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The Undiscovered Self/Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams
These two essays, written late in Jung's life, reflect his responses to the shattering experience of World War II and the dawn of mass society. Among his most influential works, "The Undiscovered Self" is a plea for his generation--and those to come--to continue the individual work of self-discovery and not abandon needed psychological reflection for the easy ephemera of mass culture. Only individual awareness of both the conscious and unconscious aspects of the human psyche, Jung tells us, will allow the great work of human culture to continue and thrive.
Jung's reflections on self-knowledge and the exploration of the unconscious carry over into the second essay, "Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams," completed shortly before his death in 1961. Describing dreams as communications from the unconscious, Jung explains how the symbols that occur in dreams compensate for repressed emotions and intuitions. This essay brings together Jung's fully evolved thoughts on the analysis of dreams and the healing of the rift between consciousness and the unconscious, ideas that are central to his system of psychology.
Jung's reflections on self-knowledge and the exploration of the unconscious carry over into the second essay, "Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams," completed shortly before his death in 1961. Describing dreams as communications from the unconscious, Jung explains how the symbols that occur in dreams compensate for repressed emotions and intuitions. This essay brings together Jung's fully evolved thoughts on the analysis of dreams and the healing of the rift between consciousness and the unconscious, ideas that are central to his system of psychology.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
542 people are currently reading
2685 people want to read
About the author
C.G. Jung
1,779 books11.1k followersCarl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
August 21, 2012
A lot of people are giving kudos to Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams, but the truly profound resides in The Undiscovered Self. While Jung is a brilliant psychologist, he brings forth his knowledge of the Church, the State - notably dictatorships, and the dichotomy of his time between the East and West to make for a truly mind blowing read that delves into the importance of the self and individual within the masses as well as lays out an important definition and emphasis on the unconscious and its misunderstood role within humanity. I would highly suggest anyone who reads this to maybe read Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell first, and perhaps Man and His Symbols by Jung as well, because a lot of these ideas Jung brings forth in this book are touched upon in The Power of Myth. Having a solid foundation of myth, poetry, psychology, politics, and history (among others) is crucial. It can be difficult to trudge through and grasp The Undiscovered Self, but its not long. Take your time, reread passages or sections, and give it the time it most certainly deserves.
November 9, 2009
Two great works in one. I used to keep a dream diary but prefer these days to just sleep it off and maybe make a note if something stays in the mind afterwards. One dream I've never forgotten and didn't even need to make a note of. I was in a brightly-lit field and a group of young women were singing in a circle and playing with flowers. Then suddenly a funeral procession came by - six men carrying a coffin, all dressed in black. It stopped, and the man leading it came up to me and showed me a ring in his palm, it was a thick band of gold like a wedding ring and he held it up to show that it had a sharp spike projecting into its centre. I held up my left ring finger and he thrust the ring down onto it, so excrutiatingly that I woke up in a sweat. This was early 1982.
Just two nights ago a man said to me three times in a dream, 'You will die tomorrow at one o' clock. I'm still here...
Just two nights ago a man said to me three times in a dream, 'You will die tomorrow at one o' clock. I'm still here...
September 17, 2023
But of course
August 9, 2022
The expertly articulated views of one of the greatest thinkers I have ever encountered. In these essays, Jung expertly identifies the roots of the modern crisis of meaning, and expresses his view that the responsibility for overcoming it lies with the individual and their integration of the unconscious. A fascinating look into the psyche as understood by a rare genius that dared to spend there career attempting to understand the most formidable of all mysteries, the human soul.
July 10, 2012
Emerge from the other side of this soul-stopper with indifference if you can. Yet another life-changing gem of transpersonal thought dynamics from the master of exposing what is beyond the self yet magnetized to and complimentary to it's essence. Jung has an uncanny knack of dropping physics in the shit and leaving physicists exposed in an embarrassing and compromising position out of which an explanation seldom will their frantic clawing gain them any purchase.
June 4, 2023
The first part of the book deals with social problems at the national/global level, and is incredibly relevant to today's world with well-articulated insights.
The second article in the book, if I'm not mistaken, is also included in the book "Man and His Symbols", and Jung presents some general lines of his work, although not at the technical and detailed level. It is therefore also a great book as an introduction.
The second article in the book, if I'm not mistaken, is also included in the book "Man and His Symbols", and Jung presents some general lines of his work, although not at the technical and detailed level. It is therefore also a great book as an introduction.
July 10, 2012
It's been a while since I read this, but everyone should if not in your studies for yourself.
December 29, 2018
After reading Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life, I wanted to read some Carl Jung, which I had never done before. This volume contains two of Jung's essays, written later in his life, "The Undiscovered Self" (1956) and "Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams" (I can't find the date, but the editor said it was his last written work, and he died in 1961). I was apprehensive at first and worried that the prose would be extremely abstract, an impenetrable maze of Teutonic twaddle. But in reality, I found Jung to be very easy to read, clear, to the point, and even with some good humor!
Going from Peterson to Jung is enlightening. You can definitely see where Peterson gets a lot of his ideas: the defense of the sacredness of the individual, the critique of socialist dictatorships, the idea of "the shadow" or subconscious psyche, exploration of numinous archetypal symbols such as "father" and "mother," the reinterpretation of the Christian "myth" in symbolic terms, and many other things. I think Peterson also follows Jung in interpreting dreams as a window into the subconscious, the topic of Jung's second essay.
Here are some quotes by Jung to give you an idea of where he is coming from, and how clearly Peterson has been influenced by him.
On God: "I put the word 'God' in quotes in order to indicate that we are dealing with an anthropomorphic idea whose dynamism and symbolism are filtered through the medium of the unconscious psyche. Anyone who wants to can at least draw near to the source of such experiences, no matter whether he believes in God or not" (p. 49). This is very similar to Peterson who is very cagey about whether he believes in "God" and what that word even means.
On the resurrection of Christ: "The statement that Christ rose from the dead is to be understood not literally but symbolically .... The objection that understanding it symbolically puts an end to the Christian's hope of immortality is invalid, because long before the coming of Christianity mankind believed in a life after death and therefore had no need of the Easter event as a guarantee of immortality" (p. 22). Peterson interprets the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus symbolically as well.
On the individual's power to "save" the world: "I can therefore see it only as a delusion when the Churches try ... to rope the individual into some social organization and reduce him to a condition of diminished responsibility, instead of raising him out of the torpid, mindless mass and making clear to him that *he* is the one important factor and that the salvation of the world consists in the salvation of the individual soul" (p. 32).
The "shadow" that is resident in every one of us: "Since it is universally believed that man is merely what his consciousness knows of itself, he regards himself as harmless and so adds stupidity to iniquity ... None of us stand outside humanity's black collective shadow ... Evil, without man's ever having chosen it, is lodged in human nature itself" (pp. 52-53). Peterson says similar things. This is an aspect of Jung's (and Peterson's) thought that is impressive. It is as if they recognize a sort of secular psychological image of the Augustinian doctrine of the fall (although not a historical event in the past, the fall of Adam, nor is the solution God's grace in Christ). The benefit of this awareness of man's fallenness is that it provides a critique of the authoritarian left, who think they are morally pure and ought to be in control of society and that if given such power they would be able to establish an "equity" utopia.
The first essay, "The Undiscovered Self," is most interesting for its political implications. It was written during the Cold War where the world seemed divided into two halves: the democratic and capitalist West and the communist East. Jung clearly detests the collectivist view of society in the communist bloc (because it erases the sacredness of the individual) but he also has some criticisms of the West, mainly because it has banished the numinous realm of "God," "spirit," etc. under a self-deception that rational science tells us all we need to know. Thus, Western men are just as much in danger of falling prey to "psychic infection" under the influence of mass movements. When God is banished, something must take his place, and for many on the left today that seems to be the State. It is a very interesting analysis that I think still holds up today. You can hear a lot of these ideas being recycled in Peterson's critique of the radical left.
The second essay, on interpreting dreams, is less political and more personal. I wasn't persuaded by Jung that the best way to get in touch with our subconscious is to analyze our dreams with the help of a psychoanalyst. He writes: "I have spent more than half a century investigating natural symbols, and I have come to the conclusion that dreams and their symbols are not stupid and meaningless. On the contrary, dreams provide you with the most interesting information if only you take the trouble to understand their symbols ... At a time when all available energy is spent in the investigation of nature [science], very little attention is paid to the essence of man, which is his psyche, although many researches are made into its conscious functions. But the really important part, which produces symbols, is still virtually unexplored. We receive signals from it every night" (p. 143).
Nevertheless, while I don't go in for the whole dream analysis theory, Jung did make me wonder if there is something to his basic claim: that our conscious thoughts are not all there is to us. We also have a subsconscious psyche that influences us in subtle ways that we don't always realize. There is a danger in pretending this subconscious aspect of our mind does not exist, because it will bubble up in unexpected ways and make us do or say things we were not aware we were capable of. To prove the existence of the subconscious, Jung gives two examples from daily life: speaking and memory (p. 115). When we are speaking, we are conscious of choosing our words and expressing them, but there is also a part of us that is preparing what we are about to say. The second example is memory. We know that person's name, but we can't recall it on the spot and we are embarrassed. The name comes to us later. It is not as if we did not know the person's name. It was there somewhere in our brain, but we just could not call it up at the right moment.
Another thing that Jung made me think about was the numinous and emotional power of symbols. This is something that comes out in literature (especially poetry), music, and art. Why do we enjoy poetry or looking at a powerful piece of art? A painting "hits" us a certain way. It evokes a certain longing or emotion. It is hard to put into exact, rational words. I recently realized that I used to write poetry when I was younger (high school and college) but I haven't done it in a long time. I have been so focused on my left-brain biblical scholarship that I have lost touch with this right-brain side of myself, but I want to see if I can recapture it. Jung is saying, You have this part of you whether you realize it or not. It's important to get in touch with it and restore balance to your psyche. Otherwise it may pop out in bad ways. The symbols aren't just there to be manipulated and translated into a left-brain rational discourse. They are to be enjoyed and relished. Explore the emotion and let it flow through you. What is that about? Why do you feel those things? What is the subconscious side of you longing for? What does it want? We need to nourish our souls on beauty, good art, symbols, powerful literature, exploring the numinous and irrational side.
So even though I'm critical of the Jungian worldview and reject his symbolic interpretation of the Christ myth, I can take some of his good insights and view them through a Christian lens. From a Christian point of view, we know this longing for beauty is a longing for God himself, and that the shadow side of that is our hatred of God inherited from Adam. Only the Spirit, by his effective grace, can change our nature, taking away or at least (prior to the eschaton) rolling back the shadow and replacing it with himself. As Jesus said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).
Going from Peterson to Jung is enlightening. You can definitely see where Peterson gets a lot of his ideas: the defense of the sacredness of the individual, the critique of socialist dictatorships, the idea of "the shadow" or subconscious psyche, exploration of numinous archetypal symbols such as "father" and "mother," the reinterpretation of the Christian "myth" in symbolic terms, and many other things. I think Peterson also follows Jung in interpreting dreams as a window into the subconscious, the topic of Jung's second essay.
Here are some quotes by Jung to give you an idea of where he is coming from, and how clearly Peterson has been influenced by him.
On God: "I put the word 'God' in quotes in order to indicate that we are dealing with an anthropomorphic idea whose dynamism and symbolism are filtered through the medium of the unconscious psyche. Anyone who wants to can at least draw near to the source of such experiences, no matter whether he believes in God or not" (p. 49). This is very similar to Peterson who is very cagey about whether he believes in "God" and what that word even means.
On the resurrection of Christ: "The statement that Christ rose from the dead is to be understood not literally but symbolically .... The objection that understanding it symbolically puts an end to the Christian's hope of immortality is invalid, because long before the coming of Christianity mankind believed in a life after death and therefore had no need of the Easter event as a guarantee of immortality" (p. 22). Peterson interprets the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus symbolically as well.
On the individual's power to "save" the world: "I can therefore see it only as a delusion when the Churches try ... to rope the individual into some social organization and reduce him to a condition of diminished responsibility, instead of raising him out of the torpid, mindless mass and making clear to him that *he* is the one important factor and that the salvation of the world consists in the salvation of the individual soul" (p. 32).
The "shadow" that is resident in every one of us: "Since it is universally believed that man is merely what his consciousness knows of itself, he regards himself as harmless and so adds stupidity to iniquity ... None of us stand outside humanity's black collective shadow ... Evil, without man's ever having chosen it, is lodged in human nature itself" (pp. 52-53). Peterson says similar things. This is an aspect of Jung's (and Peterson's) thought that is impressive. It is as if they recognize a sort of secular psychological image of the Augustinian doctrine of the fall (although not a historical event in the past, the fall of Adam, nor is the solution God's grace in Christ). The benefit of this awareness of man's fallenness is that it provides a critique of the authoritarian left, who think they are morally pure and ought to be in control of society and that if given such power they would be able to establish an "equity" utopia.
The first essay, "The Undiscovered Self," is most interesting for its political implications. It was written during the Cold War where the world seemed divided into two halves: the democratic and capitalist West and the communist East. Jung clearly detests the collectivist view of society in the communist bloc (because it erases the sacredness of the individual) but he also has some criticisms of the West, mainly because it has banished the numinous realm of "God," "spirit," etc. under a self-deception that rational science tells us all we need to know. Thus, Western men are just as much in danger of falling prey to "psychic infection" under the influence of mass movements. When God is banished, something must take his place, and for many on the left today that seems to be the State. It is a very interesting analysis that I think still holds up today. You can hear a lot of these ideas being recycled in Peterson's critique of the radical left.
The second essay, on interpreting dreams, is less political and more personal. I wasn't persuaded by Jung that the best way to get in touch with our subconscious is to analyze our dreams with the help of a psychoanalyst. He writes: "I have spent more than half a century investigating natural symbols, and I have come to the conclusion that dreams and their symbols are not stupid and meaningless. On the contrary, dreams provide you with the most interesting information if only you take the trouble to understand their symbols ... At a time when all available energy is spent in the investigation of nature [science], very little attention is paid to the essence of man, which is his psyche, although many researches are made into its conscious functions. But the really important part, which produces symbols, is still virtually unexplored. We receive signals from it every night" (p. 143).
Nevertheless, while I don't go in for the whole dream analysis theory, Jung did make me wonder if there is something to his basic claim: that our conscious thoughts are not all there is to us. We also have a subsconscious psyche that influences us in subtle ways that we don't always realize. There is a danger in pretending this subconscious aspect of our mind does not exist, because it will bubble up in unexpected ways and make us do or say things we were not aware we were capable of. To prove the existence of the subconscious, Jung gives two examples from daily life: speaking and memory (p. 115). When we are speaking, we are conscious of choosing our words and expressing them, but there is also a part of us that is preparing what we are about to say. The second example is memory. We know that person's name, but we can't recall it on the spot and we are embarrassed. The name comes to us later. It is not as if we did not know the person's name. It was there somewhere in our brain, but we just could not call it up at the right moment.
Another thing that Jung made me think about was the numinous and emotional power of symbols. This is something that comes out in literature (especially poetry), music, and art. Why do we enjoy poetry or looking at a powerful piece of art? A painting "hits" us a certain way. It evokes a certain longing or emotion. It is hard to put into exact, rational words. I recently realized that I used to write poetry when I was younger (high school and college) but I haven't done it in a long time. I have been so focused on my left-brain biblical scholarship that I have lost touch with this right-brain side of myself, but I want to see if I can recapture it. Jung is saying, You have this part of you whether you realize it or not. It's important to get in touch with it and restore balance to your psyche. Otherwise it may pop out in bad ways. The symbols aren't just there to be manipulated and translated into a left-brain rational discourse. They are to be enjoyed and relished. Explore the emotion and let it flow through you. What is that about? Why do you feel those things? What is the subconscious side of you longing for? What does it want? We need to nourish our souls on beauty, good art, symbols, powerful literature, exploring the numinous and irrational side.
So even though I'm critical of the Jungian worldview and reject his symbolic interpretation of the Christ myth, I can take some of his good insights and view them through a Christian lens. From a Christian point of view, we know this longing for beauty is a longing for God himself, and that the shadow side of that is our hatred of God inherited from Adam. Only the Spirit, by his effective grace, can change our nature, taking away or at least (prior to the eschaton) rolling back the shadow and replacing it with himself. As Jesus said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).
March 16, 2024
Much more of a faith/philosophy than a science text. Jungs arguments boil down to (if I may be so bold (and even more so possibly dumb)) "it seems like this is what the truth is, so lets just go with that". That's a fine argument to not dispute the value of dreams/symbols/unconscious mind, but it does not really interest me in terms of expanding my knowledge. I agree a lot of it is intuitive, and his text is largely arguing in defense of intuition regarding these topics, but because of that I didn't get much explicit knowledge value from this. It was good for a lot of personal reflection which is good, however. I found it well written and engaging even if a little too anecdotal.
Worth a read if interested in dreams/psych/philosophy. It took me like 2 months to read cus I been busy not reading. Easily could finish this in a day if youre motivated.
Worth a read if interested in dreams/psych/philosophy. It took me like 2 months to read cus I been busy not reading. Easily could finish this in a day if youre motivated.
June 19, 2020
"I have spent more than half a century investigating natural symbols, and I have come to the conclusion that dreams and their symbols are not stupid and meaningless. On the contrary, dreams provide you with the most interesting information if only you take the trouble to understand their symbols. The results, it is true, have little to do with such worldly concerns as buying and selling. But the meaning of life is not exhaustively explained by your business activities, nor is the deep desire of the human heart answered by your bank account, even if you have never heard of anything else."
January 5, 2022
Carl Jung is Western Civilization's intellectual bridge back to the psyche and rich internal world of the individual. It is hard to express just how revolutionary the life work of Carl Jung has been on Western thought. From the time of Aristotle to Saint Thomas Aquinas the West has been on a near-constant linear and outward intellectual trajectory of hyper materialism. With the advent of Objectivism and Empirical thinking the inner subjective and individual experiences of mankind were deemed insignificant and of little importance. The damage created by internalizing this type of thinking, that only valued the external and measurable, began the cultural severing of the individual from their own psyche. This psychological alienation is manifest in the near deluge of untreated mental illnesses.
Carl Jung was as intensely brave as he was curious and confronted not only cultural hurdles that questioned the validity of his academic pursuits but also had to challenge his own over-bearing mentor. His willingness to break with conventions and Frued allowed him to be relentless in the search of understanding the inner universe of the individual. What he discovered there was much larger, complex, contradictory, nuanced and challenging often evading simple categorization.
The subjective experience of a person is rooted in the unconscious, the part of the brain that speaks in images not words. That part of the brain that tells stories layered with riddles that the conscious part of us attempts to decipher. Jung argues that we discount this subjective experience at our own collective peril because the unresolved neurosis of each individual become projected outward onto the external world creating a collective neurosis that can infect all aspects of the social and physical environment. Only through restoring the health of the inner world can the external world come into a healthier alignment and balance.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"A symbol does not disguise, it reveals in time"
"Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt (the fates lead the willing, but drag the unwilling)"
"People go on blithely organizing and believing in the sovereign remedy of mass action, without the least consciousness of the fact that the most powerful organizations can be maintained only the greatest ruthlessness of their leaders and the cheapest of slogans"
"Separation from his instinctual nature inevitably plunges civilized man into the conflict between conscious and unconscious, spirit and nature, knowledge and faith, a split that becomes pathological the moment his consciousness is no longer able to neglect or suppress his instinctual side. The accumulations of individuals who have go into this critical state starts off a mass movement purporting to be the champion of the suppressed. In accordance with the prevailing tendency of consciousness to seek the source of all ills in the outside world, the cry goes up for political and social changes which, it is supposed, would automatically solve the much deeper problem of the split personality"
"Virtually everything depends on the human psyche and its functions. It should be worthy of all the attention we can give it, especially today, when everyone admits that the weal or woe of the future will be decided neither by the threat of wild animals, nor by natural catastrophes, nor by the danger of world-wide epidemics, but simply and Soley by the psychic changes in man".
"Often in the case of these sudden transformations on can prove that an archetype has been at work for a long time in the unconscious, skillfully arranging circumstances that will unavoidably lead to a crisis"
"The one thing we refuse to admit is that we are dependent on 'powers' beyond our control"
"We believe exclusively in consciousness and free will, and are no longer aware of the powers that control us to an indefinite degree, outside the narrow domain where we can be reasonable and exercise a certain amount of free choice and self-control".
"No textbook can teach psychology; one learns only by actual experience. No understanding is gained by memorizing words, for symbols are the living facts of life".
"Nothing is more vulnerable and ephemeral than scientific theories, which are mere tools and not everlasting truths"
"We have lost something we have never properly understood. Our spiritual leaders cannot be spared the blame for having been more interested in protecting their institutions that in understanding the mystery that symbols present"
"We have stripped all things of their mystery and numinosity; nothing is holy any longer"
"Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos. He is no longer involved in nature and has lost his emotional participation in natural events, which hitherto had a symbolic meaning for him".
"It is a great mistake in practice to treat an archetype as if it were a mere name, word, or concept. It is far more than that: it is a piece of life, an image connected with the living individual by the bridge of emotion. The world alone is a mere abstraction, an exchangeable coin in the intellectual commerce. But the archetype is living matter"
Carl Jung was as intensely brave as he was curious and confronted not only cultural hurdles that questioned the validity of his academic pursuits but also had to challenge his own over-bearing mentor. His willingness to break with conventions and Frued allowed him to be relentless in the search of understanding the inner universe of the individual. What he discovered there was much larger, complex, contradictory, nuanced and challenging often evading simple categorization.
The subjective experience of a person is rooted in the unconscious, the part of the brain that speaks in images not words. That part of the brain that tells stories layered with riddles that the conscious part of us attempts to decipher. Jung argues that we discount this subjective experience at our own collective peril because the unresolved neurosis of each individual become projected outward onto the external world creating a collective neurosis that can infect all aspects of the social and physical environment. Only through restoring the health of the inner world can the external world come into a healthier alignment and balance.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"A symbol does not disguise, it reveals in time"
"Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt (the fates lead the willing, but drag the unwilling)"
"People go on blithely organizing and believing in the sovereign remedy of mass action, without the least consciousness of the fact that the most powerful organizations can be maintained only the greatest ruthlessness of their leaders and the cheapest of slogans"
"Separation from his instinctual nature inevitably plunges civilized man into the conflict between conscious and unconscious, spirit and nature, knowledge and faith, a split that becomes pathological the moment his consciousness is no longer able to neglect or suppress his instinctual side. The accumulations of individuals who have go into this critical state starts off a mass movement purporting to be the champion of the suppressed. In accordance with the prevailing tendency of consciousness to seek the source of all ills in the outside world, the cry goes up for political and social changes which, it is supposed, would automatically solve the much deeper problem of the split personality"
"Virtually everything depends on the human psyche and its functions. It should be worthy of all the attention we can give it, especially today, when everyone admits that the weal or woe of the future will be decided neither by the threat of wild animals, nor by natural catastrophes, nor by the danger of world-wide epidemics, but simply and Soley by the psychic changes in man".
"Often in the case of these sudden transformations on can prove that an archetype has been at work for a long time in the unconscious, skillfully arranging circumstances that will unavoidably lead to a crisis"
"The one thing we refuse to admit is that we are dependent on 'powers' beyond our control"
"We believe exclusively in consciousness and free will, and are no longer aware of the powers that control us to an indefinite degree, outside the narrow domain where we can be reasonable and exercise a certain amount of free choice and self-control".
"No textbook can teach psychology; one learns only by actual experience. No understanding is gained by memorizing words, for symbols are the living facts of life".
"Nothing is more vulnerable and ephemeral than scientific theories, which are mere tools and not everlasting truths"
"We have lost something we have never properly understood. Our spiritual leaders cannot be spared the blame for having been more interested in protecting their institutions that in understanding the mystery that symbols present"
"We have stripped all things of their mystery and numinosity; nothing is holy any longer"
"Man feels himself isolated in the cosmos. He is no longer involved in nature and has lost his emotional participation in natural events, which hitherto had a symbolic meaning for him".
"It is a great mistake in practice to treat an archetype as if it were a mere name, word, or concept. It is far more than that: it is a piece of life, an image connected with the living individual by the bridge of emotion. The world alone is a mere abstraction, an exchangeable coin in the intellectual commerce. But the archetype is living matter"
January 16, 2025
In all honesty, I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It's amazing to see the topics he covered during the time-period he lived in, and how the issues described on his essay still persist nowadays. This is the first book I've read from Carl Jung, and certainly won't be the last.
What a masterpiece!
What a masterpiece!
May 14, 2025
Still applicable after all these decades- discusses the disconnect of the individual due to the social constraints of the collective, and the importance of dedicating time to self knowledge and awareness. Emphasizes the importance of religion in the modern day along with the decline of true spirituality and personal religion with the merging of religion and state. So much of our self understanding is limited due to the lack of attention we give to the unconscious mind and the dreams & visions we dismiss as meaningless. I’ve read quite a bit of Jung and these essays were some of my favorite of his works.
February 11, 2020
The Undiscovered Self - 5/5
Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams - 5/5
Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams - 5/5
July 23, 2022
I loved it! Undiscovered self was interesting but didn’t resonate too much but symbols and interpretations of dreams was muy fuego
March 10, 2023
I can appreciate Jung's ideas and his overall message, but this guy's writing is all over the place - the chapter headlines might as well be arbitrary as there is no structure to his flow that I can discern, which is tiring at times.
August 21, 2021
8.7/10
March 1, 2020
Had to read "The Undiscovered Self" for a class, and continued reading "Symbols and Interpretations of Dreams." Preferred the former over the latter, but just barely. Frankly, while Jung had some interesting ideas, he wasn't much of a scientist. His quote, from page 128, "I know enough of the scientific standpoint to understand that it is most annoying to have to deal with facts that cannot be grasped completely or at any rate adequately," is precisely the opposite of the scientific mindset. It is precisely that which makes science fun and exciting and interesting, it is that which drives the scientist intellectually forward. What I am seeing with Jung and those like him, whom I consider to be, at best, on the fringes of science and at worst to be pseudo-scientists, is this misapprehension that science is about seeking certainty and complete knowledge of everything, when that's not it all. No scientists believes that's going to happen, ever. It's about learning AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE about AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, which isn't the same thing at all. Hence, those who do not get it succumb to the pseudo-sciences, such as dream interpretation, as a way to achieve certainty -- i.e. when Jung uses examples of how he successfully interpreted dreams that were actually prognostications of tragic events, such as the death of the subject in question. In this way, Jung has entered into the illusion of having achieved certainty in knowledge because he was unable to handle the ever-present uncertainty of actual science. No thank you.
January 29, 2008
Jung is a bit difficult to read so this book of excerpts seemed like a good place to start with him. The last portion on dreams was especially interesting - how the same dream could have different meanings for different people and how there are some symbols that are pretty common. Includes examples!
September 3, 2024
Önemli yerlerin altını çizeyim dedim; sonra anladım ki önemsiz/yarı önemli yerlerin altını çizmek mürekkep tasarrufu için daha uygun.. Öyle bir kitaptı yani..
CG Jung'un otobiyografi kitabı ''Dreams, Memories and Reflections''ı da şiddetle tavsiye ederim..
CG Jung'un otobiyografi kitabı ''Dreams, Memories and Reflections''ı da şiddetle tavsiye ederim..
March 9, 2007
this beats those "dream analysis for dummies" books anyday!
March 25, 2018
Oh my god, this book knocked me on my ass. It seems like this book was inspired by a higher intelligence that could objectively look at humanity from a 3rd party perspective. I have always been into the postmodern writers who have this similar seeming omniscience of the complexity and limits of knowledge, but it seems like Jung has the answers to these problems.
A lot of these his ideas have bled into pop culture, so It was cool to see where they come from--ideas like the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the limits of scientific knowledge. It was also interesting to see a fresh (to me any way) perspective on the deleterious effects that mass culture and statistical grouping has on individuals. Similarly, his interest in dreams and critique of Freud (whom I haven't read, but know through pop culture) were fun and oddly familiar to see fleshed out by Jung himself.
I was blown away by the applicability of the political polarization he observed in his time to today's political divide. I was particularly floored by his assertion that the divide comes from individuals' own inability to confront in themselves what they despise in other people. Far from an attempt to unite political ideologies, he seems to think that individuals' issues manifest in society and vice verse, as the individual is the most basic unit of a society, as though an individual's problems are magically projected all around them, and likewise received by similar outside projections.
I had also heard before people say that the state replaced religion, but the way Jung talks about it brings a much more thorough investigation of what that means and what problems that might invite. As atheism or at least skepticism and religious indifference are more and more popular nowadays, you can see that these impulses are redirected toward political ideology and activism. But, Jung seems to say that directing these impulses whose nature is internal toward outside matters is insufficient to satisfy what they yearn for.
More on this, I'm surprised that people consider Jung (and people who follow him like Jordan Peterson) a modernist because it seems that he is responding to the same problems as the post modernists--specifically science's inadequacy as a comprehensive narrative of what we are as individuals. Perhaps the main difference between Jung and the post modernists his how they dismantle religion as an institution. It seems like the post modernists dismantle the religious impulse along with religious institutions.
While Jung similarly sees the institutions and doctrines (which he differentiates from the spiritually beneficial aspect of religion as "creeds") as insufficient at best and murderous at worse, he seems to think that the religious impulse within the individual should be cultivated through an evaluation of individuals' dreams and shadow self (the things we are repulsed by in others that are actually aspects of ourselves we are unwilling to accept).
While post modernists were revolutionary in asserting that such scientific and, specifically, biological narratives were insufficient and oppressive, it seems like they do not replace these narratives with anything other than a vague injunction for individuals to determine their own truth separate from any seemingly universal paradigm. Oddly, Jung seems to suggest a universal paradigm, but not through external and therefore socially constructed imposition, but through an inherited access to dream logic and non institutional religious impulses.
On the whole, it seems like the main problem that individuals have is the limited understanding of themselves due to the dominance of the sciences and, further, accounting for the self with only things that are outside of the self. If I could boil the whole book down to one take away, it is that humans face problems because we think that we understand ourselves, but we are not confronting the ethereal aspects of our subjective experience that the sciences are insufficient to explain, and if we do confront these ethereal aspects of ourselves, than we can better understand ourselves and how to confront our problems in our lives and in society.
A lot of these his ideas have bled into pop culture, so It was cool to see where they come from--ideas like the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the limits of scientific knowledge. It was also interesting to see a fresh (to me any way) perspective on the deleterious effects that mass culture and statistical grouping has on individuals. Similarly, his interest in dreams and critique of Freud (whom I haven't read, but know through pop culture) were fun and oddly familiar to see fleshed out by Jung himself.
I was blown away by the applicability of the political polarization he observed in his time to today's political divide. I was particularly floored by his assertion that the divide comes from individuals' own inability to confront in themselves what they despise in other people. Far from an attempt to unite political ideologies, he seems to think that individuals' issues manifest in society and vice verse, as the individual is the most basic unit of a society, as though an individual's problems are magically projected all around them, and likewise received by similar outside projections.
I had also heard before people say that the state replaced religion, but the way Jung talks about it brings a much more thorough investigation of what that means and what problems that might invite. As atheism or at least skepticism and religious indifference are more and more popular nowadays, you can see that these impulses are redirected toward political ideology and activism. But, Jung seems to say that directing these impulses whose nature is internal toward outside matters is insufficient to satisfy what they yearn for.
More on this, I'm surprised that people consider Jung (and people who follow him like Jordan Peterson) a modernist because it seems that he is responding to the same problems as the post modernists--specifically science's inadequacy as a comprehensive narrative of what we are as individuals. Perhaps the main difference between Jung and the post modernists his how they dismantle religion as an institution. It seems like the post modernists dismantle the religious impulse along with religious institutions.
While Jung similarly sees the institutions and doctrines (which he differentiates from the spiritually beneficial aspect of religion as "creeds") as insufficient at best and murderous at worse, he seems to think that the religious impulse within the individual should be cultivated through an evaluation of individuals' dreams and shadow self (the things we are repulsed by in others that are actually aspects of ourselves we are unwilling to accept).
While post modernists were revolutionary in asserting that such scientific and, specifically, biological narratives were insufficient and oppressive, it seems like they do not replace these narratives with anything other than a vague injunction for individuals to determine their own truth separate from any seemingly universal paradigm. Oddly, Jung seems to suggest a universal paradigm, but not through external and therefore socially constructed imposition, but through an inherited access to dream logic and non institutional religious impulses.
On the whole, it seems like the main problem that individuals have is the limited understanding of themselves due to the dominance of the sciences and, further, accounting for the self with only things that are outside of the self. If I could boil the whole book down to one take away, it is that humans face problems because we think that we understand ourselves, but we are not confronting the ethereal aspects of our subjective experience that the sciences are insufficient to explain, and if we do confront these ethereal aspects of ourselves, than we can better understand ourselves and how to confront our problems in our lives and in society.
September 23, 2023
This was my first reading of Jung’s works. I was unsure where to start. Searching the Internet on recommended reading order I did not find a consensus. But I am glad I started here. This edition is made up of two selections from his corpus.
The first work is The Undiscovered Self wherein Jung argues for the significance of the both the individual and the unconscious against the tyrannical state. There were several points that resonated with me. The importance of personal religious experience - particularly with the recognition of the shadowy evil that resides in the heart of every human being was a particularly important point.
I firmly believe it is Jung’s anti-Communist stance as the reason why he is rarely taught in colleges outside of specialized classes for psychologists.
This is the first writings I have found that directly challenges epiphenominalism, which I sincerely welcomed. It has certainly spurred my interest to learn more about the unconscious self.
The second work is Symbolism and the Interpretation of Dreams. It is not a handbook on dream interpretation but an apologia of the unconscience and the significance of understanding dreams. The unconscious is a natural phenomenon where meaningful symbols are manifested. These symbols may be either individual or part of collective symbolism.
This collective symbolism is also represented in mythological tales. As Joseph Campbell has illustrated, there are remarkable similarities of myths across cultures and across time from cultures without any contact with each other. Such a reality suggests we all bear such collective symbolism in our unconscious. The rationalist, so dominant in today’s society, disregards and represses the notion that the unconscious is meaningful or even exists. He rejects the idea that the psyche is constituted by anything more than consciousness. Yet he finds himself in a society that is increasingly rudderless. He find worth in only building increasingly dangerous machines that can destroy the world. Every solution of the rationalist is another machine. Yet nothing changes. We are disconnected not just from external nature but our own internal nature.
For the Christian, Jung writes that they wonder why God does not speak to them like the people of old while ignoring the fact that God frequently spoke in dreams. The modern believer has used church traditions and the Bible to place a barrier between his conscious and unconscious self.
Jung argues that to bring about healing, we need to pursue the challenging work of understanding the symbols of our dreams.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to read more of Jung’s works. When trying to find a reading order for Jung’s works I kept coming across suggestions to read introductory works by others or to start with works by his students, Neumann or Edinger, as they are more accessible. I disagree. I’m not that bright yet I was able to follow his line of reasoning just fine. I strongly recommend reading primary works wherever possible. I don’t like eating half chewed food by others
The first work is The Undiscovered Self wherein Jung argues for the significance of the both the individual and the unconscious against the tyrannical state. There were several points that resonated with me. The importance of personal religious experience - particularly with the recognition of the shadowy evil that resides in the heart of every human being was a particularly important point.
I firmly believe it is Jung’s anti-Communist stance as the reason why he is rarely taught in colleges outside of specialized classes for psychologists.
This is the first writings I have found that directly challenges epiphenominalism, which I sincerely welcomed. It has certainly spurred my interest to learn more about the unconscious self.
The second work is Symbolism and the Interpretation of Dreams. It is not a handbook on dream interpretation but an apologia of the unconscience and the significance of understanding dreams. The unconscious is a natural phenomenon where meaningful symbols are manifested. These symbols may be either individual or part of collective symbolism.
This collective symbolism is also represented in mythological tales. As Joseph Campbell has illustrated, there are remarkable similarities of myths across cultures and across time from cultures without any contact with each other. Such a reality suggests we all bear such collective symbolism in our unconscious. The rationalist, so dominant in today’s society, disregards and represses the notion that the unconscious is meaningful or even exists. He rejects the idea that the psyche is constituted by anything more than consciousness. Yet he finds himself in a society that is increasingly rudderless. He find worth in only building increasingly dangerous machines that can destroy the world. Every solution of the rationalist is another machine. Yet nothing changes. We are disconnected not just from external nature but our own internal nature.
For the Christian, Jung writes that they wonder why God does not speak to them like the people of old while ignoring the fact that God frequently spoke in dreams. The modern believer has used church traditions and the Bible to place a barrier between his conscious and unconscious self.
Jung argues that to bring about healing, we need to pursue the challenging work of understanding the symbols of our dreams.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to read more of Jung’s works. When trying to find a reading order for Jung’s works I kept coming across suggestions to read introductory works by others or to start with works by his students, Neumann or Edinger, as they are more accessible. I disagree. I’m not that bright yet I was able to follow his line of reasoning just fine. I strongly recommend reading primary works wherever possible. I don’t like eating half chewed food by others
January 4, 2021
The book in 3 sentences:
This book consists of two essays and is the introduction to Carl Jung that we can actually find at our local bookstore-at-the-mall. The first essay lays out the many difficulties associated with developing an individual theory of self today in Western culture, where we're often forced to confront our rationalist society's mutually exclusive attitudes toward science on the one hand and religion on the other. The second essay takes a deeper dive into ideas presented in the first essay surrounding consciousness, dreams, and archetypes, and serves as a call to action to choose to be an individual that educates themselves about the context of religious signs, symbols, stories, and their origins, while keeping in mind that our own individual perspectives are framed by our personalities and psychological types (i.e., see Myers-Briggs Type Indicator).
My personal take in 3 sentences:
This phenomenal volume motivates the interested reader to develop their own personal philosophy of self, the cosmos, and the meaning in life so that it is rooted in their own individual psychology and broader culture; moreover, it arms them with the basics of how to go about achieving self-understanding and self-knowledge to this end. It convincingly makes the case that understanding another person's dreams is tantamount to understanding the nature of religion (e.g., God has always "visited" or "appeared" in dreams, images, and fantasies), and understanding your own dreams and the symbols that they contain (thus broadening your own consciousness) is one of the first steps along this path. Fundamentally this book encourages you to live out your own hero's journey in life, and to remember that all of the great men and women who ever achieved anything in life did it because they believed that they could and that they would (e.g., "If St. Paul had been convinced he was nothing but a weaver of carpets, he would certainly have not been himself...the myth that took possession of him made him something greater than a mere craftsman.").
This book consists of two essays and is the introduction to Carl Jung that we can actually find at our local bookstore-at-the-mall. The first essay lays out the many difficulties associated with developing an individual theory of self today in Western culture, where we're often forced to confront our rationalist society's mutually exclusive attitudes toward science on the one hand and religion on the other. The second essay takes a deeper dive into ideas presented in the first essay surrounding consciousness, dreams, and archetypes, and serves as a call to action to choose to be an individual that educates themselves about the context of religious signs, symbols, stories, and their origins, while keeping in mind that our own individual perspectives are framed by our personalities and psychological types (i.e., see Myers-Briggs Type Indicator).
My personal take in 3 sentences:
This phenomenal volume motivates the interested reader to develop their own personal philosophy of self, the cosmos, and the meaning in life so that it is rooted in their own individual psychology and broader culture; moreover, it arms them with the basics of how to go about achieving self-understanding and self-knowledge to this end. It convincingly makes the case that understanding another person's dreams is tantamount to understanding the nature of religion (e.g., God has always "visited" or "appeared" in dreams, images, and fantasies), and understanding your own dreams and the symbols that they contain (thus broadening your own consciousness) is one of the first steps along this path. Fundamentally this book encourages you to live out your own hero's journey in life, and to remember that all of the great men and women who ever achieved anything in life did it because they believed that they could and that they would (e.g., "If St. Paul had been convinced he was nothing but a weaver of carpets, he would certainly have not been himself...the myth that took possession of him made him something greater than a mere craftsman.").
December 1, 2021
So I’ve come to known, disappointingly, that the second essay in this book is the same one he’s done on the introduction to “Man and His Symbols”. Why they titled it differently is beyond me, but it’s confusing and misleading as heck. Given the vast amount of work Jung has done, you’d think they’d come with a good system of keeping everything coherent.
Second essay is good, as I’ve mentioned in my previous review. It’s a good introduction and overview to his ideas on dreams and It’s written for the common people, like me, so it’s probably one of the easiest reads you’d get from him. If you’re ever gonna read only one work by Jung, it’s probably the essay to go.
The first essay however is a bit more complex. It’s heavily political as it talks about the situation at the time after World War II and during the onset of the Cold War. I think Jung is pretty damn insightful. He asserts flaws that the modern world and the field of psychology is heavily leaning on at the time, and even today, of primarily focusing on the collective, statistical view of man. Which consequently robs the focus away from the individual which he thinks is the better focal mode. He suggests religion as a counter to that but points out various flaws of it as well. My favorite part is when he talks about the unconscious, particularly about the shadow. We do have a tendency to put the blame of violence and the darker sides of ourselves towards the opposite party. Here, you see Jung, advising self-reflection and dwelling into our own tendencies. “As humans, we are all potential criminals.” I especially like that section where he talked about the crimes and atrocities Europe has committed towards itself during the Dark Ages and towards colored people during the colonization era.
Now, I must admit, I am not even halfway towards understanding the entirety of his points on the first essay. For that, I need to acquaint myself with a lot of history and political views to fully get it. So I need to come back to this some time in the future. But from what I know now, Jung is pog.
Second essay is good, as I’ve mentioned in my previous review. It’s a good introduction and overview to his ideas on dreams and It’s written for the common people, like me, so it’s probably one of the easiest reads you’d get from him. If you’re ever gonna read only one work by Jung, it’s probably the essay to go.
The first essay however is a bit more complex. It’s heavily political as it talks about the situation at the time after World War II and during the onset of the Cold War. I think Jung is pretty damn insightful. He asserts flaws that the modern world and the field of psychology is heavily leaning on at the time, and even today, of primarily focusing on the collective, statistical view of man. Which consequently robs the focus away from the individual which he thinks is the better focal mode. He suggests religion as a counter to that but points out various flaws of it as well. My favorite part is when he talks about the unconscious, particularly about the shadow. We do have a tendency to put the blame of violence and the darker sides of ourselves towards the opposite party. Here, you see Jung, advising self-reflection and dwelling into our own tendencies. “As humans, we are all potential criminals.” I especially like that section where he talked about the crimes and atrocities Europe has committed towards itself during the Dark Ages and towards colored people during the colonization era.
Now, I must admit, I am not even halfway towards understanding the entirety of his points on the first essay. For that, I need to acquaint myself with a lot of history and political views to fully get it. So I need to come back to this some time in the future. But from what I know now, Jung is pog.
November 21, 2022
I loved the first part of the book, "The undiscovered self" but I have quiet a few reservations regarding the symbols and the interpretation of dreams.
In the first part, Jung outlines the importance of analysing and trying to understand your unconscious and psyche. Every individual is unique and this uniqueness needs to be valued, even though it is precisely this uniqueness that makes studying the unconscious so challenging. Dictator states and religions/creeds try to attack the individuality of the people in order to control and manipulate people. Their goal is to create masses or groups and erase the sense of individuality because then it becomes easier to create ideas such as us vs. them, or to blame the "others" for the "evil" in the world.
According to Jung, it is important to understand and accept our duality (there is good and evil within everyone, including ourselves) and that we are also part of the problem, we are also a contributor for better or for worse. People who don't know their own self and don't study their own unconscious, tend to want to be part of groups and communities, fit in, take orders and blame others. As long as we don't accept our duality, we're going to kep going to war, make weapons, use them for destruction, and continue to not make any improvements to our society.
I liked the ideas in the first part of the book and could feel the frustration of the author regarding the state of the world.
---
The second part of the book is about the interpretation of symbols in dreams, dreams as manifestation of our unconscious (subconscious) and the importance of analysing them to understand ourselves better (as well as predict the future sometimes?). I have my own reservations regarding this topic, as I believe most of the theories are proved because of confirmation bias and retrospective knowledge. Nonetheless, it was still an interesting read, especially since I have also read Freud's book about the interpretation of dreams, so it was interesting to compare their ideas.
In the first part, Jung outlines the importance of analysing and trying to understand your unconscious and psyche. Every individual is unique and this uniqueness needs to be valued, even though it is precisely this uniqueness that makes studying the unconscious so challenging. Dictator states and religions/creeds try to attack the individuality of the people in order to control and manipulate people. Their goal is to create masses or groups and erase the sense of individuality because then it becomes easier to create ideas such as us vs. them, or to blame the "others" for the "evil" in the world.
According to Jung, it is important to understand and accept our duality (there is good and evil within everyone, including ourselves) and that we are also part of the problem, we are also a contributor for better or for worse. People who don't know their own self and don't study their own unconscious, tend to want to be part of groups and communities, fit in, take orders and blame others. As long as we don't accept our duality, we're going to kep going to war, make weapons, use them for destruction, and continue to not make any improvements to our society.
I liked the ideas in the first part of the book and could feel the frustration of the author regarding the state of the world.
---
The second part of the book is about the interpretation of symbols in dreams, dreams as manifestation of our unconscious (subconscious) and the importance of analysing them to understand ourselves better (as well as predict the future sometimes?). I have my own reservations regarding this topic, as I believe most of the theories are proved because of confirmation bias and retrospective knowledge. Nonetheless, it was still an interesting read, especially since I have also read Freud's book about the interpretation of dreams, so it was interesting to compare their ideas.
August 29, 2024
The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung is a deeply insightful work that challenges conventional thinking about the role of religion and the significance of the unconscious in our lives. Jung’s exploration of religion is particularly compelling. He acknowledges the value of religious experience in connecting individuals with the divine, yet he critiques the institutionalization of religion, which often suppresses personal individuality. However, Jung also recognizes the importance of religious symbols and rituals, seeing them as valuable tools for the individual’s journey toward self-realization, provided they serve the process of individuation rather than merely upholding dogmatic systems.
Jung’s discussion on dreams and their symbols is another aspect of the book that I found profoundly enriching. He emphasizes the importance of not ignoring archetypes, as they seek to manifest themselves in our consciousness. These symbols play a crucial role in guiding us toward greater self-awareness and understanding, helping us to integrate unconscious elements into our conscious lives.
Jung’s views are undoubtedly complex, and I feel as though I’ve only just begun to dip my toe into his vast ocean of thought. His writing invites the reader to engage in deep introspection and to consider the often overlooked aspects of our psyche that shape our experience of the world. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in psychology, religion, or the exploration of the self. It is both a challenge and a revelation, leaving you eager to explore more of Jung’s profound insights.
Jung’s discussion on dreams and their symbols is another aspect of the book that I found profoundly enriching. He emphasizes the importance of not ignoring archetypes, as they seek to manifest themselves in our consciousness. These symbols play a crucial role in guiding us toward greater self-awareness and understanding, helping us to integrate unconscious elements into our conscious lives.
Jung’s views are undoubtedly complex, and I feel as though I’ve only just begun to dip my toe into his vast ocean of thought. His writing invites the reader to engage in deep introspection and to consider the often overlooked aspects of our psyche that shape our experience of the world. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in psychology, religion, or the exploration of the self. It is both a challenge and a revelation, leaving you eager to explore more of Jung’s profound insights.
August 23, 2019
After I read works by Sigmund Freud last year I was a bit dubious of reading another book on psychology since I found his theories far fetched and outdated. Carl Jung on the other hand, seemed to have a more down to earth view point on the conscious and unconscious mind. He does not believe that dreams are a desire to have sex with ones mother and that the son is envious of the father. Instead Jung concentrates on the dream itself and what it means to the patient. I also like his theory of the unconscious mind, that it was dominant further down in our evolutionary trail and became less so as our conscious mind developed. Some of his ideas on how intuition and physic ability as part of the unconscious is interesting and would explain deja vu and why some dreams tend to come true. He felt that the unconscious sees events unfold long before the conscious mind comprehends the situation and therefore it is our dreams that allow the unconscious to disclose such information.
It has made me think about the unconscious mind in a way that I never considered in the past. That there is a whole other side of a person's psyche that is very much part of the individual in which he/she is not aware of.
It has made me think about the unconscious mind in a way that I never considered in the past. That there is a whole other side of a person's psyche that is very much part of the individual in which he/she is not aware of.
December 4, 2021
Two short Jung books in one cover, I read the first, The Undiscovered Self, and became enthralled. The second, Symbols and Interpretations of Dreams blew me away. This is my first go at reading Jung's prose. Before, I've read quotes and books that reference him, but never direct like this. I feel like I was being instructed by the Master. Probably because he was.
The unconscious self has all that is in my mind, good and bad, silly and profound, intuitive and logical. Acknowledging that it encompasses both shades, I found liberating, mainly because I know that I have both capacities in me.
I read the dreams book because I am researching an angle for understanding Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Night's Dream (I am scheduled to direct it next Spring). I am definitely getting closer to my approach.
I found Jung's teaching about dream analysis as wise as a guru--to learn as much as possible about symbols in order to forget that when I hear someone's dream. Each person can relate to the same symbol but because individuals, all of us unique, each has our own experience, the symbol can have a different application.
I will definitely be reading more Jung.
The unconscious self has all that is in my mind, good and bad, silly and profound, intuitive and logical. Acknowledging that it encompasses both shades, I found liberating, mainly because I know that I have both capacities in me.
I read the dreams book because I am researching an angle for understanding Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Night's Dream (I am scheduled to direct it next Spring). I am definitely getting closer to my approach.
I found Jung's teaching about dream analysis as wise as a guru--to learn as much as possible about symbols in order to forget that when I hear someone's dream. Each person can relate to the same symbol but because individuals, all of us unique, each has our own experience, the symbol can have a different application.
I will definitely be reading more Jung.
May 8, 2020
A book still rich with insights, but hampered and marred by the Western bourgeois prejudices of its author. It was difficult at times not to throw the book down in frustration as Jung pointedly condemns socialism out of hand, unreflectively, reflexively, while scarcely noting the ill effects of the capitalist system on the psyche.
However, again, the book does still contain insights well worth pondering. Dreams and the apparent vagaries of the psyche are given short shrift far too often, or are recast and twisted into shapes that serve hucksters and the “true believer” alike. Jung rightly asserts the necessity of approaching them with an eye toward interpreting them on their own personal, intimate terms. He also notes the great importance of recognizing in the numinous forms of archetypes their living, intimate essence, which is shared with person who experiences them.
Read with a shaker of salt to hand, and be prepared to reconsider the meaning and import of Dreams and the unconscious.
However, again, the book does still contain insights well worth pondering. Dreams and the apparent vagaries of the psyche are given short shrift far too often, or are recast and twisted into shapes that serve hucksters and the “true believer” alike. Jung rightly asserts the necessity of approaching them with an eye toward interpreting them on their own personal, intimate terms. He also notes the great importance of recognizing in the numinous forms of archetypes their living, intimate essence, which is shared with person who experiences them.
Read with a shaker of salt to hand, and be prepared to reconsider the meaning and import of Dreams and the unconscious.
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