Three Basic Threads of Jungian Thought:
1. Personal unconscious is supplemented by a "collective unconscious" consisting of universal images.
2. Spiritual needs are at least equally, if not more important, than basic biological needs ("search for meaning").
3. Introverts try to harmonize inner conflicts into a whole self. Extroverts try to harmonize self with social realities.
"Life, so-called, is a short episode between two great mysteries, which yet are one."
Carl Jung 1875-1961
Malchus is the Persona or mask, concealing the inner personality, the Anima (inner female ), or Animus (inner male). The persona is the public face (mask) one presents to the world for everyone else to see. It is in opposition to the shadow and is mostly conscious as a part of personality. Sometimes the persona is referred to as the "social archetype" since it involves all the compromises appropriate to living in a community.
The Shadow is both a part of the personality and an archetype. The shadow is the dark side of your personality that contains the animal (and sexual) instincts. It is the opposite of the Persona (mask) and is the part of personality that is repressed from the ego ideal. As an archetype, the shadow is seen in its symbolic representation as devils, demons, evil spirits, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Darth Vader ("The dark side of the force"), etc. We meet our Shadow in dreams, fantasies, repressions - slips of the tongue, when caught off guard. Repressing the Shadow creates denial, hiding something all the time, and blocked energy expressed as anger, depression, etc. Repression causes "Projection," that is, seeing your own faults in everyone around you, while ignoring them in yourself. Projection is assuming that others are thinking a particular thing, with no proof. Our own attitudes are "projected" onto someone else - without them knowing at all. Re-integrating the Shadow is a key part of Individuation, or integration. Embracing the Shadow taps new energy and vitality that was blocked, gives a sense of humor, spontenaiety, creativity, and strong emotion.
Archetypes are the primary structures of the collective unconscious. An archetype is an inherited predisposition to respond to certain aspects of the world. Just as the ear and eye have evolved to be maximally sensitive to certain stimuli, we have evolved psychologically to be maximally sensitive to certain categories of experience, categories that all human beings have experienced. These would include birth, death, sun, mothers, fathers, heroes, demons, wise men, etc. The most obvious Archetypes are the Signs of the Zodiac, the Hebrew letters, and the psychological complexes people are prone to.
Archetypes do not have content in and of themselves, only form. They are not unconscious ideas, rather predispositions to perceive. Archetypes are autonomous, patterns that emerge naturally, fractally.
Functions of thought: How the person deals with information from the world:
1. Thinking: Tells what a thing is, gives names, categories to things (true, false), defines alternatives, and reasons objectively. Air Signs.
2. Feeling: Is basically evaluative; tells whether something is good/bad; acceptable/unacceptable; like/dislike. Do not confuse with emotion. Essential notion: Is the object of value? Water Signs.
3. Sensing: Tells you what exists; detects the presence of things. Does not evaluate. Is interested in facts and objects in the objective world; focus is on the trees. Earth Signs.
4. Intuition: Uses hunches, sees possibilities, sees around corners and goes beyond the facts; sees the forest and the trees. Fire Signs.
The four functions are grouped together as two opposing pairs. Thinking and feeling are called "Rational Functions," because they make judgements and evaluations - use reason and logic - in the evaluation of the external world.
Sensing and Intuition are called "Irrational Functions," because they seem to go beyond reason and logic and represent a direct linkage to the external world.
"To the psychotherapist, an old man who cannot bid farewell to life appears as feeble and sickly as the young man who is afraid to embrace it."
Carl Jung 1875-1961
