Readers of Antiquity

What sort of man was Carl Jung? Physically, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and strong. He was a mountain climber and expert sailor. He enjoyed gardening, splitting wood, chiseling stone, building, and other manual activities. He liked to play games. He was a good eater, drank wine, and smoked cigars and a pipe. He was an active, vigorous, healthy man." More than all this however, he was first and foremost, a 'God of Thought.'

If you doubt this, read the book A Primer of Jungian Psychology, written by Calvin S. Hall and Vernon J. Nordby and published by Mentor Press in 1973.

A true mark of his brilliance was his deep interest in human spirituality. Even the word 'psyche' comes from a Latin term meaning spirit or soul. As Jung saw it, the spirit is born whole but sometimes breaks apart like a jigsaw puzzle. "Jung's work as a psychoanalyst was to help patients recover their lost wholeness, and to resist future dismemberment."

To understand Jung's work, it is important to understand his theory of Archetypes. It is the idea that nothing has meaning in itself. We ourselves attribute meaning to every person, place, or thing in our environment. This creates Archetypes or symbols of meaning. For example, every person has a Mother-Archetype. This mother figure will always affect the way we feel about women.

This type of mental processing is clearly seen in ancient mythology. These myths show the mind's ability to create symbols in an attempt to explain existence.

The psyche is even divided into four different archetypes. They consist of the Persona, the Anima or Animus, the Shadow, and the Self. The remainder of this review will be dedicated to explaining these archetypes.

The Persona was a mask worn by an actor that enabled him to play a certain role. "The persona is the mask or façade one exhibits publicly, with the intention of presenting a favorable impression so that society will accept him. It might also be called the Conformity Archetype."

The persona has evolved for our benefit. Like seasoned actors, we use this role-playing aspect of ourselves to become better fathers, mothers, friends, and workers. We may not always want to sit on the floor and color with our children, but the parent-role allows us to do so.

Danger arises, however, when there is a lack of balance. Living too much of an artificial life will lead to neurosis. Personal likes and dislikes must not be continually repressed. Trying to be everything to everyone will eventually cause mental breakdown.

Next is the Anima/Animus portion of our spirit. "The anima archetype is the feminine side of the male psyche; the animus archetype is the masculine side of the female psyche. Every person has qualities of the opposite sex, not only in the biological sense that man and woman secrete both male and female sex hormones but also in a psychological sense of attitudes and feelings." The female and male parts of our psyches have a two-fold purpose. First, each allows us a better understanding of the opposite sex. Second, it's part of the reason why we are attracted to each other. A woman is the feminine side of man. Likewise, a man is the masculine side of woman.

The third part of our psyche is the Shadow. "The shadow contains more of man's basic animal nature than the other archetypes do. Because of its extremely deep roots in evolutionary history, it is probably the most powerful and potentially the most dangerous of all the archetypes. It is the source of all that is best and worst in man, especially in his relations with others of the same sex."

Last, the Self is the archetype of order, organization, and unification; it draws to itself and harmonizes all the archetypes and their manifestations in complexes and consciousness. It unites the personality, giving it a sense of 'oneness' and firmness. "When a person says he feels in harmony with himself and with the world, we can be sure that the self archetype is performing its work effectively."

What does all this mean? In understanding ourselves, we come to understand others. The study of spirituality and psychology may eventually eliminate the need for war and all other human atrocities. This was foremost the motivating passion of Jung's work.

I'll end with what may have been on Jung's mind every day of his life. "What have all our cultural achievements led to? The fearful answer is there before our eyes: man has been delivered from no fear, a hideous nightmare lies upon the world. Man has achieved a wealth of useful gadgets, but, to offset that, he has torn open the abyss, and what will become of him now—where can he make a halt?"