The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.9 Part 1) (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung) Paperback – August 1, 1981

Carl Jung developed his theory about human consciousness over a lifetime of psychological study and psychoanalytical practice with patients. He came to understand that human consciousness existed both consciously and unconsciously, and that the unconscious sides of human beings have a lot in common. People from different countries, cultures, and even time periods have expressed similar unconscious impulses and desires, and he reasoned that we all must have something in common, buried deep within our unconscious. He called these unconscious human similarities archetypes, which he defined as “instinctive data of the dark, primitive psyche, the real but invisible roots of consciousness.”Some of the most common archetypes explored in his work are the persona, the shadow, the anima or animus, and the self. The persona is equivalent to the social ‘masks’ that we all wear in different social situations. We wear a different ‘mask’ when around our family members, our coworkers, or our friends. The persona allows people to adapt to the social world around them and fit in. “The shadow personifies everything that the subject refuses to acknowledge about himself,” for instance, repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, and instincts. The same way that the persona grows out of a need to behave appropriately in different social settings, the shadow grows out of a need to adapt to different cultural norms. The shadow contains all of the things that are unacceptable to society or to one’s own personal morals and values.The anima and animus are the latent feminine and masculine traits, respectively, which reside within the unconscious of men and women. When babies are first developing in a mother’s womb, they are a mix of both genders, until one ultimately becomes the dominant. The other gender, however, still resides within, buried inside the unconscious. A lot of Jung’s work can be observed through a similar balance of opposites. The ‘whole’ individual is a perpetual balancing and recalibrating of the conscious and the unconscious, which are often in conflict with one another. This is also the archetype known as the self. (This is similar to yin-yang theory and is analogous to the relationship between Christ and God.) The self is the present understanding of the conscious ego as it relates to the unconscious.All of these unconscious archetypes are in a constant state of change as they fight for recognition by the conscious mind. The persona is a reflection of social situations; the shadow is that of cultural norms; the anima and animus are the balance of gender within an individual; the self is one’s conscious understanding of the sum of one’s own consciousness and unconsciousness.While these are the most popular archetypes Jung proposed, there are many, including the father, the mother, the child, the hero, the maiden, the trickster, and more. They are usually acknowledged and expressed in dreams, when the bridge between the conscious and unconscious is most open. They sometimes also occur during intense emotional states of mind when emotions take over and the unconscious explodes outwards. “As a rule, unconscious phenomena manifest themselves in a fairly chaotic and unsystematic form,” first and foremost, in metaphors. One of Jung’s most important discoveries and modes of psychotherapy is the universally observed image of the mandala. The mandala is a metaphor for the self and can be found in pictures throughout time, from the earliest artworks of primitive peoples to the unguided drawings of Jung’s patients. A mandala “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.” It makes logical sense when you think about it: a mandala is a circle, and the self exists in the middle.So, the conscious and unconscious are always in a state of flux, either in harmony or disharmony, but never static. This is important, because this fluctuation is the basis for individual growth. The more the conscious mind can accept and understand its unconscious persona, the better it can operate in social situations. The more it accepts its shadow, the better it can express itself fully in society. Similarly, the more it understands about its anima or animus, the better it can understand itself as a ‘whole’ individual. The acceptance of one’s unconscious archetypes is paramount for psychological growth. It is a process that never ends, analogous to the river of life.

After reading Keirsey, Meyers, Jacobi, van der Hoop, Eve Delunas, and others, i finally decided to bite the bullet and get Jung himself. I was afraid of Book Six, but got it anyway and gave it the coveted place in the washroom.Psychological Types is a misnomer. This book focuses not on types, but is mostly Jung rambling on the attitude type and it's compensatory nature in the unconscious. Only the final chapter focuses on the psychological functions themselves, and is more of a treat to anyone who made it through the book.After reading the authors mentioned above, i believe that each author has a different approach and application:Keirsey - He has prominence because he talks about temperament theory (how we act in the outside world) and ingeniously correlates it to the MBTI. The correlation is first mentioned by van der Hoop, who leaves it up to someone else to do the actual correlation.Keirsey's book has nothing to do with Jung or the MBTI. It just happens to correlate with it. Indeed, he *completely* misunderstands what the actual functions are, and dethrones I/E from any importance. He also mentions that Is becomes Es, and vice versa. He explains I/E and being shy or not. S/N as what I/E mostly is. T/F based on emotions, and J/P as order. His mistakes are laughable but understood once realized that Keirsey is a shy extrovert. After that, the rest makes sense.His book is good because it is based on a history of over two thousand years, correlates many theories together, and shows how the types interrelate and act in the outside world.Meyers - She worked with and continued the work of her mother (Briggs). Briggs brought practical application to Jung's original theory, and worked with Jung via post to devise it. While Jung wants to know what make people tick, Briggs wanted to know how it was useful is getting women into the workforce. In essence, she is practical Jung, and is really what made the typology available to others.She also added the J/P to the inventory to note with function was dominant and which was auxiliary, though, it was done by showing the extroverted function (so it is the main function for extroverts, and auxiliary by introverts). It is more useful this way when dealing with outside-world application.Jacobi - Without her, Jung would be a closed book. She risked her life (the Nazis were after her because she was head of the culture committee and Jewish) to finish her degree (which Jung demanded). She explains the life-cycle and symbols and archetypes (goes to more length than Jung), amongst others. It's almost as if she gives the big picture, and Jung fills in the details.van der Hoop - He wrote two books, the first of which deals with early Freud, and the last chapter deals with where Jung argued with Freud in approach. His second book is exclusively Jung, and broken into three parts. The first part explains how each of the four function works. Not how they apply, but what they do. This is something Jung does not do, as he just defines functions as a set way of psychic processing.He also argues with Jung, calling Sensing a non-function, and instead substitutes instinct, but explains both in great detail. Whereas Jung explains intuition as a mostly unconscious function (leading to Keirsey's black-box explanation), van der Hoop explains how it is a pattern matching function without deciding that actual pattern (T or F do that). It is an image that can only be understand when it is totally there (hence the "Aha!") and is subjective as it is tied to the ego. Thinking is judging whether something exists or not (done by breaking things down to their smallest parts), Feeling (as opposed to emotion, a difference he explains in detail) is judging the comparison in between objects by giving each a value and deciding greater-than, less-than, or equal to.Without van der Hoop, the functions are seen only on the outside. But it is important to note that he disagrees with Jung in a couple places.Eva Delunas - A student of Keirsey, she actually read Jung and applies both theories. (She also notes Keirsey's bias to make everything fit nicely.) Not essential, but worth noting.Jung is just theory, and mostly I/E. If the entire MBTI theory is what your looking for, this should be one of the books read. Otherwise, it isn't necessarily practical. Overall though, i was so happy after reading it that i got Book 9a and started that one right away.