . . Part of the unconscious contents is projected,

  but the projection as such is not recognized. Meditation or critical introspection

  and objective investigation of the object are needed in order to establish

  the existence of projections. If the individual is to take stock of himself

  it is essential that his projections should be recognized, because they

  falsify the nature of the object and besides this contain items which belong

  to his own personality and should be integrated with it.[

  Ibid., par. 710.]









Mother complex. A group of feeling-toned ideas associated with

the experience and image of mother.





The mother complex is a potentially active component of everyone's psyche,

informed first of all by experience of the personal mother, then by significant

contact with other women and by collective assumptions. The constellation

of a mother complex has differing effects according to whether it appears

in a son or a daughter.





  
Typical effects on the son are homosexuality and Don Juanism, and sometimes

  also impotence [though here the father complex also plays a part]. In homosexuality,

  the son's entire heterosexuality is tied to the mother in an unconscious

  form; in Don Juanism, he unconsciously seeks his mother in every woman

  he meets.[Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype,"

  CW 9i, par. 162.]





A man's mother complex is influenced by the contrasexual complex, the

anima. To the extent that a man establishes a good relationship with his

inner woman (instead of being possessed by her), even a negative mother

complex may have positive effects.





  
[He] may have a finely differentiated Eros instead of, or in addition

  to, homosexuality. . . . This gives him a great capacity for friendship,

  which often creates ties of astonishing tenderness between men and may

  even rescue friendship between the sexes from the limbo of the impossible.

  . . .In the same way, what in its negative aspect is Don Juanism can appear

  positively as bold and resolute manliness; ambitious striving after the

  highest goals; opposition to all stupidity, narrow-mindedness, injustice,

  and laziness; willingness to make sacrifices for what is regarded as right,

  sometimes bordering on heroism; perseverance, inflexibility and toughness

  of will; a curiosity that does not shrink even from the riddles of the

  universe; and finally, a revolutionary spirit which strives to put a new

  face upon the world.[Ibid., pars 164f.]





In the daughter, the effect of the mother complex ranges from stimulation

of the feminine instinct to its inhibition. In the first case, the preponderance

of instinct makes the woman unconscious of her own personality.





  
The exaggeration of the feminine side means an intensification of all

  female instincts, above all the maternal instinct. The negative aspect

  is seen in the woman whose only goal is childbirth. To her the husband

  is . . . first and foremost the instrument of procreation, and she regards

  him merely as an object to be looked after, along with children, poor relations,

  cats, dogs, and household furniture. [Ibid., par. 167.]





In the second case, the feminine instinct is inhibited or wiped out altogether.





  
As a substitute, an overdeveloped Eros results, and this almost invariably

  leads to an unconscious incestuous relationship with the father. The intensified

  Eros places an abnormal emphasis on the personality of others. Jealousy

  of the mother and the desire to outdo her become the leitmotifs of subsequent

  undertakings.[Ibid., par. 168.]





Alternatively, the inhibition of the feminine instinct may lead a woman

to identify with her mother. She is then unconscious of both her own maternal

instinct and her Eros, which are then projected onto the mother.





  
As a sort of superwoman (admired involuntarily by the daughter), the

  mother lives out for her beforehand all that the girl might have lived

  for herself. She is content to cling to her mother in selfless devotion,

  while at the same time unconsciously striving, almost against her will,

  to tyrannize over her, naturally under the mask of complete loyalty and

  devotion. The daughter leads a shadow-existence, often visibly sucked dry

  by her mother, and she prolongs her mother's life by a sort of continuous

  blood transfusion.[ Ibid., par. 169.]





Because of their apparent "emptiness," these women are good

hooks for men's projections. As devoted and self-sacrificing wives, they

often project their own unconscious gifts onto their husbands.





  
And then we have the spectacle of a totally insignificant man who seemed

  to have no chance whatsoever suddenly soaring as if on a magic carpet to

  the highest summits of achievement. [ Ibid., par. 182.]





In Jung's view, these three extreme types are linked together by many

intermediate stages, the most important being where there is an overwhelming

resistance to the mother and all she stands for.





  
It is the supreme example of the negative mother-complex. The motto

  of this type is: Anything, so long as it is not like Mother! . . . All

  instinctive processes meet with unexpected difficulties; either sexuality

  does not function properly, or the children are unwanted, or maternal duties

  seem unbearable, or the demands of marital life are responded to with impatience

  and irritation.[Ibid., par. 170.]





Such a woman often excels in Logos activities, where her mother has no

place. If she can overcome her merely reactive attitude toward reality,

she may later in life come to a deeper appreciation of her femininity.



Thanks to her lucidity, objectivity, and masculinity, a woman of this

type is frequently found in important positions in which her tardily discovered

maternal quality, guided by a cool intelligence, exerts a most beneficial

influence. This rare combination of womanliness and masculine understanding

proves valuable in the realm of intimate relationships as well as in practical

matters. [Ibid., par. 186.]



At the core of any mother complex is the mother archetype, which means

that behind emotional associations with the personal mother, both in men

and in women, there is a collective image of nourishment and security on

the one hand (the positive mother), and devouring possessiveness on the

other (the negative mother).







Motif. See archetypal image.







Myth. An involuntary collective statement based on an unconscious

psychic experience.





  
The primitive mentality does not invent myths, it experiences

  them. Myths are original revelations of the preconscious psyche . . . .

  Many of these unconscious processes may be indirectly occasioned by consciousness,

  but never by conscious choice. Others appear to arise spontaneously, that

  is to say, from no discernible or demonstrable conscious cause.["The

  Psychology of the Child Archetype," ibid., par. 261.]









Negative inflation. An unrealistically low opinion of oneself,

due to identification with the negative side of the shadow. (See

also inflation.)





  
Whenever a sense of moral inferiority appears, it indicates not only

  a need to assimilate an unconscious component, but also the possibility

  of such assimilation.[The Personal and the Collective Unconscious,"

  CW 7, par. 218.]









Neurosis. A psychological crisis due to a state of disunity with

oneself, or, more formally, a mild dissociation of the personality

due to the activation of complexes. (See also adaptation, conflict

and self-regulation of the psyche.)





  
Any incompatibility of character can cause dissociation, and too great

  a split between the thinking and the feeling function, for instance, is

  already a slight neurosis. When you are not quite at one with yourself

  . . . you are approaching a neurotic condition.[The Tavistock

  Lectures," CW 18, par. 383.]

  
Every neurosis is characterized by dissociation and conflict, contains

  complexes, and shows traces of regression and abaissement.[Analytical

  Psychology and Education," CW 17, par. 204.]





Jung's view was that an outbreak of neurosis is purposeful, an opportunity

to become conscious of who we are as opposed to who we think we are. By

working through the symptoms that invariably accompany neurosis-anxiety,

fear, depression, guilt and particularly conflict-we become aware of our

limitations and discover our true strengths.





  
In many cases we have to say, "Thank heaven he could make up his

  mind to be neurotic." Neurosis is really an attempt at self-cure.

  . . . It is an attempt of the self-regulating psychic system to restore

  the balance, in no way different from the function of dreams-only rather

  more forceful and drastic.[The Tavistock Lectures,"

  CW 18, par. 389.]

  
I myself have known more than one person who owed his entire usefulness

  and reason for existence to a neurosis, which prevented all the worst follies

  in his life and forced him to a mode of living that developed his valuable

  potentialities. These might have been stifled had not the neurosis, with

  iron grip, held him to the place where he belonged. ["The

  Problem of the Attitude-Type," CW 7, par. 68.]





In any breakdown in conscious functioning, energy regresses and unconscious

contents are activated in an attempt to compensate the one-sidedness of

consciousness.





  
Neuroses, like all illnesses, are symptoms of maladjustment. Be-cause

  of some obstacle-a constitutional weakness or defect, wrong education,

  bad experiences, an unsuitable attitude, etc.-one shrinks from the difficulties

  which life brings and thus finds oneself back in the world of the infant.

  The unconscious compensates this regression by producing symbols which,

  when understood objectively, that is, by means of comparative research,

  reactivate general ideas that underlie all such natural systems of thought.

  In this way a change of attitude is brought about which bridges the dissociation

  between man as he is and man as he ought to be. ["The

  Philosophical Tree," CW 13, par. 473.]





Jung called his attitude toward neurosis energic or final since it was

based on the potential progression of energy rather than causal or mechanistic

reasons for its regression. The two views are not incompatible but rather

complementary: the mechanistic approach looks to the past for the cause

of psychic discomfort in the present; Jung focused on the present with an

eye to future possibilities.





  
I no longer seek the cause of a neurosis in the past, but in the present.

  I ask, what is the necessary task which the patient will not accomplish?["Psychoanalysis and Neurosis," CW4, par. 570.]

  
In psychic disturbances it is by no means sufficient in all cases merely

  to bring the supposed or real causes to consciousness. The treatment involves

  the integration of contents that have become dissociated from consciousness.[The Philosophical Tree," CW 13, par. 464.]





Jung did not dispute Freudian theory that Oedipal fixations can manifest

as neurosis in later life. He acknowledged that certain periods in life,

and particularly infancy, often have a permanent and determining influence

on the personality. But he found this to be an insufficient explanation

for those cases in which there was no trace of neurosis until the time of

the breakdown.





  
Freud's sexual theory of neurosis is grounded on a true and factual

  principle. But it makes the mistake of being one-sided and exclusive; also

  it commits the imprudence of trying to lay hold of unconfinable Eros with

  the crude terminology of sex. In this respect Freud is a typical representative

  of the materialistic epoch, whose hope it was to solve the world riddle

  in a test-tube.["The Eros Theory," CW 7, par. 33.]

  
If the fixation were indeed real [i.e., the primary cause] we should

  expect to find its influence constant; in other words, a neurosis lasting

  throughout life. This is obviously not the case. The psychological determination

  of a neurosis is only partly due to an early infantile predisposition;

  it must be due to some cause in the present as well. And if we carefully

  examine the kind of infantile fantasies and occurrences to which the neurotic

  is attached, we shall be obliged to agree that there is nothing in them

  that is specifically neurotic. Normal individuals have pretty much the

  same inner and outer experiences, and may be attached to them to an astonishing

  degree without developing a neurosis.[Psychoanalysis and

  Neurosis," CW4, par. 564.]





What then determines why one person becomes neurotic while another, in

similar circumstances, does not? Jung's answer is that the individual psyche

knows both its limits and its potential. If the former are being exceeded,

or the latter not realized, a breakdown occurs. The psyche itself acts to

correct the situation.





  
There are vast masses of the population who, despite their notorious

  unconsciousness, never get anywhere near a neurosis. The few who are smitten

  by such a fate are really persons of the "higher" type who, for

  one reason or another, have remained too long on a primitive level. Their

  nature does not in the long run tolerate persistence in what is for them

  an unnatural torpor. As a result of their narrow conscious outlook and

  their cramped existence they save energy; bit by bit it accumulates in

  the unconscious and finally explodes in the form of a more or less acute

  neurosis.[The Function of the Unconscious," CW 7, par.

  291.]





Jung's view of neurosis differs radically from the classical reductive

approach, but it does not substantially change what happens in analysis.

Activated fantasies still have to be brought to light, because the energy

needed for life is attached to them. The object, however, is not to reveal

a supposed root cause of the neurosis but to establish a connection between

consciousness and the unconscious that will result in the renewed progression

of energy.







Night sea journey. An archetypal motif in mythology, psychologically

associated with depression and the loss of energy characteristic

of neurosis. 








  
The night sea journey is a kind of descensus ad inferos--a descent

  into Hades and a journey to the land of ghosts somewhere beyond this world,

  beyond consciousness, hence an immersion in the unconscious.["The

  Psychology of the Transference," CW 16, par. 455.]





Mythologically, the night sea journey motif usually involves being swallowed

by a dragon or sea monster. It is also represented by imprisonment or crucifixion,

dismemberment or abduction, experiences traditionally weathered by sun-gods

and heroes: Gilgamesh, Osiris, Christ, Dante, Odysseus, Aeneas. In the language

of the mystics it is the dark night of the soul.





Jung interpreted such legends symbolically, as illustrations of the regressive

movement of energy in an outbreak of neurosis and its potential progression.





  
The hero is the symbolical exponent of the movement of libido. Entry

  into the dragon is the regressive direction, and the journey to the East

  (the "night sea journey") with its attendant events symbolizes

  the effort to adapt to the conditions of the psychic inner world. The complete

  swallowing up and disappearance of the hero in the belly of the dragon

  represents the complete withdrawal of interest from the outer world. The

  overcoming of the monster from within is the achievement of adaptation

  to the conditions of the inner world, and the emergence ("slipping

  out") of the hero from the monster's belly with the help of a bird,

  which happens at the moment of sunrise, symbolizes the recommencement of

  progression.["On Psychic Energy," CW 8, par. 68.]





All the night sea journey myths derive from the perceived behavior of

the sun, which, in Jung's lyrical image, "sails over the sea like an

immortal god who every evening is immersed in the maternal waters and is

born anew in the morning.["Symbols of the Mother and

of Rebirth," CW 5, par. 306.] The sun going down, analogous

to the loss of energy in a depression, is the necessary prelude to rebirth.

Cleansed in the healing waters (the unconscious), the sun (ego-consciousness)

lives again.







Nigredo. An alchemical term, corresponding psychologically to

the mental disorientation that typically arises in the process of assimilating

unconscious contents, particularly aspects of the shadow.





  
Self-knowledge is an adventure that carries us unexpectedly far and

  deep. Even a moderately comprehensive knowledge of the shadow can cause

  a good deal of confusion and mental darkness, since it gives rise to personality

  problems which one had never remotely imagined before. For this reason

  alone we can understand why the alchemists called their nigredo

  melancholia, "a black blacker than black," night, an affliction

  of the soul, confusion, etc., or, more pointedly, the "black raven."

  For us the raven seems only a funny allegory, but for the medieval adept

  it was . . . a well-known allegory of the devil.[The Conjunction,"

  CW 14, par. 741.]









Numinous. Descriptive of persons, things or situations having

a deep emotional resonance, psychologically associated with experiences

of the self.


Numinous, like numinosity, comes from Latin numinosum, referring to a dynamic

agency or effect independent of the conscious will.





  
Religious teaching as well as the consensus gentium always and

  everywhere explain this experience as being due to a cause external to

  the individual. The numinosum is either a quality belonging to a

  visible object or the influence of an invisible presence that causes a

  peculiar alteration of consciousness.[Psychology and Religion," CW

  11, par. 6.]









Objectivation. A process of differentiating the ego from

both other persons and contents of the unconscious. (See also active

imagination.)





  
Its goal is to detach consciousness from the object so that the individual

  no longer places the guarantee of his happiness, or of his life even, in

  factors outside himself, whether they be persons, ideas, or circumstances,

  but comes to realize that everything depends on whether he holds the treasure

  or not. If the possession of that gold is realized, then the centre of

  gravity is in the individual and no longer in an object on which

  he depends.[The Tavistock Lectures," CW 18, par. 377.]





Jung pointed out that the "treasure" has traditionally been

projected onto sacred figures, but that many modern individuals no longer

find satisfaction in such historical symbols. They therefore need to find

an individual method to "give shape" to the personal complexes

and archetypal images.





  
For they have to take on form, they have to live their characteristic

  life, otherwise the individual is severed from the basic function of the

  psyche [compensation], and then he is neurotic, he is disorientated and

  in conflict with himself. But if he is able to objectify the impersonal

  images and relate to them, he is in touch with that vital psychological

  function which from the dawn of consciousness has been taken care of by

  religion.[Ibid., par. 378.]









Objective level. An approach to understanding the meaning of images

in dreams and fantasies by reference to persons or situations in the outside

world. (See also reductive; compare constructive and subjective

level.)





  
Freud's interpretation of dreams is almost entirely on the objective

  level, since the dream wishes refer to real objects, or to sexual processes

  which fall within the physiological, extra-psychological sphere. [Definitions," CW 6, par. 779.]





Although Jung pioneered the teaching of dream interpretation on the subjective

level, where symbolic meaning is paramount, he also recognized the value

of the objective approach.





  
Enlightening as interpretation on the subjective level may be . . .

  it may be entirely worthless when a vitally important relationship is the

  content and cause of the conflict [behind the dream]. Here the dream-figure

  must be related to the real object. The criterion can always be discovered

  from the conscious material. [General Aspects of Dream Psychology,"

  CW 8, par. 515.]









Objective psyche. See collective unconscious.







Opposites. Psychologically, the ego and the unconscious. (See

also compensation, conflict, progression and transcendent function.)





  
There is no consciousness without discrimination of opposites.["Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype," CW

  9i, par. 178.]

  
There is no form of human tragedy that does not in some measure proceed

  from [the] conflict between the ego and the unconscious.["Analytical

  Psychology and Weltanschauung," CW 8, par. 706."]





Whatever attitude exists in the conscious mind, and whichever psychological

function is dominant, the opposite is in the unconscious. This situation

seldom precipitates a crisis in the first half of life. But for older people

who reach an impasse, characterized by a one-sided conscious attitude and

the blockage of energy, it is necessary to bring to light psychic contents

that have been repressed.





  
The repressed content must be made conscious so as to produce a tension

  of opposites, without which no forward movement is possible. The conscious

  mind is on top, the shadow underneath, and just as high always longs for

  low and hot for cold, so all consciousness, perhaps without being aware

  of it, seeks its unconscious opposite, lacking which it is doomed to stagnation,

  congestion, and ossification. Life is born only of the spark of opposites.[The Problem of the Attitude-Type," CW 7, par. 78.]





This in turn activates the process of compensation, which leads to an

irrational "third," the transcendent function.





  
Out of [the] collision of opposites the unconscious psyche always creates

  a third thing of an irrational nature, which the conscious mind neither

  expects nor understands. It presents itself in a form that is neither a

  straight "yes" nor a straight "no."[The

  Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 285.The Psychology

  of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 285.]





Jung explained the potential renewal of the personality in terms of the

principle of entropy in physics, according to which transformations of energy

in a relatively closed system take place, and are only possible, as a result

of differences in intensity.





  
Psychologically, we can see this process at work in the development

  of a lasting and relatively unchanging attitude. After violent oscillations

  at the beginning the opposites equalize one another, and gradually a new

  attitude develops, the final stability of which is the greater in proportion

  to the magnitude of the initial differences. The greater the tension between

  the pairs of opposites, the greater will be the energy that comes from

  them . . . [and] the less chance is there of subsequent disturbances which

  might arise from friction with material not previously constellated.["On Psychic Energy," CW 8, par. 49."]





Some degree of tension between consciousness and the unconsciousness

is both unavoidable and necessary. The aim of analysis is therefore not

to eliminate the tension but rather to understand the role it plays in the

self-regulation of the psyche. Moreover, the assimilation of unconscious

contents results in the ego becoming responsible for what was previously

unconscious. There is thus no question of anyone ever being completely at

peace.





  
The united personality will never quite lose the painful sense of innate

  discord. Complete redemption from the sufferings of this world is and must

  remain an illusion. Christ's earthly life likewise ended, not in complacent

  bliss, but on the cross.["The Psychology of the Transference,"

  CW 16, par. 400.]





Jung further believed that anyone who attempts to deal with the problem

of the opposites on a personal level is making a significant contribution

toward world peace.





  
The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made

  conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual

  remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite,

  the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing

  halves.[Christ, A Symbol of the Self," CW 9ii, par.

  126.]









Orientation. A term used to indicate the general principle governing

a personal attitude or viewpoint.





One's psychological orientation determines how one sees and interprets reality.

In Jung's model of typology, a thinking attitude is oriented by the principle

of logic; a sensation attitude is oriented by the direct perception of concrete

facts; intuition orients itself to future possibilities; and feeling is

governed by subjective worth. Each of these attitudes may operate in an

introverted or extraverted way.







Parental complex. A group of emotionally charged images and ideas

associated with the parents. (See also incest.)


Jung believed that the numinosity surrounding the personal parents, apparent

in their more or less magical influence, was to a large extent due to an

archetypal image of the primordial parents resident in every psyche.





  
The importance that modern psychology attaches to the "parental

  complex" is a direct continuation of primitive man's experience of

  the dangerous power of the ancestral spirits. Even the error of judgment

  which leads him unthinkingly to assume that the spirits are realities of

  the external world is carried on in our assumption (which is only partially

  correct) that the real parents are responsible for the parental complex.

  In the old trauma theory of Freudian psychoanalysis, and in other quarters

  as well, this assumption even passed for a scientific explanation. (It

  was in order to avoid this confusion that I advocated the term "parental

  imago.")[The Function of the Unconscious," CW 7,

  par. 293.]









The imago of the parents is composed of both the image created in the

individual psyche from the experience of the personal parents and collective

elements already present.





  
The image is unconsciously projected, and when the parents die, the

  projected image goes on working as though it were a spirit existing on

  its own. The primitive then speaks of parental spirits who return by night

  (revenants), while the modern man calls it a father or mother complex.

  [ Ibid., par. 294.]

  
So long as a positive or negative resemblance to the parents is the

  deciding factor in a love choice, the release from the parental imago,

  and hence from childhood, is not complete.[Mind and Earth,"

  CW 10, par. 74].









Participation mystique. A term derived from anthropology and the

study of primitive psychology, denoting a mystical connection, or identity,

between subject and object. (See also archaic, identification and

projection.)





  
[Participation mystique] consists in the fact that the subject cannot

  clearly distinguish himself from the object but is bound to it by a direct

  relationship which amounts to partial identity. . . . Among civilized peoples

  it usually occurs between persons, seldom between a person and a thing.

  In the first case it is a transference relationship . . . . In the second

  case there is a similar influence on the part of the thing, or else an

  identification with a thing or the idea of a thing.[Definitions,"

  CW 6, par. 781.]

  
[Identity] is a characteristic of the primitive mentality and the real

  foundation of participation mystique, which is nothing but a relic

  of the original non-differentiation of subject and object, and hence of

  the primordial unconscious state. It is also a characteristic of the mental

  state of early infancy, and, finally, of the unconscious of the civilized

  adult.[Ibid., par. 741.]









Persona. The "I," usually ideal aspects of ourselves,

that we present to the outside world.





  
The persona is . . . a functional complex that comes into existence

  for reasons of adaptation or personal convenience. [Ibid.,

  par. 801.]

  
The persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as

  well as others think one is.["Concerning Rebirth,"

  CW 9i, par. 221.]





Originally the word persona meant a mask worn by actors to indicate the

role they played. On this level, it is both a protective covering and an

asset in mixing with other people. Civilized society depends on interactions

between people through the persona.





  
There are indeed people who lack a developed persona . . . blundering

  from one social solecism to the next, perfectly harmless and innocent,

  soulful bores or appealing children, or, if they are women, spectral Cassandras

  dreaded for their tactlessness, eternally misunderstood, never knowing

  what they are about, always taking forgiveness for granted, blind to the

  world, hopeless dreamers. From them we can see how a neglected persona

  works.["Anima and Animus," CW 7, par. 318.]









Before the persona has been differentiated from the ego, the persona

is experienced as individuality. In fact, as a social identity on the one

hand and an ideal image on the other, there is little individual about it.





  
It is, as its name implies, only a mask of the collective psyche, a

  mask that feigns individuality, making others and oneself believe that

  one is individual, whereas one is simply acting a role through which the

  collective psyche speaks.


  When we analyse the persona we strip off the mask, and discover that what

  seemed to be individual is at bottom collective; in other words, that the

  persona was only a mask of the collective psyche. Fundamentally the persona

  is nothing real: it is a compromise between individual and society as to

  what a man should appear to be. He takes a name, earns a title, exercises

  a function, he is this or that. 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 compromise formation, in making which others

  often have a greater share than he. ["The Persona as

  a Segment of the Collective Psyche," ibid., pars. 245f.]









A psychological understanding of the persona as a function of relationship

to the outside world makes it possible to assume and drop one at will. But

by rewarding a particular persona, the outside world invites identification

with it. Money, respect and power come to those who can perform single-mindedly

and well in a social role. From being a useful convenience, therefore, the

persona may become a trap and a source of neurosis.





  
A man cannot get rid of himself in favour of an artificial personality

  without punishment. Even the attempt to do so brings on, in all ordinary

  cases, unconscious reactions in the form of bad moods, affects, phobias,

  obsessive ideas, backsliding vices, etc. The social "strong man"

  is in his private life often a mere child where his own states of feeling

  are concerned.["Anima and Animus," ibid., par.

  307. ]

  
The demands of propriety and good manners are an added inducement to

  assume a becoming mask. What goes on behind the mask is then called "private

  life." This painfully familiar division of consciousness into two

  figures, often preposterously different, is an incisive psychological operation

  that is bound to have repercussions on the unconscious.[Ibid.,

  par. 305.]





Among the consequences of identifying with a persona are: we lose sight

of who we are without a protective covering; our reactions are predetermined

by collective expectations (we do and think and feel what our persona "should"

do, think and feel); those close to us complain of our emotional distance;

and we cannot imagine life without it.





To the extent that ego-consciousness is identified with the persona, the

neglected inner life (personified in the shadow and anima or animus) is

activated in compensation. The consequences, experienced in symptoms characteristic

of neurosis, can stimulate the process of individuation.





  
There is, after all, something individual in the peculiar choice and

  delineation of the persona, and . . . despite the exclusive identity of

  the ego-consciousness with the persona the unconscious self, one's real

  individuality, is always present and makes itself felt indirectly if not

  directly. Although the ego-consciousness is at first identical with the

  persona-that compromise role in which we parade before the community-yet

  the unconscious self can never be repressed to the point of extinction.

  Its influence is chiefly manifest in the special nature of the contrasting

  and compensating contents of the unconscious. The purely personal attitude

  of the conscious mind evokes reactions on the part of the unconscious,

  and these, together with personal repressions, contain the seeds of individual

  development.[The Persona as a Segment of the Collective Psyche,"

  ibid., par. 247.]









Personal unconscious. The personal layer of the unconscious,

distinct from the collective unconscious.





  
The personal unconscious contains lost memories, painful ideas that

  are repressed (i.e., forgotten on purpose), subliminal perceptions, by

  which are meant sense-perceptions that were not strong enough to reach

  consciousness, and finally, contents that are not yet ripe for consciousness.[The Personal and the Collective Unconscious," ibid., par.

  103.]









Personality. Aspects of the soul as it functions in the world.

(See also individuality.)



For the development of personality, differentiation from collective values,

particularly those embodied in and adhered to by the persona, is essential.





  
A change from one milieu to another brings about a striking alteration

  of personality, and on each occasion a clearly defined character emerges

  that is noticeably different from the previous one. . . . The social character

  is oriented on the one hand by the expectations and demands of society,

  and on the other by the social aims and aspirations of the individual.

  The domestic character is, as a rule, moulded by emotional demands and

  an easy-going acquiescence for the sake of comfort and convenience; when

  it frequently happens that men who in public life are extremely energetic,

  spirited, obstinate, wilful and ruthless appear good-natured, mild, compliant,

  even weak, when at home and in the bosom of the family. Which is the true

  character, the real personality? . . .


  . . . . In my view the answer to the above question should be that such

  a man has no real character at all: he is not individual but collective,

  the plaything of circumstance and general expectations. Were he individual,

  he would have the same character despite the variation of attitude. He

  would not be identical with the attitude of the moment, and he neither

  would nor could prevent his individuality from expressing itself just as

  clearly in one state as in another.["Definitions,"

  CW 6, pars. 798f.]









Personification. The tendency of psychic contents or complexes

to take on a distinct personality, separate from the ego.





  
Every autonomous or even relatively autonomous complex has the peculiarity

  of appearing as a personality, i.e., of being personified. This can be

  observed most readily in the so-called spiritualistic manifestations of

  automatic writing and the like. The sentences produced are always personal

  statements and are propounded in the first person singular, as though behind

  every utterance there stood an actual personality. A naïve intelligence

  at once thinks of spirits.["Anima and Animus,"

  CW 7, par. 312.]





The ego may also deliberately personify unconscious contents or the affects

that arise from them, using the method of active imagination, in order to

facilitate communication between consciousness and the unconscious.







Philosophers' stone. In alchemy, a metaphor for the successful

transmutation of base metal into gold; psychologically, an archetypal image

of wholeness. (See also coniunctio.)



Jung quoted from the Rosarium philosophorum:





  
Make a round circle of man and woman, extract therefrom a quadrangle

  and from it a triangle. Make the circle round, and you will have the Philosophers'

  Stone.["Psychology and Religion," CW 11, par. 92.]









Possession. A term used to describe the identification

of consciousness with an unconscious content or complex. The most

common forms of possession are by the shadow and the contrasexual complexes,

anima/animus.





  
A man who is possessed by his shadow is always standing in his own light

  and falling into his own traps. Whenever possible, he prefers to make an

  unfavorable impression on others. . . .


  Possession caused by the anima or animus presents a different picture.

  . . . In the state of possession both figures lose their charm and their

  values; they retain them only when they are turned away from the world,

  in the introverted state, when they serve as bridges to the unconscious.

  Turned towards the world, the anima is fickle, capricious, moody, uncontrolled

  and emotional, sometimes gifted with daemonic intuitions, ruthless, malicious,

  untruthful, bitchy, double-faced, and mystical. The animus is obstinate,

  harping on principles, laying down the law, dogmatic, world-reforming,

  theoretic, word-mongering, argumentative, and domineering. Both alike have

  bad taste: the anima surrounds herself with inferior people, and the animus

  lets himself be taken in by second-rate thinking.["Concerning

  Rebirth," CW 9i, pars. 222f.]









Power complex. A group of emotionally toned ideas associated with

an attitude that seeks to subordinate all influences and experience to the

supremacy of the personal ego.







Prima materia. An alchemical term meaning "original matter,"

used psychologically to denote both the instinctual foundation of life and

the raw material one works with in analysis-dreams, emotions, conflicts,

etc.







Primary function. The psychological function that is most differentiated.

(Compare inferior function.) In Jung's model of typology, the primary

or superior function is the one we automatically use because it comes most

naturally.





  
Experience shows that it is practically impossible, owing to adverse

  circumstances in general, for anyone to develop all his psychological functions

  simultaneously. The demands of society compel a man to apply himself first

  and foremost to the differentiation of the function with which he is best

  equipped by nature, or which will secure him the greatest social success.

  Very frequently, indeed as a general rule, a man identifies more or less

  completely with the most favoured and hence the most developed function.

  It is this that gives rise to the various psychological types.[Definitions,"

  CW 6, par. 763.]





In deciding which of the four functions-thinking, feeling, sensation

or intuition-is primary, one must closely observe which function is more

or less completely under conscious control, and which functions have a haphazard

or random character. The superior function (which can manifest in either

an introverted or an extraverted way) is always more highly developed than

the others, which possess infantile and primitive traits.





  
The superior function is always an expression of the conscious personality,

  of its aims, will, and general performance, whereas the less differentiated

  functions fall into the category of things that simply "happen"

  to one.[General Description of the Types," ibid., par.

  575.]









Primitive. Descriptive of the original, or undifferentiated, human

psyche. (See also archaic.)





  
I use the term "primitive" in the sense of "primordial,"

  and . . . do not imply any kind of value judgment. Also, when I speak of

  a "vestige" of a primitive state, I no not necessarily mean that

  this state will sooner or later come to an end. On the contrary, I see

  no reason why it should not endure as long as humanity lasts.["A

  Review of the Complex Theory," CW 8, par. 218.]









Primordial image. See archetypal image.







Progression. The daily advance of the process of psychological

adaptation, the opposite of regression. (See also neurosis.)





  
Progression is a forwards movement of life in the same sense that time

  moves forwards. This movement can occur in two different forms: either

  extraverted, when the progression is predominantly influenced by objects

  and environmental conditions, or introverted, when it has to adapt itself

  to the conditions of the ego (or, more accurately, of the "subjective

  factor"). Similarly, regression can proceed along two lines: either

  as a retreat from the outside world (introversion), or as a flight into

  extravagant experience of the outside world (extraversion). Failure in

  the first case drives a man into a state of dull brooding, and in the second

  case into leading the life of a wastrel. ["On Psychic

  Energy," ibid., par. 77.]





In the normal course of life, there is a relatively easy progression

of libido; energy may be directed more or less at will. This is not the

same as psychological development or individuation. Progression refers simply

to the continuous flow or current of life. It is commonly interrupted by

a conflict or the inability to adapt to changing circumstances.





  
During the progression of libido the pairs of opposites are united in

  the co-ordinated flow of psychic processes. . . . But in the stoppage of

  libido that occurs when progression has become impossible, positive and

  negative can no longer unite in co-ordinated action, because both have

  attained an equal value which keeps the scales balanced. [Ibid.,

  par. 61.]





The struggle between the opposites would continue unabated if the process

of regression, the backward movement of libido, did not set in, its purpose

being to compensate the conscious attitude.





  
Through their collision the opposites are gradually deprived of value

  and depotentiated. . . . In proportion to the decrease in value of the

  conscious opposites there is an increase in value of all those psychic

  processes which are not concerned with outward adaptation and therefore

  are seldom or never employed consciously.["On Psychic

  Energy," ibid., par. 62.]





As the energic value of these previously unconscious psychic processes

increases, they manifest indirectly as disturbances of conscious behavior

and symptoms characteristic of neurosis. Prominent aspects of the psyche

one then needs to become aware of are the persona, the contrasexual complex

(anima/animus) and the shadow.







Projection. An automatic process whereby contents of one's own

unconscious are perceived to be in others. (See also archaic, identification

and participation mystique.)





  
Just as we tend to assume that the world is as we see it, we naïvely

  suppose that people are as we imagine them to be. . . . All the contents

  of our unconscious are constantly being projected into our surroundings,

  and it is only by recognizing certain properties of the objects as projections

  or imagos that we are able to distinguish them from the real properties

  of the objects. . . . Cum grano salis, we always see our own unavowed

  mistakes in our opponent. Excellent examples of this are to be found in

  all personal quarrels. Unless we are possessed of an unusual degree of

  self-awareness we shall never see through our projections but must always

  succumb to them, because the mind in its natural state presupposes the

  existence of such projections. It is the natural and given thing for unconscious

  contents to be projected.["General Aspects of Dream

  Psychology," ibid., par. 507.]"

  
Projection means the expulsion of a subjective content into an object;

  it is the opposite of introjection. Accordingly, it is a process of dissimilation,

  by which a subjective content becomes alienated from the subject and is,

  so to speak, embodied in the object. The subject gets rid of painful, incompatible

  contents by projecting them.[Definitions," CW 6, par.

  783.]





Projection is not a conscious process. One meets with projections, one

does not make them.





  
The general psychological reason for projection is always an activated

  unconscious that seeks expression.["The Tavistock Lectures,"

  CW 18, par. 352.]





It is possible to project certain characteristics onto another person

who does not possess them at all, but the one being projected upon may unconsciously

encourage it.





  
It frequently happens that the object offers a hook to the projection,

  and even lures it out. This is generally the case when the object himself

  (or herself) is not conscious of the quality in question: in that way it

  works directly upon the unconscious of the projicient. For all projections

  provoke counter-projections when the object is unconscious of the quality

  projected upon it by the subject.[General Aspects of Dream

  Psychology," CW 8, par. 519.]





Through projection one can create a series of imaginary relationships

that often have little or nothing to do with the outside world.





  
The effect of projection is to isolate the subject from his environment,

  since instead of a real relation to it there is now only an illusory one.

  Projections change the world into the replica of one's own unknown face.

  In the last analysis, therefore, they lead to an autoerotic or autistic

  condition in which one dreams a world whose reality remains forever unattainable.[The Shadow," CW 9ii, par. 17.]





Projection also has positive effects. In everyday life it facilitates

interpersonal relations. In addition, when we assume that some quality or

characteristic is present in another, and then, through experience, find

that this is not so, we can learn something about ourselves. This involves

withdrawing or dissolving projections.





  
So long as the libido can use these projections as agreeable and convenient

  bridges to the world, they will alleviate life in a positive way. But as

  soon as the libido wants to strike out on another path, and for this purpose

  begins running back along the previous bridges of projection, they will

  work as the greatest hindrances it is possible to imagine, for they effectively

  prevent any real detachment from the former object.["General

  Aspects of Dream Psychology," CW 8, par. 507.]





The need to withdraw projections is generally signaled by frustrated

expectations in relationships, accompanied by strong affect. But Jung believed

that until there is an obvious discordance between what we imagine to be

true and the reality we are presented with, there is no need to speak of

projections, let alone withdraw them.





  
Projection . . . is properly so called only when the need to dissolve

  the identity with the object has already arisen. This need arises when

  the identity becomes a disturbing factor, i.e., when the absence of the

  projected content is a hindrance to adaptation and its withdrawal into

  the subject has become desirable. From this moment the previous partial

  identity acquires the character of projection. The term projection therefore

  signifies a state of identity that has become noticeable.["Definitions,"

  CW 6, par. 783.]





Jung distinguished between passive projection and active

projection. Passive projection is completely automatic and unintentional,

like falling in love. The less we know about another person, the easier

it is to passively project unconscious aspects of ourselves onto them.


Active projection is better known as empathy-we feel ourselves into the

other's shoes. Empathy that extends to the point where we lose our own standpoint

becomes identification.



The projection of the personal shadow generally falls on persons of the

same sex. On a collective level, it gives rise to war, scapegoating and

confrontations between political parties. Projection that takes place in

the context of a therapeutic relationship is called transference or countertransference,

depending on whether the analysand or the analyst is the one projecting.





In terms of the contrasexual complexes, anima and animus, projection is

both a common cause of animosity and a singular source of vitality.





  
When animus and anima meet, the animus draws his sword of power and

  the anima ejects her poison of illusion and seduction. The outcome need

  not always be negative, since the two are equally likely to fall in love.[The Syzygy: Anima and Animus," CW 9ii, par. 30.]









Provisional life. A term used to describe an attitude toward life

that is more or less imaginary, not rooted in the here and now, commonly

associated with puer psychology.







Psyche. The totality of all psychological processes, both conscious

and unconscious.





  
The psyche is far from being a homogenous unit--on the contrary, it

  is a boiling cauldron of contradictory impulses, inhibitions, and affects,

  and for many people the conflict between them is so insupportable that

  they even wish for the deliverance preached by theologians.["Psychological

  Aspects of the Mother Archetype," CW 9i, par. 190.]





The way in which the psyche manifests is a complicated interplay of many

factors, including an individual's age, sex, hereditary disposition, psychological

type and attitude, and degree of conscious control over the instincts.





  
Psychic processes . . . behave like a scale along which consciousness

  "slides." At one moment it finds itself in the vicinity of instinct,

  and falls under its influence; at another, it slides along to the other

  end where spirit predominates and even assimilates the instinctual processes

  most opposed to it. ["On the Nature of the Psyche,"

  CW 8, par. 408.]





The tremendous complexity of psychic phenomena led Jung to the belief

that attempts to formulate a comprehensive theory of the psyche were doomed

to failure.





  
The premises are always far too simple. The psyche is the starting-point

  of all human experience, and all the knowledge we have gained eventually

  leads back to it. The psyche is the beginning and end of all cognition.

  It is not only the object of its science, but the subject also. This gives

  psychology a unique place among all the other sciences: on the one hand

  there is a constant doubt as to the possibility of its being a science

  at all, while on the other hand psychology acquires the right to state

  a theoretical problem the solution of which will be one of the most difficult

  tasks for a future philosophy.[Psychological Factors in Human

  Behaviour," ibid., par. 261.]









Psychic energy. See libido.







Psychization. The process of reflection whereby an instinct

or unconscious content is made conscious.







Psychogenic. Descriptive of mental disturbances having a psychological

rather than physiological origin.





  
Nobody doubts that the neuroses are psychogenic. "Psychogenesis"

  means that the essential cause of a neurosis, or the condition under which

  it arises, is of a psychic nature. It may, for instance, be a psychic shock,

  a gruelling conflict, a wrong kind of psychic adaptation, a fatal illusion,

  and so on.["Mental disease and the Psyche," CW

  3, par. 496.]









Psychoid. A concept applicable to virtually any archetype, expressing

the essentially unknown but experienceable connection between psyche and

matter.





  
Psyche is essentially conflict between blind instinct and will (freedom

  of choice). Where instinct predominates, psychoid processes set

  in which pertain to the sphere of the unconscious as elements incapable

  of consciousness. The psychoid process is not the unconscious as such,

  for this has a far greater extension.["On the Nature

  of the Psyche," CW 8, par. 380.]

  
It seems to me probable that the real nature of the archetype is not

  capable of being made conscious, that it is transcendent, on which account

  I call it psychoid. [ Ibid., par. 417.]









Psychological types. See type and typology.







Psychopomp. A psychic factor that mediates unconscious contents

to consciousness, often personified in the image of a wise old man or woman,

and sometimes as a helpful animal.







Psychosis. An extreme dissociation of the personality. Like neurosis,

a psychotic condition is due to the activity of unconscious complexes and

the phenomenon of splitting. In neurosis, the complexes are only relatively

autonomous. In psychosis, they are completely disconnected from consciousness.





  
To have complexes is in itself normal; but if the complexes are incompatible,

  that part of the personality which is too contrary to the conscious part

  becomes split off. If the split reaches the organic structure, the dissociation

  is a psychosis, a schizophrenic condition, as the term denotes. Each complex

  then lives an existence of its own, with no personality left to tie them

  together.["The Tavistock Lectures," CW 18, par.

  382.]

  
[In schizophrenia] the split-off figures assume banal, grotesque, or

  highly exaggerated names and characters, and are often objectionable in

  many other ways. They do not, moreover, co-operate with the patient's consciousness.

  They are not tactful and they have no respect for sentimental values. On

  the contrary, they break in and make a disturbance at any time, they torment

  the ego in a hundred ways; all are objectionable and shocking, either in

  their noisy and impertinent behaviour or in their grotesque cruelty and

  obscenity. There is an apparent chaos of incoherent visions, voices, and

  characters, all of an overwhelmingly strange and incomprehensible nature.[On the Psychogenesis of Schizophrenia," CW 3, par. 508.]





Jung believed that many psychoses, and particularly schizophrenia, were

psychogenic, resulting from an abaissement du niveau mental and an

ego too weak to resist the onslaught of unconscious contents. He reserved

judgment on whether biological factors were a contributing cause.







Puer aeternus. Latin for "eternal child," used in mythology

to designate a child-god who is forever young; psychologically it refers

to an older man whose emotional life has remained at an adolescent level,

usually coupled with too great a dependence on the mother.[The term puella

is used when referring to a woman, though one might also speak of a puer

animus-or a puella anima.]





The puer typically leads a provisional life, due to the fear of being caught

in a situation from which it might not be possible to escape. His lot is

seldom what he really wants and one day he will do something about it-but

not just yet. Plans for the future slip away in fantasies of what will be,

what could be, while no decisive action is taken to change. He covets independence

and freedom, chafes at boundaries and limits, and tends to find any restriction

intolerable.





  
[The world] makes demands on the masculinity of a man, on his ardour,

  above all on his courage and resolution when it comes to throwing his whole

  being into the scales. For this he would need a faithless Eros, one capable

  of forgetting his mother and undergoing the pain of relinquishing the first

  love of his life.[The Syzygy: Anima and Animus," CW

  9ii, par. 22.]





Common symptoms of puer psychology are dreams of imprisonment and similar

imagery: chains, bars, cages, entrapment, bondage. Life itself, existential

reality, is experienced as a prison. The bars are unconscious ties to the

unfettered world of early life.





The puer's shadow is the senex (Latin for "old man"), associated

with the god Apollo-disciplined, controlled, responsible, rational, ordered.

Conversely, the shadow of the senex is the puer, related to Dionysus-unbounded

instinct, disorder, intoxication, whimsy.



Whoever lives out one pattern to the exclusion of the other risks constellating

the opposite. Hence individuation quite as often involves the need for a

well-controlled person to get closer to the spontaneous, instinctual life

as it does the puer's need to grow up.








  
The "eternal child" in man is an indescribable experience,

  an incongruity, a handicap, and a divine prerogative; an imponderable that

  determines the ultimate worth or worthlessness of a personality.[The

  Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 300.]









Bibliography







The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. 20 vols. Bollingen Series XX,

translated by R.F.C. Hull, edited 


by H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, and Wm. McGuire. Princeton University

Press,


Princeton,1953-1979.



The names of the individual volumes are as follows:



1. Psychiatric Studies


2. Experimental Researches


3. The Psychogenesis of Mental Disease


4. Freud and Psychoanalysis


5. Symbols of Transformation


6. Psychological Types


7. Two Essays on Analytical Psychology


8. The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche


9i. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious


9ii. Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self


10. Civilization in Transition


11. Psychology and Religion: West and East


12. Psychology and Alchemy


13. Alchemical Studies


14. Mysterium Coniunctionis


15. The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature


16. The Practice of Psychotherapy


17. The Development of Personality


18. The Symbolic Life: Miscellaneous Writings


19. General Bibliography of Jung's Writings


20. General Index



C.G. Jung Letters. Bollingen Series XCV. 2 vols. Ed. Gerhard Adler

and Aniela


Jaffé.Trans.R.F.C.Hull. Princeton University Press, Prince-ton, 1973.



Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Ed. Aniela Jaffé. Pantheon

Books, New York, 1961.



The Freud/Jung Letters. Bollingen Series XCIV. Ed. William McGuire.

Trans. Ralph Manheim and


R.F.C. Hull. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1974.



Nietzsche's Zarathustra: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1934-1939.

Bollingen Series XCIX. 2 vols.


Ed. James L. Jarrett. Princeton Univer-sity Press, 1988.