Last spring the transmission on our car failed while climbing on of the hills nearby. A major repair was needed to get it back on the road.
When a violent storm hits, often the power lines get taken out by a falling tree limb. Emergency work crews respond at all hours of day and night to restore the electric juice we rely so heavily upon.
Writing this, I’m standing next to the rails of the commuter line waiting for a train, and I’m struck how the railroad combines and reveals both metaphors of transmission as they are experienced psychologically. Like power lines, the rails connect various nodes of the transportation system. And the trains engine unleashes the power to move between the nodes.
Consciousness relies on energy, or libido as it is called. In Aristotle we read “First matter is the name of that indeterminate power of change.” (Edinger, Anatomy of the Psyche, pg.10) A certain channeling of the energy at our disposal creates movement toward and/or away from. But even when our lines are laid, a certain switch must be thrown, or key turned,…the fire fired…if movement is to take place.
A common feeling for many people these days is “I’m going nowhere.” A malaise fouls the gears and things feel stuck.
In my experience the root of this conflict arises between the will of the ego and the demands of the unconscious Self. When ego thinks that the path goes one way and a certain destination needs to be reached by a certain time, a deviation from that goal creates tension at first, then resistance, and eventually the experience of being stuck.
Whenever I find that feeling creeping in I ask a question. Where does the energy want to go?
“I only want to hold you,
I don’t want to tie you down.”
- John Perry Barlow
It’s a hard pill to swallow the first time. Oh, it’s easy enough to entertain the possibility, but the experience? Now just one second. What’s going on around here?
Jung teaches that we are not singular but a multiplicity. I am us…me is we… However you want to crack the lid on this one is up to you. The specific challenge of the corner we collectively find ourselves in is that a few thousand years a momentum have strengthened our egos into the current fantasy of identity, autonomy, isolation and widespread egotism. The ego has propped itself up as king.
A widening of consciousness to include the energies beyond the ego leads to the discovery of a new center of the personality, an archetypal reality Jung calls the Self. A life directed toward this reality is anything but the self-centeredness we equate with egotism run a muck.
Paraphrasing Jung, each “encounter with the Self is always a defeat for the ego.” These experiences tear into the fabric of how we frame reality. And our framing of reality, fantasy that it is, is also where we hang the hat we call sanity.
The interesting thing to consider if you’re compelled to explore the psyche is that the ego need not dissolve or crumble when it gets dislodged from it’s current stronghold on identity. Instead, it can realign it’s obligations with relationship to the realities it encounters.
It’s helpful to remember that everyone has these energies pulsing through them. Is it possible that some day, perhaps a dozen generations down the line, everyone will relate to them?
It’s a great premise, the title of this shorter book by Jung: The Undiscovered Self. In many ways it sums up the whole of Jungian psychology. The challenge to us: step out of that comfort zone sometimes called the little self, what we often identify as “me,” and set out on a journey of discovery. This shift, really sought by the collective, seeks to break free from the shackles of ego-centrism.
The implication is that each of us has vast areas within the psyche awaiting discovery, areas that lie beyond the boundaries and awareness of our egos. The “Self” (note the capitol “S”) is like a continent in which you are the sole explorer.
As Wikipedia notes,
In Jungian theory, the Self is one of the archetypes. It signifies the coherent whole, unified consciousness and unconscious of a person. The Self, according to Jung, is realised as the product of individuation, which in Jungian view is the process of integrating one’s personality. For Jung, the self is symbolised by the circle (especially when divided in four quadrants), the square, or the mandala.
What distinguishes Jungian psychology is the idea that there are two centers of the personality. The ego is the center of consciousness, whereas the Self is the center of the total personality, which includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. The Self is both the whole and the center. While the ego is a self-contained little circle off the center contained within the whole, the Self can be understood as the greater circle.
Slowly but surely, when the scope of this reality begins to emerge, a shift in perception begins to take place. The ego no longer reckons itself as the center of the personality. It moves and understands its identity in relationship to this other newly discovered center. Yet this center is not just an idea or a theory. It is an experience. It is an encounter.
Now doesn’t that sound refreshing?
I’ve been finding myself running up against a bit of push back when sharing Jung’s ideas as of late, so I thought I’d cut to the chase a bit and talk of the Self, and Wiki is as good a place to start as any…
In Jungian theory, the Self is one of the archetypes. It signifies the coherent whole, unified consciousness and unconscious of a person. The Self, according to Jung, is realized as the product of individuation, which in Jungian view is the process of integrating one’s personality. For Jung, the self is symbolized by the circle (especially when divided in four quadrants), the square, or the mandala.
Terminology seems to always be the first stumbling block. Think of what we normally mean when we say self-centered. Self here needs to point not to our casual “myself”, but instead to borrow from religious traditions, the experience of the divine within.
While Jung is careful not to claim that the archetype of the Self is God within, he does go as far as to say that the Self is the “image of God within.” Edward Edinger is the Jungian that pushes this distinction the furthest throughout his writings, most especially in The New God-Image. Wiki continues…
What distinguishes Jungian psychology is the idea that there are two centers of the personality. The ego is the center of consciousness, whereas the Self is the center of the total personality, which includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. The Self is both the whole and the center. While the ego is a self-contained little circle off the center contained within the whole, the Self can be understood as the greater circle. (both quotes from Wikipedia, Self – psychology)
When Jung makes a claim that “the most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely” it is with this fullness of personality in mind. In my experience, our current collective development leads to ego-centric personalities. To step into a life of a Self-centered personality leads one down unsure paths. Wait, let me reframe that. To engage and develop in this manner you better take a machete.
Lifestream Digest for October 23rd
Wealthy Family to the Cliff
Perception
Temenos