Jesus Christ - SUPERSTAR of the Psyche. “AION, Researches Into the Phenomenology of Self” by Carl Jung

Why Read It

Carl Jung’s journey into the human psyche began in 1900 when he joined the medical staff of Burghölzli Psychiatric Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Over the course of the next 60 years, Jung’s work would proceed to upend much of western culture’s understanding of the psyche and consciousness. His findings and development of thought were so profound that many ideas Jung presented in writings and lectures are commonplace language in today’s culture, and most people are unaware that Jung is the source of such material. Terms such as Collective Unconscious, Persona, Shadow, Archetypes, Individuation, Synchronicity, Complex, Self find their origin in Jung’s mind.

Through work with thousands of patients in the early years of his medical practice, Jung began to notice a fundamental process of action in the human psyche that seemed to drive it forward, which he described as a “quest for Wholeness.” For Jung, Wholeness is the ultimate expression of human maturity and the goal of human living. The path to Wholeness, however, is fraught with danger and perceived setbacks. To move into true wholeness, one must undergo total confrontation with oneself, in order to acknowledge and integrate the various binary aspects of the total psyche. This process of shadow-integration, withdrawal of the projections, and movement into the spontaneous flow of existence comes at the steep cost of losing one’s illusory sense of self, which acts as the persona, or false self, we present to the world.

Jung saw the symbol of Christ as western culture’s collective projection of Wholeness, and by approaching the symbol of Christ as a symbol of psychological wholeness and transformation, one could unlock enormous potential for transformation of consciousness and movement into true, lasting psychological wholeness. As the ‘God-man,’ Christ symbolizes the union of opposites — the divine and human, the conscious and the unconscious.

For those interested in the Perennial Philosophy, AION provides a fundamental contribution to the canon by demonstrating how collective symbols represent underlying psychic realities of the human being, and when approached properly, these symbols provide context to the spiritual quest for unity, wholeness and Self-Realization, which is the crucial diamond point of the Perennial Philosophy.

Overview

Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self is a detailed examination of the unconscious and its influence on spiritual wholeness. Central to the book is the concept of the Collective Unconscious, a universal level of the psyche containing shared archetypes and symbols. Jung explores key archetypes, including the Shadow, Anima/Animus, and the Self, and their significance in the journey towards psychological and spiritual wholeness.

Core to the work is Jung’s analysis of the symbol of Christ. Jung interprets it as an archetype of the Self, embodying unity and the integration of opposites within the psyche. This symbol becomes a metaphor for individuation, the process of integrating various aspects of the personality as one moves into true self-realization and spiritual maturity.

Jung also examines the role of Alchemy and Gnosticism as symbolic representations of psychological and spiritual transformation, drawing parallels between alchemical/gnostic processes and the individuation process. Additionally, Jung delves into the psychological significance of religious symbols and their role in the collective unconscious, emphasizing their impact on individual and collective spiritual experiences. The book is a comprehensive exploration of the deep connections between psychology and spirituality, offering insights for those seeking understanding and guidance on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Key Takeaways

Christ as an Archetype of the Self: In AION, Carl Jung presents Christ as an archetype of the Self, symbolizing psychological wholeness and integration. This interpretation suggests that the figure of Christ embodies the potential for unity within the psyche, representing a model for the individuation process. The Christ symbol, therefore, is not just a religious or historical figure, but a representation of the ideal of wholeness that each person can aspire to in their journey towards self-realization.
Integration of Opposites: A recurring theme in AION is the integration of opposites – light and dark, good and evil, conscious and unconscious. Jung discusses the concept of “coniunctio oppositorum“ (union of opposites) in relation to Christ, portraying Him as a symbol that reconciles opposites within the human psyche. This concept is vital in spiritual and psychological growth, where recognizing and reconciling these dualities leads to a more profound understanding of the self and the universe and leads to the psychic wholeness of the True Self.
The Shadow and Personal Growth: The concept of the Shadow involves confronting and integrating the unknown, often darker aspects of the self. This process is essential in personal and spiritual growth, as it encourages individuals to face their fears and unrecognized traits. This aspect is particularly relevant for those using psychedelics for self-exploration, as these substances often bring forth unconscious material.
The Role of Suffering in Growth: Jung emphasizes that suffering and conflict are integral to psychological development. This perspective aligns with many spiritual paths that view suffering as a necessary step towards enlightenment and is often echoed in the challenging, yet transformative experiences reported with psychedelic use.
Transformation of God-Image: Jung explores the evolution of the God-image across history, reflecting humanity’s changing consciousness. This evolution is particularly relevant for those in the perennial philosophy, as it suggests a dynamic, evolving understanding of spirituality that transcends specific religious dogmas.

Quotes

~ “It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the lives of others yet remains totally incapable of seeing how much the whole tragedy originates in himself, and how he continually feeds it and keeps it going. Not consciously, of course — for consciously he is engaged in bewailing and cursing a faithless world that recedes further and further into the distance. Rather, it is an unconscious factor which spins the illusions that veil his world. And what is being spun is a cocoon, which in the end will completely envelop him.”

~ “Just as we have to remember the gods of antiquity in order to appreciate the psychological value of the anima/animus archetype, so Christ is our nearest analogy of the self and its meaning. It is naturally not a question of collective value artificially manufactured or arbitrarily awarded, but of one that is effective and present per se, and that makes its effectiveness felt whether the subject is conscious of it or not. Yet, although the attributes of Christ (consubstantiality with the Father, coeternity, filiation, parthenogenesis, crucifixion, Lamb sacrificed between opposites, One divided into Many, etc.) undoubtedly mark him out as an embodiment of the self, looked at from the psychological angle he corresponds to only one half of the archetype. The other half appears in the Antichrist. The latter is just as much a manifestation of the self, except that he consists of its dark aspect. Both are Christian symbols, and they have the same meaning as the image of the Savior crucified between two thieves. This great symbol tells us that the progressive development and the differentiation of consciousness leads to an ever more menacing awareness of the conflict and involves nothing less than a crucifixion of the ego, its agonizing suspension between irreconcilable opposites. Naturally there can be no question of a total extinction of the ego, for then the focus of consciousness would be destroyed, and the result would be complete unconsciousness. The relative abolition of the ego affects only those supreme and ultimate decisions which confront us in situation where there are insoluble conflicts of duty. This means, in other words, that in such cases the ego is a suffering bystander who decides nothing but must submit to a decision and surrender unconditionally. The ‘genius’ of man, the higher and more spacious part of him whose extent no one knows, has the final word. It is therefore well to examine carefully the psychological aspects of the individuation process in the light of Christian tradition, which can describe it for us with an exactness and impressiveness far surpassing our feeble attempts, even though the Christian image of the self — Christ — lacks the shadow that properly belongs to it.

~ “Myths and fairytales give expression to unconscious processes, and their retelling causes these processes to come alive again and be recollected, thereby re-establishing the connection between conscious and unconscious. What the separation of the two psychic halves means, the psychiatrist knows only too well. He knows it as disassociation of the personality, the root of all neuroses: the conscious goes to the right and the unconscious to the left. As opposites never unite at their own level (tertium non datur!), a supraordinate “third” is always required, in which the two parts can come together. And since the symbol derives as much from the conscious as from the unconscious, it is able to unite them both, reconciling their conceptual polarity through its form and their emotional polarity through it numinosity. For this reason the ancients often compared the symbol to water, a case in point being tao, where yang and yin are united. Tao is the ‘valley spirit,’ the winding course of a river.”

~ “It is more advantageous and more to the point to subject to the most rigorous scrutiny one’s own moods and their changing influence on one’s personality. To know where the other person makes a mistake is of little value. It only becomes interesting when you know where you make the mistake, for then you can do something about it. What we can improve in others is of doubtful utility as a rule, if, indeed, it has any effect at all.”

~ “The irreconcilable nature of the opposites in Christian psychology is due to their moral accentuation. This accentuation seems natural to us, although, looked at historically, it is a legacy from the Old Testament with its emphasis on righteousness in the eyes of the law. Such an influence is notably lacking in the East, in the philosophical religions of India and China. Without stopping to discuss the question of whether this exacerbation of the opposites, much as it increases suffering, may not after all correspond to a higher degree of truth, I should like merely to express the hope that the present world situation may be looked up in the light of the psychological rule alluded to above. Today humanity, as never before, is split into two apparently irreconcilable halves. 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.”