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http://www.gnosis.org/jung_alchemy.htm

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THE GNOSIS ARCHIVE

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C. G. Jung and the Alchemical Renewal

by Stephan A. Hoeller

The lovely little town of Knittlingen, near the Black Forrest in West Germany, is noted far-and-wide as the original residence of the famed Dr. Johannes Faustus. A plaque in the small but exquisite museum devoted to the facts and legends concerning Dr. Faust tells us that, although alchemy has often been considered a pseudo-science based on the pretense that gold could be made from other metals, it is now known that, in reality, it was a spiritual art having as its aim the psychological transformation of the alchemist himself. This public statement, viewed daily by large numbers of visitors, demonstrates most impressively the rehabilitated image alchemy has acquired in recent decades. This positive change is due in large measure to the work of one remarkable man: Carl Gustav Jung.

When Jung published his first major work on alchemy at the end of World War II, most reference books described this discipline as nothing more than a fraudulent and inefficient forerunner of modern chemistry. Today, more than twenty-five years after Jung's death, alchemy is once again a respected subject of both academic and popular interest, and alchemical terminology is used with great frequency in textbooks of depth-psychology and other disciplines. It may be said without exaggeration that the contemporary status of alchemy owes its very existence to the psychological wizard of Küsnacht. Take away the monumental contribution of C.G. Jung, and most modern research concerning this fascinating subject falls like a house of cards; to speak of alchemy in our age and not mention him could be likened to discoursing on Occultism without noting the importance of Helena P. Blavatsky, or discussing religious studies in contemporary American universities without paying homage to Mircea Eliade.

Jung's "first love" among esoteric systems was Gnosticism. From the earliest days of his scientific career until the time of his death, his dedication to the subject of Gnosticism was relentless. As early as August, 1912, Jung intimated in a letter to Freud that he had an intuition that the essentially feminine-toned archaic wisdom of the Gnostics, symbolically called Sophia, was destined to re-enter modern Western culture by way of depth-psychology. Subsequently, he stated to Barbara Hannah that when he discovered the writings of the ancient Gnostics, "I felt as if I had at last found a circle of friends who understood me."

The circle of ancient friends was a fragile one, however. Very little reliable, first-hand information was available to Jung within which he could have found the world and spirit of such past Gnostic luminaries as Valentinus, Basilides, and others. The fragmentary, and possibly mendacious, accounts of Gnostic teachings and practices appearing in the works of such heresy-hunting church fathers as Irenaeus and Hippolytus were a far cry from the wealth of archetypal lore available to us today in the Nag Hammadi collection. Of primary sources, the remarkable Pistis Sophia was one of very few available to Jung in translation, and his appreciation of this work was so great that he made a special effort to seek out the translator, the then aged and impecunious George R. S. Mead, in London to convey to him his great gratitude.1 Jung continued to explore Gnostic lore with great diligence, and his own personal matrix of inner experience became so affinitized to Gnostic imagery that he wrote the only published document of his great transformational crisis, The Seven Sermons to the Dead, using purely Gnostic terminology and mythologems of the system of Basilides.2

In all this devoted study, Jung was disturbed by one principal difficulty: The ancient Gnostic myths and traditions were some seventeen or eighteen hundred years old, and no living link seemed to exist that might join them to Jung's own time. (There is some minimal and obscure evidence indicating that Jung was aware of a few small and secretive Gnostic groups in France and Germany, but their role in constituting such a link did not seem firmly enough established.) As far as Jung could discern, the tradition that might have connected the Gnostics with the present seemed to have been broken. However, his intuition (later justified by painstaking research) disclosed to him that the chief link connecting later ages with the Gnostics was in fact none other than alchemy. While his primary interest at this time was Gnosticism, he was already aware of the relevance of alchemy to his concerns. Referring to his intense inner experiences occurring between 1912 and 1919 he wrote:

First I had to find evidence for the historical prefiguration of my own inner experiences. That is to say, I had to ask myself, "Where have my particular premises already occurred in history?" If I had not succeeded in finding such evidence, I would never have been able to substantiate my ideas. Therefore, my encounter with alchemy was decisive for me, as it provided me with the historical basis which I hitherto lacked.3

In 1926 Jung had a remarkable dream. He felt himself transported back into the seventeenth century, and saw himself as an alchemist, engaged in the opus, or great work of alchemy. Prior to this time, Jung, along with other psychoanalysts, was intrigued and taken aback by the tragic fate of Herbert Silberer, a disciple of Freud, who in 1914 published a work dealing largely with the psychoanalytic implications of alchemy. Silberer, who upon proudly presenting his book to his master Freud, was coldly rebuked by him, became despondent and ended his life by suicide, thus becoming what might be called the first martyr to the cause of a psychological view of alchemy.

Now it all came together, as it were. The Gnostic Sophia was about to begin her triumphal return to the arena of modern thought, and the psychological link connecting her and her modern devotees would be the long despised, but about to be rehabilitated, symbolic discipline of alchemy. The recognition had come. Heralded by a dream, the role of alchemy as the link connecting ancient Gnosticism with modern psychology, as well as Jung's role in reviving this link, became apparent. As Jung was to recollect later:

[Alchemy] represented the historical link with Gnosticism, and . . . a continuity therefore existed between past and present. Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed the bridge on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.4

Richard Wilhelm and the Chinese Connection

In 1928 the eminent German Sinologist, Richard Wilhelm, recently returned after a long period of residence in China, sent Jung a manuscript of a translation of an alchemical treatise of Taoist origin and requested that Jung might write a psychological commentary on the text. This work, subsequently known as The Secret of the Golden Flower catapulted C.G. Jung into the very midst of alchemical themes and interests. His studies disclosed that Chinese alchemy, just like the alchemy of the West, deals primarily with the transformational symbolism of the human soul. Although the ancient Taoists postulated that the quest for immortality was the central work of alchemy, their "Golden Flower" of immortality is not substantially different from the "Stone of the Philosophers," which is the supreme objective of Western practitioners of the Great Art.

Not only was there a rainbow bridge discernible that connected modern depth-psychology with the Gnostics of old, but there was also a similar bridge linking these Western traditions and disciplines with the Taoist sages of the ancient Middle Kingdom. While the bridge linking the past with the present might be envisioned historically, the bridge joining East with West might be seen to consist of archetypal rather than historical substance. As Richard Wilhelm himself came to state:

Chinese wisdom and Dr. Jung have both descended independently of one another into the depths of man's collective psyche and have there come upon realities which look so alike because thy are equally anchored in truth. This would prove that the truth can be reached from any standpoint if only one digs deep enough for it, and the congruity between the Swiss scientist and the old Chinese sages only goes to show that both are right because both have found the truth.5

And now, we might ask at this point, might this truth be defined? It is a psychic fact that the opposites arising from the dark matter of the birth-agonies of the human soul confront each other in the alchemical vessel of spiritual transformation (in Chinese alchemy frequently envisioned as the human body) and after many battles, woundings, and indeed deaths, ultimately come to unite in an indestructible state in the reconciliation of the binaries. Thus the lunar Queen and solar King (represented in China by the symbols of the Yin and Yang) are living presences within us, heralding the promise of the Philosophers' Stone or the Golden Flower which we are destined to become ourselves. "The Chinese Connection" thus revealed to Jung that alchemy is based upon universal archetypal principles which are of equal relevance to ancient Gnostics, Taoist wise men, and modern psychologists. It is thus that Jung found in the symbolism of alchemy one of the most potent connecting links between the psyches of Eastern and Western peoples. In the conclusion of his collaborative work with Wilhelm may be found the following words: "The purpose of my commentary is to attempt to build a bridge of psychological understanding between East and West."

Alchemical Redemption

Jung's dreams in 1925, 1926, and thereafter frequently found him in ancient houses surrounded by alchemical codices of great beauty and mystery. Inspired by such images, Jung amassed a library on the great art which represents probably one of the finest private collections in this field. In addition he secured photocopies of a large number of rare works which repose in various collections the world over. I well remember being told by the late Dr. Henry Drake, Vice President of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, how Jung secured copies of the extensive alchemical collection of the Society in the 1940's, and expressed his feelings to Manly P. Hall of that Society concerning the valuable use to which he had put these materials in his book Psychology and Alchemy. Jung's collection of rare works on alchemy is still extant in his former house in Küsnacht, a suburb of Zurich.

When asked whether he valued any alchemical work above others, Jung was wont to single out first one then another according to its applicability to the theme being discussed. Aniela Jaffe stated that "fundamentally it was not the thoughts of individual alchemists that were of importance for Jung's researches as much as the inexhaustible variety of their arcane images and descriptions, apparently so different yet all interrelated."6 Anyone who has had the good fortune to observe some of the major alchemical codices in their original form and feast their eyes on the incredibly impressive imagery, pictured in vivid colors and fantastic shapes, will sympathize with Jung's habit of meditating upon this imagery as an exercise in altered and expanded consciousness!

In 1935, after years of intense study and inner transformations, Jung presented some of his findings to the world for the first time. Needless to say this did not occur in some cold academic setting, but at the beautiful Villa Eranos, in Ascona. Surrounded by a splendid garden, elegant furnishings, fine wines and refreshments, the brilliant and distinguished guests of Madame Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn gathered to witness the unveiling of alchemy in its 20th Century psychological embodiment. In a lecture entitled "Dream Symbols and the Individuation Process" Jung traced the alchemical symbolism evident in the dreams of contemporary persons, thereby establishing that alchemy still lives in modern minds even as it did in ancient Alexandria or medieval Europe. A year later, at the same place, he lectured on "The Idea of Redemption in Alchemy." The select audience was intrigued and enchanted. The time had assuredly come when the hermetic silence could be broken and the gnosis of alchemy could be made available to an increasing number. For seven more years Jung worked with great diligence, expanding and amplifying his researches into alchemy. His labors culminated in his chef d'oevre, published in 1944, and entitled Psychology and Alchemy. Even some seminal pronouncements related to alchemy in his address delivered in 1941, on the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Swiss alchemist, Paracelsus. This lecture, which was later expanded and included in the 13th volume of Jung's Collected Works entitled Alchemical Studies, presents what is perhaps the clearest picture on record of Jung's fundamental attitude toward alchemy.

The point frequently missed by students of Jung, but amply elucidated by him in his above noted address (published under the title "Paracelsus as a Spiritual Phenomenon"), concerns the topic of alchemy as a modality of redemption. With Paracelsus, Jung held that in human life we possess two sources of Gnosis, or salvific knowledge. One of these is Lumen Dei, the light proceeding from the unmanifest Godhead, the other is Lumen Naturae, the light hidden in matter and the forces of nature. While the Divine Light may be discerned and appreciated in revelation and in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Light of Nature needs to be released through alchemy before it can become fully operative. God redeems humanity, but nature needs to be redeemed by human alchemists, who are able to induce the process of transformation which alone is capable of liberating the light imprisoned in physical creation.

The cosmos, according to Paracelsus, contains the divine light or life, but this holy essence is enmeshed in a mechanical trap, presided over by a kind of demiurge, named by Paracelsus Hylaster (from hyle, "matter," and astrum, "star"). The cosmic spider-god has spun a web within which the light, like an insect, is caught, until the alchemical process bursts the web. The web is none other than the consensus reality composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire and air, within which all creatures exist. The first operation of alchemy therefore addresses itself to the breaking up (torturing, bleeding, dismembering) of this confining structure and reducing it to a condition of creative chaos (massa confusa, prima materia). From this, in the process of transformation, the true, creative binaries emerge and begin their interaction designed to bring about the coniunctio or alchemical union. In this ultimate union, says Jung, the previously confined light is redeemed and brought to the point of its ultimate and redemptive fulfillment.

While these statements ostensibly refer to the material universe and to nature, Jung perceives in them a model or paradigm for the material and natural aspect of human nature as well. Under the guise of liberating the light confined in matter, the alchemists were endeavoring to redeem the spirit or psychic energy locked up in the body and psyche (the "natural man" of St. Paul) and thus make this energy available for the greater tasks of the spirit or spiritual man.

The roots of this thinking within both the Christian and the Hermetic gnosis are clearly acknowledged by Jung, who likens the imprisoned light to the primordial man of the Gnostics, the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalah, and by association to the lost lightsparks of the Kabbalah of Isaac Luria. (The implications of this concept of alchemical redemption are many and impressive. On the one hand, it is clear that matter and the body are by no means to be equated with evil and darkness, while on the other hand, the pagan emphasis on a mere immersion of human consciousness in nature as advocated by some in our times under such slogans as "affirmation of life" and the "celebration of nature" reveals itself as a limited view to which alchemy may serve as a much needed corrective.)

Alchemical Eros

One of the most fascinating explorations of the psychological analogues of alchemy was given to us by Jung in a lengthy essay not usually classified as one of his alchemical writings, entitled The Psychology of the Transference. In this study Jung employed the ten pictures illustrating the opus of alchemical transormation contained in a classic called Rosarium Philosophorum (Rosary of the Philosophers), where the dual powers of the "King" and "Queen" are shown to undergo a number of phases of their own mystico-erotic relationship and eventually unite in a new, androgynous being, called in the text "the noble Empress". The term "transference is used by Jung as a psychological synonym for love, which in interpersonal relations as well as in depth-psychological analysis serves the role of the great healer of the sorrows and injuries of living.

The series of images begins with that of the mercurial fountain, symbolizing the aroused energy of transformation and continues with the meeting of the King and Queen, first fully clad and later having relinquished their garments. The lovers thus confront each other with their personae and defenses, but proceed to a meeting in "naked truth". The partners then immerse themselves in the alchemical bath, thus allowing the force of love to engulf their conscious egos, blotting out rational and mundane considerations. While in this state of passionate engulfment the psychosexual union (coniunctio) takes place. But, contrary expectations, this union, which initially brought forth a newly formed androgynous being, results in death. The spiritual result of love is not viable and, having expired, undergoes decomposition.

It is at this point that the force of commitment to the process (though not necessarily to a particular partner) becomes all-important. By not abandoning the transformational work, the soul of the dead androgyne ascends to heaven, i.e., to a higher level of consciousness, while the body is washed in celestial dew. Soon the departed soul returns to its earthly body, and the reanimated corpse stands in its full, numinous glory for all to see. A new being is born which is the promised fruit of love, the transformed consciousness of the lovers, formed of the opposites, which are now welded into an inseparable imperishable wholeness. The alchemy of love has reached its true and triumphant culmination.

In The Psychology of the Transference, Jung has shared with the world his uniquely practical insight not only into the psychological mechanism of love but into the process of the reconciliation of all opposites - emotive, intellectual, physical, and metaphysical. Far more readily understood than his definitive treatise Psychology and Alchemy, this disquisition on the Alchemy of Eros is one of the most lucid and concise treatments of the process of unitive transformation. Published in 1945, it is not only a worthy successor to his earlier work, but also an excellent primer of the psychological approach to alchemy. In love, as in psychological growth, the key to success is the ability to endure the tension of the opposites without abandoning the process, even if the process and its result appear to have been brought to naught. In our impatient age, replete with divorce, fickleness, and the pursuit of change, these psycho-alchemical insights are very much needed indeed!

The Alchemical Sophia

Jung's two greatest works on Alchemy are Psychology and Alchemy and Mysterium Coniunctionis, the latter representing his final summing up of the implications of his long preoccupation with alchemy. In this last summary of his insights on the subject, influenced in part by his collaboration with the Nobel Prize winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli, the old Jung envisions a great psycho-physical mystery to which the alchemists of old gave the name of unus mundus (one world). At the root of all being, so he intimates, there is a state wherein physicality and spirituality meet in a transgressive union. Synchronistic phenomena, and many more as yet unexplained mysteries of physical and psychological nature, appear to proceed from this unitive condition. It is more than likely that this mysterious condition is the true home of the archetypes as such, which merely project themselves into the realm of the psyche, but in reality abide elsewhere. While the tensional relationship of the opposites remains the great operational mechanism of manifest life and of transformation, this relationship exists within the context of a unitary world-model wherein matter and spirit, King and Queen, appear as aspects of a psychoid realm of reality.

The ever-repeated charge of radical dualism leveled against Gnostics and their alchemical kin is thus reduced to a misunderstanding by this last, and perhaps greatest, insight of Jung. The workings of the cosmos, both physical and psychic, are characterized by duality, but this principle is relative to the underlying reality of the unus mundus. Dualism and monism are thus revealed not as mutually contradictory and exclusive but as complimentary aspects of reality. It is a curious paradox that this revolutionary insight, impressively portrayed by Jung in Mysterium Coniunctionis, has received relatively little attention from psychologists and metaphysicians alike.

Alchemical interest and perception permeate many of Jung's numerous writings in addition to those devoted primarily to the subject. His work Psychology and Religion: West and East, as well as numerous lectures delivered at the Eranos conferences, all utilize the alchemical model as a matrix for his teachings. Time and again he pointed out the affinities and contrasts between alchemical figures and those of Christianity, demonstrating a sort of mirror-like analogy not only between the stone of the philosophers and the image of Christ, but between alchemy and Christianity themselves. Alchemy, said Jung, stands in a compensatory relationship to mainstream Christianity, rather like a dream does to the conscious attitudes of the dreamer. The Stone of alchemy is in many respects the stone rejected by the builders of Christian culture, demanding recognition and reincorporation into the building itself.

It is here that some of the considerations outlined at the outset of our present study appear once more. Alchemy is not a phenomenon sui generis, but rather a phenomenon of attempted assimilation proceeding from Gnosticism - or at least so Jung believed. Even the chief sacrament of Christendom, the Holy Eucharist or Mass, was regarded by Jung as an alchemical work connected with a Third Century Gnostic alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis, in whom he placed the historical point of the convergence of Gnosticism and alchemy. (These considerations were explained by Jung in his Transformation Symbolism in the Mass, first published in the Eranos Yearbook 1944/45, and later included in Psychology and Western Religion, Princeton University Press, 1984.) Years later, one of Jung's academic associates, Prof. Gilles Quispel, came to coin a phrase reflecting Jung's point of view. "Alchemy," the Dutch scholar said, "is the Yoga of the Gnostics."

Perhaps one of the most significant contributions along these lines was given to us by Jung's singularly insightful disciple Marie-Louise von Franz, who devoted herself to the translation and explanation of a treatise first discovered by Jung entitled Aurora Consurgens and attributed to St Thomas Aquinas. This renowned saint, so the legend states, had a vision of the Sophia of God after meditating on the Song of Songs of Solomon and, following the command received in the vision, wrote this alchemical treatise. The Aurora differs from most other alchemical works inasmuch as its format is predominantly religious and filled with biblical references, and even more importantly, because it represents the alchemical opus as a process whereby the feminine wisdom Sophia must be liberated. Written in seven poetic but scholarly chapters, the treatise traces the liberation of Sophia from confinement by way of the alchemical phases of transformation.

It is thus through the agency of a brilliant woman disciple that the great project envisioned by Jung in 1912 came to a renewed emphasis. Led by the rediscovered words of the "angelic doctor" Aquinas, contemporary students of religion and psychology were confronted once again with the Gnostic task of alchemy. Published in German in 1957 and in English in 1966, Marie-Louise von Franz's work brought Jung's gnostic-alchemical vision in to full view once more. While at the individual level alchemy may assuredly be concerned with the redemption of the Lumen Naturae concealed in the psycho-physiological recesses of the human personality, the Aurora and also Jung's Answer to Job appear to point to a yet larger and more universal opus.

Crying from the depths of the chaos of this world, the wisdom-woman Sophia calls out to the alchemists of our age. Depth-psychology has indeed served as one of the principal avenues through which this redemptive project has been made known. The time may be approaching, and may in fact have come already, when potential alchemists in various disciplines and spiritual traditions may address themselves to this universal task of alchemical liberation. In 1950 Jung was greatly encouraged when Pope Pius XII used several manifestly alchemical allusions, such as "heavenly marriage", in Apostolic Constitution, "Munificentissimus Deus", the official document declaring the dogma of the assumption of the Virgin Mary, (the Catholic Sophia). In our time alchemy has come into its own, and beginning with the most recent two decades Gnosticism has begun its return journey also. The stone that the builders rejected is moving ever closer to the structure of Western culture.

In the garden of Jung's country home in Bollingen stands a large cube-shaped stone inscribed by his own hand with magical and alchemical symbols. In his last revelatory dream prior to his death, Jung saw a huge round stone engraved with the words "And this shall be a sign unto you of Wholeness and Oneness". Perhaps these signs of the wondrous stone of the great work will serve to remind the many whose lives and souls were touched by the Swiss Wizard, of the great work to be done, the great miracle to be accomplished. It is to be hoped that such an awakening of mindfulness will please Carl Gustav Jung in the far land to which he journeyed, and that it will assist those who are still in this sub-lunar world in their search for the quintessence, the stone of the philosophers and the supreme good.

Notes

1. Information concerning this visit was given to the writer in a private interview by Prof. Gilles Quispel.
2. For material on Jung's Gnostic interests and on the Sermons, the reader is referred to the author's work The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead, (Quest Books, 1982).
3. Memories, Dreams, Reflections of C.G. Jung, ed. by Aniela Jaffe, transl. by R. and C. Winston (Vintage, 1963) p. 200.
4. Ibid. pp. 192-193.
5. Wilhelm, Neue Zuricher Zeitung, 21 January, 1929.
6. Jung's Last Years and Other Essays, by Aniela Jaffe, trans. by R.F.C. Hull and Murray Stein (Spring Publications, 1984) p. 54.

The article first appeared in Gnosis: A Journal of Western Inner Traditions (Vol. 8, Summer 1988),
and is reproduced here by permission of the author.
All images are copyright © Adam McLean 1999 and 2000.

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Carl Jung and the Mandala

Fuente:

http://www.netreach.net/~nhojem/jung.htm

Información:

I had to abandon the idea of the superordinate position of the ego. ... I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point -- namely, to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation.
... I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the self I had attained what was for me the ultimate. - C. G. Jung. Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

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~~ C. G. Jung Links ~~ Mandala Gallery ~~ Mandala Quotes ~~ Jungian Notes~~

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Carl Jung Links

C.G. Jung Dream Quotes - 8th

Eighth World Dreams - 8th

I Ching " . . . Fu-hsi developed 8 Tri-grams ..." "

The C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco

Carl Jung: Anthology of Work

JungWeb at onlinepsych.com

Glossary of Jungian Terms - brief but necessary ... he used words powerfully

yahoo - list of links to C. G. Jung sites

http://Home.InfoRamp.Net/~icb/

http://www.cgjung.com/cgjung/

http://jungindex.net/

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        Circle songs and sands of time,
        and seasons will end in tumbled rhyme,
        and little change,
        the wind and rain.


        - The Grateful Dead

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Mandala Quotes

     The "squaring of the circle" is one of the many archetypal motifs
     which form the basic patterns of our dreams and fantasies. But it
     is distinguished by the fact that it is one of the most important
     of them from the functional point of view. Indeed, it could even
     be called the archetype of wholeness.

- from Mandalas. C. G. Jung. trans. from Du (Zurich, 1955)

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... there must be a transconscious disposition in every individual which is able to produce the same or very similar symbols at all times and in all places. Since this disposition is usually not a conscious possession of the individual I have called it the collective unconscious, and, as the bases of its symbolical products, I postulate the existence of primordial images, the archetypes.
... the identity of conscious individual contents with their ethnic parallels is expressed not merely in their form but in their meaning.

- from Concerning Mandala Symbolism. C. G. Jung. trans. from "Uber Mandalasymbolik," Gestaltungen des Unbewussten (Zurich, 1950)

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Mandala Image Gallery

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Jungian Notes

  Mandala Symbolism. C. G. Jung. (a collection of three works)
translated by R. F. C. Hull, (Princeton University Press, NJ, 1973)

from the editorial preface:

"... Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is:
'Formation, Transformation, Eternal Mind's eternal creation'
(Faust, II). And that is the self, the wholeness of the personality,
which if all goes well is harmonious, but which cannot tolerate
self-deceptions." C. G. Jung
p. v

Indeed, Jung's discovery of the mandala provided the key to his
entire system. "I had to abandon the idea of the superordinate
position of the ego. ... I saw that everything, all paths I had
been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a
single point -- namely, to the mid-point. It became increasingly
plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent
of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation.
... I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the
self I had attained what was for me the ultimate."
p. v

from Mandalas. C. G. Jung. trans. from Du (Zurich, 1955)

The "squaring of the circle" is one of the many archetypal motifs
which form the basic patterns of our dreams and fantasies. But it
is distinguished by the fact that it is one of the most important
of them from the functional point of view. Indeed, it could even
be called the archetype of wholeness.
p. 4


from A Study in the Process of Individuation. C. G. Jung.
trans. from "Zur Empirie des Individuationsprozesses,"
Gestaltungen des Unbewussten (Zurich, 1950)

While painting them (mandalas), the picture seems to develop out
of itself and often in opposition to one's conscious intentions.
p. 68

Integration gathers many into one.
p. 69


from Concerning Mandala Symbolism. C. G. Jung.
trans. from "Uber Mandalasymbolik,"
Gestaltungen des Unbewussten (Zurich, 1950)

The Sanskrit word mandala means 'circle.'
p. 71

The goal of contemplating the processes depicted in the mandala
is that the yogi shall become inwardly aware of the deity.
Through contemplation, he recognizes himself as God again, and
thus returns from the illusion of individual existence into the
universal totality of the divine state.
p. 73

[mandalas] ... are all based on the squaring of a circle. Their
basic motif is the premonition of a centre of personality, a
kind of central point within the psyche, to which everything is
related, by which everything is arranged, and which is itself a
source of energy.  The energy of the central point is manifested
in the almost irresistible compulsion and urge to become what
one is, just as every organism is driven to assume the form that
is characteristic of its nature, no matter what the circumstances.
This centre is not felt or thought of as the ego but, if one may
so express it, as the self. Although the centre is represented
by an innermost point, it is surrounded by a periphery containing
everything that belongs to the self -- the paired opposites that
make up the total personality. This totality comprises consciousness
first of all, then the personal unconscious, and finally an
indefinitely large segment of the collective unconscious whose
archetypes are common to all mankind.
p. 73

... the fundamental motifs are repeated so often that marked
similarities occur in drawings done by the most diverse patients.
p. 76

Most mandalas have an intuitive, irrational character and, through
their symbolical content, exert a retroactive influence on the
unconscious. They therefore possess a "magical" significance,
like icons, whose possible efficacy was never consciously felt
by the patient.
p. 77

... there must be a transconscious disposition in every individual
which is able to produce the same or very similar symbols at all
times and in all places. Since this disposition is usually not a
conscious possession of the individual I have called it the
collective unconscious, and, as the bases of its symbolical products,
I postulate the existence of primordial images, the archetypes.
... the identity of conscious individual contents with their
ethnic parallels is expressed not merely in their form but in
their meaning.
p. 100

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Eights and Philosophy/Religion - 8th

Eighth World Dreams - 8th

Fuente:

http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/friends.html

Información:

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Excerpts from Dale Carnegie's inspiring Book

Compiled by Richard Anthony

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Six Ways To Make People Like You

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
   
2. Smile.
   
3. Remember that a man's name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in the English language.
   
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
   
5. Talk in terms of the other man's interest.
   
6. Make people feel important, and do it sincerely.
   

Twelve Ways Of Winning People To Your Way Of Thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
   
2. Show respect for the other man's opinions. Never tell a man he is wrong.
   
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
   
4. Begin in a friendly way.
   
5. Get people saying "yes, yes" immediately.
   
6. Let other people do a great deal of talking.
   
7. Let other people feel that the idea is theirs.
   
8. Try honestly to see things from the other man's point of view.
   
9. Be sympathetic with other people's ideas and desires.
   
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
    
11. Dramatize your ideas.
    
12. Throw down a challenge.
    

Nine Ways To Change People Without Giving Offense Or Arousing Resentment

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
   
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
   
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other man.
   
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
   
5. Let the other man save face.
   
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement.
   
7. Give people a fine reputation to live up to.
   
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
   
9. Make other people happy about doing the thing you suggest.
   

Fourteen Rules For Making Your Home Life Easier

1. Don't nag.
   
2. Don't try to make your partner over.
   
3. Don't criticize.
   
4. Give honest appreciation.
   
5. Pay little attentions.
   
6. Be courteous.
   
7. Don't criticize her before others.
   
8. Give her money to spend as she chooses.
   
9. Help her through her feminine moods of fatigue, nerves, and irritability.
   
10. Share at least half of your recreation time with your wife.
    
11. Keep alert to praise her and express your admiration for her.
    
12. Thank her for the little jobs she does for you.
    
13. Dress with an eye for your mate's likes and dislikes in color and style.
    
14. Compromise little differences of opinion in the interest of harmony.
    

Notes

Criticism is futile because it puts a man on the defensive, and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wound's a man's pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses his resentment. When someone speaks harshly of people, say, "Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances."

When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotions, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. "I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody" - Benjamin Franklin, became American Ambassador to France. It takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. "A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men" - Carlyle.

The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important. Many people who go insane find in insanity a feeling of importance that they were unable to achieve in reality. They have found in a dream world of their own creation the feeling of importance which they so deeply desired. If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracles we can achieve by giving people honest appreciation.

Almost Everybody Wants...

1. Health and the preservation of life.
   
2. Food.
   
3. Sleep.
   
4. Money and the things money can buy.
   
5. Life in the hereafter.
   
6. Sexual gratification.
   
7. The well-being of our children.
   
8. A feeling of importance.
   

One of John D. Rockefeller's partners, Edward T. Bedford, lost the firm a million dollars by a bad buy in South America. John could have criticized, but he knew Bedford had done his best. Rockefeller found something to praise; he congratulated Bedford because he had been able to save sixty percent of the money he had invested. "That's splendid! We don't always do as well upstairs" said Rockefeller.

“Every man is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him" - Emerson.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Why should people be interested in you unless you are first interested in them? The road to someone's heart is to talk to them about the things they treasure most.

Almost every man you meet feels himself superior to you in some way, and a sure way to his heart is to let him realize in some subtle way that you recognize his importance in his little world, and recognize it sincerely.

It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is noninterference with their own peculiar ways of being happy.

"I'm sorry to trouble you...Would you be so kind as to...Won't you please...Would you mind...Thank you...This may, perhaps, be worth thinking of, gentlemen...you might consider this...do you think that would work? What do you think of this? Maybe if we were to rephrase it this way it would be better...It so appears to me at present..."

To make a woman fall in love with you, all you have to do is to talk to her about herself!

Everyone is hungering and thirsting for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you. The child eagerly displays his injury, or even inflicts a cut or bruise in order to reap abundant sympathy. For the same purpose adults show their bruises, relate their accidents and illnesses. Self-pity for misfortunes, real or imaginary, is practically a universal practice.

"Tis not love's goings hurts my days, but that it went in little ways."

Why prove to a man he is wrong? Is that going to make him like you? Why not let him save face? He didn't ask for your opinion. He didn't want it. Why argue with him? You can't win an argument, because if you lose, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. Why? You will feel fine. But what about him? You have made him feel inferior, you hurt his pride, insult his intelligence, his judgment, and his self-respect, and he'll resent your triumph. That will make him strike back, but it will never make him want to change his mind. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."

If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you. When our friends excel us, that gives them a feeling of importance, but when we excel them, that gives them a feeling of inferiority and arouses envy and jealousy.

In talking with people, don't begin by discussing the things on which you differ, but emphasize the things which we agree. Keep emphasizing that you are both striving for the same end and our only difference is one of method and not of purpose. Remember the other man may be totally wrong, but he doesn't think so. Don't condemn him, any fool can do that. Try to understand him.

"I don't blame you at all. If I were you, I should undoubtedly feel just as you do." An answer like that will soften the most cantankerous old cuss alive.

Examples

How to influence people

The only way to influence the other fellow is to talk about what he wants and show him how to get it. If, for example, you don't want your son to smoke, don't preach at him, and don't talk about what you want; but show him that cigarette's may keep him from making the baseball team or winning the hundred-yard dash.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and his son one day tried to get a calf into the barn, but they made the common mistake of thinking only of what they wanted. Emerson pushed and his son pulled. But the calf did just what they did; he thought only of what he wanted; so he stiffened his legs and stubbornly refused to leave the pasture. The Irish housemaid saw their predicament. She thought of what the calf wanted; so she put her maternal finger in the calf's mouth, and let the calf suck her finger as she gently led him into the barn.

Andrew Carnegie's sister-in-law was worried sick over her two boys. They were at Yale, and they were so busy with their own affairs that they neglected to write home and paid no attention whatever to their mother's frantic letters. Carnegie offered to wager a hundred dollars that he could get an answer by return mail, without even asking for it! Someone called his bet; so he wrote his nephews a chatty letter, mentioning casually in a postscript that he was sending each one a five-dollar bill. He neglected, however, to enclose the money. That did the trick. Back came the replies by return mail thanking "Dear Uncle Andrew" for his kind note and ...you can finish the sentence yourself.

The next time you want to persuade someone to do something, before you speak, pause and ask, "How can I make him want to do it?" Get the other man's point of view and see things from his angle as well as from his own.

Avoid Arguments

(If you're a Ford salesman) When someone says, "What? Ford's cars are no good! I wouldn't take one if you gave it to me. I'm going to get Chevrolet cars." Say, "Brother, listen, Chevrolet's cars are good cars. Their cars are made by a fine company and sold by good people." He's speechless then. There's no room for an argument. If he says Chevrolet's cars are the best and I say sure it is, he has to stop. Just agree with him. He can't go on all afternoon when I'm agreeing with him. We then get off the subject of Chevrolet's cars and I begin to talk about the good points of Ford's cars.

Never tell a man he is Wrong

If a man makes a statement that you think, or know, is wrong, begin by saying, "Well, I thought otherwise, but I may be wrong. I frequently am. Let's examine the facts." You'll never get into trouble by admitting you may be wrong. That'll stop all arguments and inspire the other fellow to be just as fair and broad-minded as you are. It'll make him want to admit that he, too, may be wrong.

We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told we are wrong, we resent the imputation and harden our hearts. We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem which is threatened. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions lead us to seek every manner of excuse for clinging to it. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

When we are wrong, we may admit it to ourselves. And if we are handled gently and tactfully, we may admit it to others and even take pride in our frankness and broadmindedness. But not if someone else is trying to ram the fact down our throat.

Raised Rent

When one was informed he had to pay 3 times as much rent as formerly. "I was a bit shocked when I got your letter, but I don't blame you at all. If I had been in your position, I should probably have written a similar letter myself. Your duty as the manager is to make all the profit possible. Now, let's take a price of paper and write down the advantages and disadvantages that will accrue to you, if you insist on this increase in rent."

Advantages: You'll have the advantage of having the ballroom free to rent for dances and conventions, for affairs like that will pay you more than I can. Disadvantages: First, instead of increasing your income from me, you're going to decrease it. In fact, you're going to wipe it out because I cannot pay the rent you are asking. I shall be forced to go to another location. There's another disadvantage to you also. These lectures attract crowds of educated and cultured people to your hotel. That's good advertising for you, isn't it? In fact, if you spent $5,000 advertising in the newspapers, you couldn't bring as many people to look at your hotel as I can bring by these lectures. That is worth a lot to a hotel, isn't it?"

Kids

When 3 year old refused to eat. A bully next door kept knocking him off his tricycle. He was told if he eats his food, he could wallop the daylights out of the bigger kid someday. When he wet his bed, he was wearing a nightgown in his Grandma's bed. He wanted pajamas like Dad and his own bed. So, when he got them, he promised not to wet the bed because his pride was involved. He wanted to act like a man, so he did. A 3 year old daughter wouldn't eat breakfast. She loved to imitate her Mom. So, one morning they let her cook breakfast and she ate it, because she was interested in it, she achieved a feeling of importance, and found an avenue of self-expression.

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves

When someone returns at item to you, listen to their story from beginning to end without saying a word. Then say, "what would you like me to do with this product? I'll do anything you say. If it isn't satisfactory we'll give you one that is. We are sorry to have caused you this inconvenience."

A customer denied owing 15 dollars. After getting letters from credit department, he went to the manager and said not only is he not going to pay the bill, but he won't but anything else from them again. The manager listened patiently to all he had to say without interrupting him. Then said, "I want to thank you for coming to me to tell me about this. You have done me a great favor, for if our credit department has annoyed you, it may annoy other good customers. Believe me, I am far more eager to hear this than you are to tell it. We'll wipe off the 15 dollar charge, because you are a very careful man with only one account to look after, while we have to look after many. Therefore, you are less likely to be wrong than we are."

If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically

When an officer warned someone about not putting his dog on a leash, and he was caught again, he didn't wait for the officer to start speaking, he beat him to it with, "Officer, you've caught me red-handed. I'm guilty. I have no excuses." Officer might say, "Well now, I know it's a temptation to let a dog run around when nobody's around." "Sure it's a temptation, but it's against the law." "Well, a little dog like that isn't going to harm anybody." No, but it might kill squirrels." "Well, I think you're taking this too far. Just let him run over the hill where I can't see him and we'll forget all about it." The officer wanted a feeling of importance. So when you begin to condemn yourself, the only way he could nourish his self-esteem was to show mercy. Isn't it much easier to listen to self-criticism than to bear condemnation from alien lips?

An art director delighted to find fault with someone's drawings. He gloated over his chance to criticize. "If what you say is true, I am at fault and there is absolutely no excuse for my blunder." The art director started to defend him! "Yes, you're right. But it's not a serious mistake. It's only..." "Any mistake may be costly and they are all irritating.” He started to break in, but he wouldn't let him. "I should have been more careful. You deserve the best, so I'm going to do this drawing all over." "No! No!. I wouldn't think of it." The artist's eagerness to criticize himself took all the fight out of the art director. Any fool can try to defend his mistakes, but it raises one above the herd and gives a feeling of nobility to admit one's mistakes.

Robert E. Lee blamed himself and only himself for the failure of picket's charge. Lee was far too Nobel to blame others. As Picket's beaten and bloody troops struggled back to Confederate lines, Robert E. Lee rode out to meet them all alone and said, "All this has been my fault. I and I alone have lost this battle." Few generals in all history have had the courage and character to admit that.

During a course in human relations, a class wrote down criticisms to a certain man to let him see himself as others see him. One man was broken hearted because he was denounced for being too sure of himself, too self-centered, too domineering, an egoist, trouble-maker, and a communist. One of his critics ordered him to get out of class. Instead of denouncing his critics, he said, "Boys, I certainly am unpopular. There can be no mistaking that. It huts me to read these comments, but they are good for me. They have taught me a lesson. I long for friends just as you do. I want to make people like me. Won't you help me? Won't you please write me some more criticisms and tell me what I can do to improve my personality? If you will, I'll try hard, awfully hard, to change." He wasn't faking, he spoke straight from his own heart; so naturally he reached the hearts of his critics. The very men who had denounced him one week earlier were now for him, His soft answer had turned away wrath.

Begin in a friendly way

Here's a fable about the sun and the wind. They quarreled about which was the stronger, and the wind said, "I'll prove I am. See that old man down there with a coat? I bet I can make him take his coat off faster than you can." So the sun went behind a cloud and the wind blew until it was almost a tornado, but the harder it blew the tighter the old man wrapped his coat about him. Finally, the wind calmed down and gave up. The sun came out from behind the cloud and smiled kindly on the old man. He mopped his brow and pulled off his coat. The sun then told the wind, "gentleness and friendliness were always stronger than fury and force." Friendliness and appreciation can make people change their minds more readily than storming at them can.

Let the other fellow think the idea is his

Theodore Roosevelt forced through reforms which political bosses bitterly disliked. Here's how he did it. When an office was to be filled, he invited the political bosses to make recommendations. If they chose someone he disagreed with, he'd tell them, "to appoint such a man would not be good politics, as the public would not approve." Then they'd make another, and he'd say, "this man will not live up to the expectations of the public. Find someone more fitting for the post." When they name the sort of man that Roosevelt would pick, he'd express gratitude for their assistance, and he'd let them take the credit for the appointment. He'd tell them that he did these things to please them and now it was their turn to please him.

A doctor was building an addition and preparing to equip it with the finest X-ray department in America. He was overwhelmed with salesmen, each praising his own equipment. But one of them wrote a letter stating, "Our factory has recently completed a new line of X-ray equipment. They are not perfect, we know that, and we want to improve them. So we should be deeply obligated to you if you could find the time to look them over and give us your ideas about how they can be made more serviceable to your profession. Knowing how occupied you are, I shall be glad to send my car for you at any hour you specify."

This doctor never had an X-ray manufacturer seek his advice before. It made him feel important. The more he studied the equipment the more he liked it. Nobody tried to sell it to him, he felt the idea of buying that equipment for the hospital was his own. He sold himself on its superior qualities and ordered it installed.

Be sympathetic with other people's ideas and desires

Someone made an error in an announcement over the radio and got deluged with indignant and insulting letters. One in particular was from a woman who he thought, "Thank God, I am not married to that girl." He was going to write her a letter stating although he made a mistake in geography, she made a bigger mistake in common courtesy. But any hot-headed fool can do that. So he controlled himself, and resolved to turn her hostility into friendliness. After all, if he were her, he should undoubtedly feel just as she did. So, he called her up and said:

Him: Mrs. so and so. You wrote me a letter a few weeks ago, and I want to thank you for it.
She: (in a cultured, well-bred tone). To whom have I the honor of speaking?
Him: I am a stranger to you. My name is Dale Carnegie. You listened to a broadcast I gave about Louisa May Alcott a few Sundays ago, and I made the unforgivable blunder of saying that she had lived in New Hampshire. It was a stupid blunder and I want to apologize for it. It was so nice of you to take the time to write me.
She: I am sorry, Mr. Carnegie, that I wrote as I did. I lost my temper. I must apologize.
Him: No! No! You are not the one to apologize; I am the one to apologize. Any school child would have known better than to have said what I have said. I apologized over the air the Sunday following and I want to apologize to you personally now.
She: I was born in Concord, Massachusetts. My family has been prominent here for over two centuries and I am very proud of this state. I was quite distressed when you said she was born in New Hampshire. But I am really ashamed of that letter.
Him: I assure you that you were not one-tenth as distressed as I am. My error didn't hurt Massachusetts, but it did hurt me. It is so seldom that people of your standing and culture take the time to write people who speak on the radio, and I do hope you will write me again if you detect an error in my talks.
She: You know, I really like very much the way you have accepted my criticism, You must be a very good man. I should like to know you you better.

So, by apologizing and sympathizing with her point of view, he got her apologizing and sympathizing with his point of view. He had the satisfaction of controlling his temper, and returning kindness for an insult.

Dramatize your ideas

A manufacturer of a new rat poison gave dealers a display that included 2 live rats. Sales zoomed to 5X their normal rate.

An auto supply dealer had a display for an indestructible spark plug. It was smashed up and down against a rock. 1000X.

Instead of giving data verbally about a study done on cold cream, open a suitcase and dump 32 jars of cold cream on top of a desk, and on each cold jar have a tag of itemized results that briefly and dramatically tells its story.

Throw down a challenge

To get a factory to produce and meet their quota when they were lagging behind, the big boss asked the day shift how many heats they made. They said "six." Without another word, he chalked a big "6" on the floor and walked away. The next day, the boss saw the night shift had rubbed out "6" and replaced it with a "7." So, the night shift thought they were better than the day shift, huh? They made 10 that day.

Charles Swabb said, "The way to get things done is to stimulate competition. Not in a sordid, money grabbing way, but in a desire to excel." The challenge! An infallible way of appealing to men of spirit. The chance for self-expression. The chance to prove his worth, to excel, to win. The desire for a feeling of importance.

Begin with praise and honest appreciation

Calvin Cooledge said to his secretary, "That's a pretty dress you are wearing this morning, and you are a very attractive young woman." It was so unusual and unexpected, that the girl blushed in confusion. Then he said, "Now, don't get stuck up. I just said that to make you feel good. From now on, I wish you would be a little bit more careful with your punctuation." It is always easier to listen to unpleasant things after we have heard some praise of our good points.

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other man

When you want to call attention to someone's mistake, say, "You have made a mistake, but the Lord knows it's no worse than many I have made. I have been guilty of so many stupid, silly things myself. I have very little inclination to criticize you or anyone else. But don't you think it would have been wiser if you had done so and so?"

Let the other man save his face

General Electric had to remove someone from the head of the department. He was a genius when it came to electricity, but was a washout as the head of the accounting department. The company didn't want to offend him, he was indispensable and highly sensitive. So they gave him a new title of "Consulting Engineer of the General Electric Company." A new title for work he was already doing. He was happy, and General Electric let someone else head up the department.

Give people a fine reputation to live up to

Someone hired a servant and told her to report to work, but he telephoned a former employer and all was not well. When the girl came to work, he said, "Nellie, I telephoned the other day to a woman you used to work for. She said you were honest and reliable, a good cook and good at caring for the children. But she also said you were sloppy and never kept the house clean. Now, I think she was lying. You dress neatly, anybody can see that. And I'll bet you keep the house just as neat as your person. You and I are going to get along fine." And they did. Nellie had a reputation to live up to and didn't want to be untrue to his ideal of her.

A servant girl brought Georgette her meals. She was called "Marie the Dishwasher" because she started her career as a scullery assistant. She was a kind of monster, cross-eyed, bandy-legged, poor in flesh and spirit. One day, while she was holding a plate of macaroni, Georgette said to her point-blank, "Marie, you do not know what treasures are within you." Accustomed to holding back her emotions, Marie waited a few moments, not daring to risk the slightest gesture for fear of a catastrophe. Then she put the dish on the table, sighed, and said ingenuously, "Madame, I would never have believed it." Then she went back to the kitchen and repeated what Georgette had said. She began taking care of her face and body so carefully that her starved youth seemed to blossom and modestly hid her plainness. Two months later she announced her coming marriage with the nephew of the chef. "I'm going to be a lady," she said and thanked Georgette. A small phrase had changed her entire life.

If you must deal with a crook, there is only one possible way of getting the better of him. Treat him as if he were an honorable gentleman. Take it for granted he is on the level. He will be so flattered by such treatment that he may answer to it, and be proud that someone trusts him.

Make other people happy about doing the thing you suggest

A mechanic was complaining that the hours were too long, that there was too much work, and that he needed an assistant. The shop didn't give him an assistant, or shorter hours or less work, and yet he made the mechanic happy. How? He was given a private office. His name appeared on the door, and with it his title "Manager of the Service Department." He was no longer a repair man to be ordered around, he was now the manager of a department. He had dignity, recognition, a feeling of importance.

A man had to refuse many invitations to speak from who he was obligated. He didn't merely say how busy he was. After expressing his appreciation of the invitation and regretting his inability to accept it, he suggested a substitute speaker. He didn't give the other man any time to feel unhappy about the refusal, but had him thinking of some other speaker he may obtain.

People don't blame Themselves Dutch Crowley was know as a "cop killer" who would "kill at the drop of a feather." One day he was necking a girl in a car and a policeman walked up to the parked car and said, "Let me see your license." Without saying a word, Crowley drew his gun and cut the policeman down with a shower of lead. Then he grabbed the officer's gun and shot him again. Crowley later wrote, "Under my heart is a weary heart, but a kind one - one that would do nobody any harm."

Crowley was sentenced to the electric chair. When he arrived at the death house in Sing Sing, did he say, "This is what I get for killing people?" No, he said, "This is what I get for defending myself." Crowley didn't blame himself for anything. Al Capone, America's Public Enemy Number One, regarded himself as an unappreciated and misunderstood public benefactor. So did Dutch Schultz.

Warden Lawes of Sing Sing said, "Few of the criminals in Sing Sing regard themselves as bad men. They are just as human as you and I. So they rationalize, they explain. They can tell you why they had to crack a safe or be quick on the trigger finger. Most of them attempt by a form of reasoning, fallacious or logical, to justify their anti-social acts even to themselves, consequently stoutly maintaining that they should never have been imprisoned at all.

If these desperate men behind prison walls don't blame themselves for anything, what about the people with whom you and I come in contact? The late John Wanamaker once confessed, "I learned thirty years ago that it is foolish to scold. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence."

Jung, the Shadow and Dreamwork

Fuente:

http://www.improverse.com/ed-articles/richard_wilkerson_2001_mar_jung_shadow.htm

Información:

Electric Dreams.
		Jung, the Shadow and Dreamwork Richard Catlett Wilkerson
(Electric Dreams) (Article Index) (Search for Topic) (View Article Options)
Wilkerson, Richard Catlett (2001 March). Jung, the Shadow and Dreamwork. Electric Dreams 8(3). Retrieved December 30, 2001 from Electric Dreams on the World Wide Web: http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams

"THE THING A PERSON HAS NO WISH TO BE" Jung CW 16 para 470 For Freud, the unconscious was about content that was socially unacceptable. Jung agreed with Freud and called this the personal unconscious, or the personal Shadow. However, there are some differences. Jungians will often refer to any material that is unconscious as "In Shadow" and there are depths to the Shadow that become collective rather than personal, such the Devil Archetype, or the dynamics that Shadowed Nazi Germany. That is, at some point, our personal Shadow becomes so large it is more accurate to call it a Collective Shadow. Positive characteristics may be in Shadow as well. But the most common way to refer to Shadow material is anything we once were but then pushed away. Jung felt the Shadow would often appear in dreams as an unknown but same sex person. But not *all* unknown same sex persons in dreams are Shadows. All that is unacceptable is, as they say, "in Shadow" to the degree that is us, or was us, and we deny it. We would usually consider a Shadow figure as morally inferior. They slink around our dreamworld and we would rather die than have someone say we are like them. But denying the Shadow robs us of strength and that's why it's so useful to take a look at the Shadow when one is frozen or loses the ability to move or walk or is paralyzed in some other manner. Also, as mentioned, when its time for a person to begin to deal with the Shadow, it may begin to stalk the dreamer, which is that part of the psyche's way of saying, "Hey, you've neglected me too long and we need to talk." Exercise: Make a list of the people you know that when they are in the room, they really get under your skin, they really bug you, and you can't say why. (Except, of course, that you consider them morally wretched creatures). And include in the list a few statements "I really hate it when they [fill in blank]." Like, "I really hate those people who suck up to the boss" or "It really bugs me every time that guy gets angry everyone whimps away and lets him have his way." OK this is the gist of an aspect of *your* Shadow. For the most part, we would rather die than admit to being or having that Shadow. But if you ask around, others may clearly see this in you, though in perhaps another form or way. If you can locate these figures in your dreams, all the better. The point, according to Jung, is not to become or accept these figures nor to reject them, but to find your own unique and creative way to be with them or relate to them. Jung felt the dream not only *revealed* the Shadow problem, but always offered a *solution* that the ego might creatively consider, thereby carrying the dream forward. The general idea being that this is an undeveloped aspect of your personality and by coming into playful and even serious relationship with it, something special and unexpected happens. Here is an exercise I use in my class to teach students how to begin working with their own Shadow. Lets do a variation that Ann Wiseman uses with children. Draw a picture of a part of your dream where there is someone or something bugging, stalking, chasing or threatening you. Now draw something that would make it safe for you. Kids today too often draw guns killing the problem, but showing them how to use a prison or magic circle is useful. Now you can "talk" with the thing that has been neutralized. Have a pretend conversation with it like you were one of Ann Wiseman's school children. "Bad monster, I want you to leave me alone!" Then allow the dream image to speak back. What might does it tell you? With the kids, the monsters often said they just wanted to play. One wonders with Jung's idea that the Shadow need attention and asks for it how these wonderful little minds came up with the same solution as Jung. Of course, adult responses may be more complex than a child. Israel is said to have wrestled all night with the angel and the thing broke his leg in the struggle. But the point here is to move forward with the dream image, to attend to it, to respond, to listen.... to begin to play. And it is surprising how things really begin to change for a person once they learn in the *dream* to begin confronting the evil threats and pursuers. One note of guidance. Jung was once doing some active imagination with a woman on a dream and she was being confronted by a lion. Jung asked her continue the dream in her imagination, go back to the image and play. She did so and said the lion turned into a flower. Jung asked her to immediately bring the lion back.... The point of image confrontation is not to gloss over the threat but come into a better relationship with it. True, we may have to cast spells and turn enemies into flowers momentarily to protect ourselves from the threat, but this is not the same as staying with the image and the tension until something new and creative happens. Exercise: Stick with the Image: Pick a really annoying or uncomfortable dream image after awakening and choose to keep it with you during the day. Try to stay as close as possible to the feeling tone, the icky , uncomfortable part of the dream. What parts of your body does the image linger most strongly? You don't want to analyze it too much, just attend to it as if it were a sick child you are attending. Imagine that you are going to carry this image around with you in your pocket during the day. Try to bring the image out whenever possible: coffee breaks, walking to the car, on the bus, in the bathroom, while cooking dinner. Watch your own reactions and feelings and thoughts to the image, but again, don't over analyze it, just stay with it, and notice what comes up for you. At the end of the day make some notes about your feelings about the image, how your day was or wasn't different, if anything new came up for you. end exercise. For most people, the changes are very slow and subtle in this exercise. But many feel a movement from an all-out desire to just get rid of the feelings (or complaints about how boring the exercise is ? an interesting 20th century emotional fear defense) to an unexplainable empathy and affection for the image, even though it basically remains an icky image. Shadow work is the work of a lifetime. We don't get rid of our Shadow by doing Shadow work (though it will shift and change). Develop one side and another will slip into being unused and underdeveloped. To accept and value one thing means another will seem unappealing. What can we do? If Jung is correct about our dreams balancing our ego, and our path is one of wholeness and individuation, we watch our dreams, that's what we do. The dream itself forms a Shadow for our society. Notice how in popular culture the dream and the Shadow are both considered something morally inferior (rare is it that the ethics of a dream are taken by people as superior to dayworld judgements). Both are something we want to be rid of (as a culture, our parents tell us it was "just a dream" and we should focus on the daytime tasks at hand). Both are intrusive ? they happen *to* us. It's only recently that lucid dreaming has come into the public consciousness. For the most part, we are the passive recipients of dreams (and inferior parts of our self ? we don't *choose* to have people get under our skin!). Besides the personal Shadow, there is the collective Shadow, who shows up in stories as Evil Itself, the Devil, and the Enemy. Although mythic heroes engage and take on these monsters and exemplify various historical paths we can take as individuals, we cannot take on the Collective Shadow by our own. We do our part by dealing with our personal Shadows, but its an egotistic and inflated person that thinks they can take on a Collective Shadow. It would be like an individual trying to solve the problem on his/her own of atomic weapons. And we see what happens to these individuals in mythic characters like Captain Nemo in _Twenty thousand Leagues under the Sea_ or Ahab in _Moby Dick_. Because the approach to the personal Shadow can led us into "deeper waters", its often advised to have a personal therapist or be part of a larger community when doing this kind of work. Its still in question whether or not non-professional or peer groups can provide the kind of container to do deep shadow work. The Electric Dreams community has been exploring this since 1994 and the general feeling is that it can provide a container for the insight aspects of Shadow work, though it often lags on the emotional side. John Herbert's work on group dreamwork and computer mediated communications has provided some encouraging statistics and guidelines. Whether this work is really Jungian is a question beyond the scope of this essay. I am bringing it up just to say that at some point we *do* need to move our personal Shadowork to group Shadowork, and all forms of communication can be instrumental in this project. Note for example the work done by the Electric Dreams community during the Kosovo Crisis when we had Serbian members in the online dreamgroup. Some people left the group in protest, while others stayed and continued doing dreamwork with the "enemy" to the benefit of both sides. (see http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/Serbia/ I would like to advise that anyone taking the path of self development and self discovery might examine the support system that is available to you. Grass root dream support groups and other support groups are now available all over the Americas and Europe. Ask the leaders about the ethics of the group. For a guide, I recommend using the Association for the Study of Dreams ethics guide for dreamwork: http://www.asdreams.org/ethics/ While we might work with our personal and collective Shadows all our lives, we aren't *always* encountering the Shadow in dreams. Once we have a productive relationship with the Shadow and the unacceptable, a new guide emerges, that which we most desire. This area is even more dangerous than what we despise, yet can lead us to live a life of completeness and wholeness. However, this journey begins by not turning away from the unacceptable, by not tossing our dreams aside in the morning, by not averting our gaze from what our dreams present to us, from learning to look at what we can absolutely not look at. Bibliography & Special Bibliographies (CW) = Jung, C. G. (1953) The Collected Works. Translated by R. C. F. Hull. Bollingen Series XX, vol.s 1?20, Princeton: Princeton University Press. (MDR) = Jung, C. G. (1965). _Memories, Dreams and Reflections NewYork, NY: Vintage Books. Campbell, Joseph (1959). _The Masks of God_. Vol 1?4, New York: Viking Press Eliade, Mircea_A History of Religious Ideas_ Vol1?3, Chicago, IL: Universtiy of Chicago Press. Guggenbuhl-Craig, Adolf. _(1978) Power in the helping Professions._ Zurich: Spring Publications. Hall, James, A. (1983). Jungian Dream Interpretation: A handbook of Theory and Practice. Inner city Books: Toronto, Canada. Jung , C. G. _ Aion_, CW 9, II, chap. 2 pp. 8?10. ________ . "Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious," CW 9, I pp. 3-41. ________. "The Problems of Modern psychotherapy," CW 16, pp. 53?75. Von Franz, marie-Louise. (1971). "The Inferior Function". In von Franz, marie-Louise, and Hillman, James, Jung's topology. New York: Spring Publication. von Franz, M?L. (1964) "The Realization of the Shadow" in C. G. Jung's _man and His Symbols_ . p 166-176. New York, NY: Doubleday Whitmont, Edward, C. (1969). "The Shadow: Chapter 9 in _The Symbolic Quest_. Princeton, NJ :Princeton University Press. PERSONA: ========= Psychological Types, CW 6, esp, chapter 11, "Definitions," under "Soul (psyche, personality, persona, anima)" pp. 463?470. SHADOW: ======== Jung , C. G. _ Aion_, CW 9, II, chap. 2 pp. 8?10. ________ . "Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious," CW 9, I pp. 3-41. --------. "The Problems of Modern psychotherapy," CW 16, pp. 53?75. Guggenbuhl-Craig, Adolf. _(1978) Power in the helping Professions._ Zurich: Spring Publications. Von Franz, marie-Louise. (1971). "The Inferior Function". In von Franz, marie-Louise, and Hillman, James, Jung's topology. New York: Spring Publication. von Franz, M-L. (1964) "The Realization of the Shadow" in C. G. Jung's _man and His Symbols_ . p 166-176. New York, NY: Doubleday Whitmont, Edward, C. (1969). "The Shadow: Chapter 9 in _The Symbolic Quest_. Princeton, NJ :Princeton University Press. For the Latest Links collected on this subject in relation to dreaming, go to the DreamGate Links page www.dreamgate.com/dream/resources/online97.htm Electric Dreams issn # 1080 4284 Edited from first publications, August 2000 by Jennifer Fraser Copyrights © held by individual authors, all rights reserved For reprint information contact the publisher, Richard Wilkerson, E-mail: rcwilk@dreamgate.com http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams Site Design & Layout by :: DreamGate :: "I wake up in the morning with a dream in my eyes"