Don't get me wrong; Freud was a brilliant man and pioneer of psychotherapy. But Jung's observations went beyond the individual mind.

His insight into phenomena such as synchronicity (read his story of the golden scarab beetle) and the collective unconscious fascinate me, because they almost border on the metaphysical.

In a Jam Pack hour nap where I was trying to astral project I ended having lucid dreams. At the very climax of this wonderful experience I swam with my shadow(plume of smoke) we reach a backyard. A white spotted baby deer in front of two lions and a wolf with chains. They kill the deer and turn their attention to me and my niece and nephew. Only a metal fence with wood nailed to separate us. I tried to use my lucid dreaming abilities to attack these beasts but I have no power to influence this dream. I think about the shop that’s behind us something is in there to protect us. As I run to the shop I think I need a sword. As get I see it a big sword with spikes along its blade pick it and save my niece from the first lion that morphed into my nephew my siblings run and see it but I have no time explain so I say shaped shifter and continue to the lion that was readying itself to attack. As the wolf is getting through the fence it’s having a hard time. So I grabbed it by its neck and sliced it then my nephew comes out of hiding and all three beasts are dead. Then I proceeded to have 3 waking dreams in row.

I had an interesting example of synchronicity occur and I’m curious about the Jungian interpretation of it. This is what happened:

I have a number of books on my shelf that I’m trying to get to.

Yesterday, I opened up Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones.

On the epigraph page, the following was quoted:

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us. ECCLESIASTES 1:9-10

Today, I opened up Prophet Song by Paul Lynch and this was the epigraph:

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. ECCLESIASTES 1:9

In the dark times will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times. BERTOLT BRECHT

I was so surprised!

One thing that comes to mind is that in my younger years, I would often find myself trying to overcome feelings of jealousy towards my peers with more material success.

Those feelings of jealousy went away with time and maturity. I recognized that comparing myself to others wasn’t productive or healthy. And that wealth isn’t equal to happiness.

Just in the past few weeks, I’ve had some jealous feelings come back, with regards to my dear friend’s son, who is buying a house and having a baby. I have 3 wonderful adult children of my own and they are all on their own different paths. I’ve been annoyed with myself for feeling jealous in this situation, it’s not logical at all and not the kind of person I want to be.

Any thoughts ?

Is there anyone here who would consider themselves open-minded and wants to make a friend who is going through some stuff? I have a specific goal. I need to learn to be more open-minded. I have self-esteem issues, I learned earlier this week. I believe I am stupid and this leads me to act as if I am smarter than others as a coping mechanism. After getting opinions from various forums online the best solution was for me to stop pushing my beliefs onto people and listen more and accept that I don't know everything and that it is okay. It seems, maybe, I thought about it today only, that I care more about looking smart (even to myself) than actually putting in the effort to be smart. Though I also like to learn things coz it's interesting. So basically I've been told to listen more, and even try to help people with their own thinking (without me trying to force the answer onto them) and help them come to their own conclusions. Would anyone be willing to chat with me, preferably daily, so I can practice?

I got married in 2022 and dated my husband for 8 years before we got married. When we first started seeing each other, we split up for a couple years before getting back together and then dating for 8 years and getting married.

During our time apart, back in 2012, we dated other people. I saw someone for about 6 months. We spent every waking moment together and became very close friends and lovers. However, it was not a healthy relationship because he didn't let me get too close to him emotionally. Also, I was so scared of losing him that I bent over backwards for him and did everything for him. Then one day, he randomly stopped talking to me and ignoring my messages/calls. It was extremely painful to be shut out that way and abandoned after putting so much into it. A couple weeks later I found out he was dating someone who LOATHED me. A few years later he reached out to me and apologized to me and told me he was struggling with a lot of stuff in his life, like substance abuse and mental health issues.

He randomly shows up in my dreams and it's starting to bother me! I can't remember a lot of detail but typically my dream is just us being together again, paling around like we used to. I have an anxious attachment style, struggle with forgiving others, have self-sabotaging thought patterns, and I am the kind of person who is constantly sense-making (nothing is meaningless to me, for better or worse). I am a pantheist and even fell down a rabbit hole thinking about quantum entanglement and the collective unconscious.

I've come to the conclusion that it's clearly not about my ex as an individual, but something else. I have been reading "Women Who Run with Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and am wondering if my dreaming of him has to do with my psyche - is it a shadow element? a predator archetype? I would love to hear your thoughts!!

I've been deep in Jungian reflection lately, grappling with the idea of the Self, the transcendent force Jung links to God or a higher order, and its guidance in our lives. Here's the thing that really messes with me: if the Self is supposed to guide us toward individuation or some greater purpose, why does it sometimes lead people to do things that seem totally against moral sense or even violent?

Some examples:

1-Abraham: He’s ready to sacrifice his son Isaac because "God told him to."

2-Arjuna from the Bhagavad Gita: Krishna convinces him to kill his family in battle because it’s his dharma, or divine duty.

3-Jesus!: He willingly accepts crucifixion as part of humanity's salvation plan.

---

All of these feel like the Self, or whatever divine force, pushing people toward actions that seem morally indefensible by normal standards.

A modern parallel might be the game The Binding of Isaac. So, Isaac’s mom believes God wants her to sacrifice her son. Obviously that's a twisted interpretation of "divine guidance." It’s horrifying, but it raises an important question: how do we know if an impulse comes from the Self or a distorted part of the unconscious?

Jung said the Self is the key to individuation, a process of transcending ego and aligning with something bigger. But it’s not like the Self sends you a neatly typed memo. we receive its guidance through the unconscious, and the unconscious is... well, a mess. It’s symbolic, ambiguous, and full of shadowy impulses.

this rly makes me wonder how can we trust that the unconscious is giving us pure signals from the Self and not some ego-inflated, distorted nonsense?

Jung suggested that the Self operates beyond conventional morality. But that’s terrifying, honestly. If you think about it, plenty of people, whether deeply religious or even psychotic, have committed atrocities in the name of God or higher ideals. Were they misinterpreting the Self? Or is the Self itself not bound by our human notions of right and wrong?

Take Abraham. was his near-sacrifice of Isaac a legitimate act of faith or a dangerous distortion? Was Arjuna’s slaughter of family for divine duty a step toward transcendence or just a glorified justification for violence? And Jesus, was his acceptance of crucifixion an act of ultimate individuation, or was it reckless self-destruction in the name of faith?

It’s hard not to wonder if these stories are telling us to surrender to a "higher purpose" or just warning us about the dangers of losing ourselves to unconscious impulses.

We often talk about "trusting your gut" or intuition as a guide. But intuition is just the unconscious talking, right? If the unconscious is the medium for the Self, it’s inherently flawed, filtered through symbols and human limitations. So how can we ever fully trust it?

What does surrendering to the Self even mean in practical terms? Sacrificing our attachments, yes, but at what point does it become self-destruction?

tl;dr:
how do we distinguish between the true guidance of the Self and distorted unconscious impulses? Is intuition reliable, or is it always filtered through human bias and shadow? stories like Abraham, Arjuna, and Jesus seem to push us beyond good and evil, but is that transcendence or just a dangerous surrender to the unknown? How do we align the Self’s purposes with morality, or are we not supposed to?

I looked in the mirror, one half of my face was me and the other half was a girl I like. What could it mean? I've never had a dream like that before. It seemed a bit creepy

Wanting to understand why my friend can only validate herself sexually. Like her self esteem completely comes from being desired sexually. And Its slowly destroying her soul. Is there something wrong with her in a Jungian perspective?

Wanting to be desired is completely normal, wanting sex is completely normal. But when your entire self worth is built on to something I feel like thats dangerous.

Have any of you actually read the fucking seminars man, Mysterium conunctinus??? Given how vast Jung’s thought is why focus on his most “popular” idea unless you’re a newbie who doesn’t know how deep this goes.

Shadow work integrating my shadow blah blah blah

Come on folks let’s do justice to this man

Of course they wouldn't have God-like powers or anything, nor would they be aware they're actually God. What would even count as God's shadow? The collective unconscious?

Reading Facing the dragon, good book. I would like to read more of RM. His book The magician within is of particular interest for me, but am wondering if it is only for male psyche? Would I benefit as a woman or is that book (series of books) is strictly for male psyche?

Same with Finding the King within- can that be applied to the queen within?

For reference I am a 25 male who has been dealing with intense anxiety for most of my life and ptsd for the last 6 years. When I was younger I was introduced to meditation and visualization as a way to control my anxiety and to help prevent crippling panic attacks. I had been practicing for year, but recently I found a medication that significantly reduced my anxiety and as a result I have much more mental control than ever before.

Anyways since then I heard about active imagination and after a little research I decided to give it a try(not knowing yet that it is mostly done with a medical practitioner). I read that it was a way to commune with your subconscious so instead of doing the normal approach where you just kinda see where it takes you(which I have done at this point) I took a more literal approach.

I created a mental construct of my favorite park and sat at a bench. I then created a blank avatar (think inanimate mannequin) off to the side and waited for my subconscious to inhabit it. After a little they did, to my surprise it took the form of a tall women with a mix of ambiguous and detailed features (it’s more refined at this point). It was me but not, they had distinct thoughts, personality, and purpose. We still communicate with images, emotions, and 1-4 word statements that I instantly understood, but it’s more like a conversation and less abstract than I’ve heard it described.

Since then with daily practice it’s a bit more concrete, and we’ve been able to more clinically observe different parts of my psyche and understand/unpack some of my trauma responses. I’ve been able to prevent my emotional responses from controlling my actions, decrease my startle reflex, and amazingly understand/undo a mental block that has prevented me from being able to handle/enjoy physical/sexual touch for the last 6 years. I still feel the unease sometimes but not to the same crippling level as before. Honestly I have never felt better or more free in my entire live.

However, for something that has made such a profound difference in my life (in the period of just a month) it’s feels bizarre that I haven’t heard of any similar instances, or that other people aren’t doing the same thing to deal with similar problems that are so crippling and prevalent. I feel like I should scream about it from rooftops so others can get the same relief I have.

So have you guys heard of anything like this? Both the level of distinctiveness of the other personality, and the level of relief seem to revolutionary for me to be the only person to experience it. Any thoughts, opinions, or references/resources would be greatly appreciated. And I did summarize a lot of this so it wouldn’t be to long, so feel free to ask any questions you’re curious about.

Thanks for you guys time, I really appreciate it!

i fantastically think that if everyone in this sub just silently remembered to append "archetype" after every single buzzword they read in Jung terminology. they'd have a much better/easier path interpreting this information and remember that these are all just ARCHETYPES, a spectrum for each one so to say lol

The Dream: I am in a dark basement, I’m pretty sure it’s pitch black but for some reason it is not too dark. I find the stairs leading up to a door and I go through it to find I’m in a beautifully large cabin. There are people upstairs, it seems like a family’s home? Anyway, a young child sees me and is perplexed but curious, he calls someone over and an older boy comes and he screams. I look into a mirror and I see that I’m this figure of black smoke that has a vague human form.

I try to leave the house and when I do I see immense beauty. The sun was rising and we were on the side of a large mountain, I can see so many wonderful colours and there are rings of light in the air around the trees that seem to be on fire. I’m on a large deck of the cabin and I start to see little bits of spontaneous fire on the cabin popping up. The boys are trying their best to keep their home from burning and from perishing themselves. However it’s a large cabin that goes down into the mountain and they can’t get to every spot so I hover over to them and put out the little fires. The boy that screamed at me is happy.

I go back into the cabin and go into the basement and find that the boys have made a little home for me. With a desk, a bed, and a few tables and chairs. They even put up a curtain so I can have some privacy and when they’re done I go into the little room they made and I wake up.

Additional details: I am 27M and at a crossroads in my life, I’ve been seeing a woman recently who has this wounded archetype constellated within her and so I’ve been trying to help where I can. When I first left the cabin it objectively was destruction but it is absolutely beautiful. The fire was golden, the trees a bright green, the sky was this reddish glow and there were rings of light everywhere. I woke up already trying to self interpret, it seemed like a pretty pointed dream, but I would appreciate any additional perspective.

About a year ago I did DMT and had an interesting experience like most people do.

I ended up going to a realm where there was this gang of dancing feminine aliens. The energy of this collective feminine was extremely powerful, it was like the purest feminine energy I've ever felt In my life.

This gang of pink/purple aliens had female curvy bodies and to be quite frank danced like strippers. When they noticed I was in their realm they all gawked at me, and then began making fun of me. It was absurd and honestly kind of hilarious. Shortly after getting made fun of by alien strippers I returned to more to reality, temporarily seeing hieroglyphs all over my walls.

I'm wondering if I was potentially facing my anima. It kind of makes sense in that context. The unconscious telling me something along the lines of no matter how much I try to portray my masculine ego driven identity to women, they(/myself) will eventually see through it and realize I'm a silly fool like all the rest of them.

It also kind of preluded a transition in my life where I stopped seeing a girl I wasn't terribly interested in, and began seeing another girl who wasn't terribly interested in me. I over analyzed every date and interaction with this girl I really fancied, and in the end I just portrayed myself as a low self esteem asshole and she left me.

It is all pretty funny looking back on, and it was one of many synchronicities I've made tried to make a mental note of. Was wondering if anyone else has met anima/animus in their dreams or psychedelic experiences.

I am not someone who has ever cared much about money, or so it seems on the surface.

Underneath and in my shadow, I care very much about money and I fear having more than “just enough” because deep down I do not think I am strong enough to manage more appropriately. I believe I would lose myself and my spirit, my curiosity, my connection with myself and earth/soul, and morality (by greed and selfishness). I fear I would stop learning and growing and loving what I love and I would instead just travel all the time. I fear I would become vain and change my appearance in ways that I am against (as a woman, I want to age gracefully and naturally and not give in to societal desires to be and look forever young).

There are paths in life where I “pride” myself on where I have taken the long way, the hard way, the honorable way; but in reality, I’ve just always been poor and had to do it that way. I don’t want an easier way though either.

Simultaneously, I like my life and myself like this and I would not want to lose my soul to live more comfortably. Still, I can’t stop thinking about what’s underneath and undealt with and the power that money has had on me, even just by pretending it doesn’t.

Also, ironically, I’m still not living an authentic or true life when I am self sabotaging or living underneath what I’m capable of because I don’t want to “give” away more of myself. But I’m already doing that all of the time at my current job; just for very little. I like to just live in the shadows sometimes. Whenever more is required of me in a work setting, I’ll end up leaving to go somewhere else to stay smaller and unseen and be left alone. The only thing they can’t have is me. The only thing this system cannot have is my mind, more of my times etc.

As the economy gets tighter and being a single parent, I would like to stop self sabotaging myself. I do actually need more as my son grows (needs braces, a car, help with college, etc). I know how to make more money but this inner part inside of me stops me from making any progress or movement. I don’t want to give up parts of myself or any more of myself for more money where it has the potential to change me or make me unknowable to myself.

Curious to hear your thoughts

I wonder what you people experienced and think about general health issues from a jungian perspective. I am aware of psychosomatic relations, therefore jungian psychology would also be automatically a matter of "bodily" health too. I bring up this question because I developed allergies this year, mostly just dust and pollen and i never was a person who liked the idea a lot of taking medication if its not really necessary. First i was like"yeah okay maybe im allergic, whatever, its not that bad" but it did get worse and now I take medication for allergic symptoms every day for some months already, because it was unbearable at some point and it really decreased quality of life. Yesterday I saw some esoteric picture on the internet concerning strong and bad auras of people, which claimed healthy persons are better protected in such a regard and therefore less likely affected by viruses and allergies. My question is not about that directly but it made me wonder and also remember again how I felt about those things years ago. I wonder if it was just a naive assumption that Health is a matter of psyche and spirit, while i might really just get older, weaker, lifestyle not that healthy whtever. Inmidst this theme complex I wonder what are your takes on for example allergy problems as a matter of psychosomatic problem, which could be overcome again through spiritual practice or jungian methods? Or if this is just a matter of genes and chemistry..

I read this book and I used channeling and received a wealth of knowledge using psychology to understand spirituality, but I really looking forward to reading this book. It’s another one of those “experts” in the field that everyone talks about. The book to me is a guy who’s mentally going through the wringer. And honestly to me is a fiction book because if you follow his character through the book he is not analyzing anything from science. He is arguing with these “spirits” because he doesn’t believe and honestly to me is a cry baby the whole time. And then he tries to write this information like he’s an expert based on his own findings. There was nothing beneficial or informative about any of his findings. He whines back and forth with his soul who’s a female. He argues with this old magician. He just makes up these characters as he goes along. Too me he’s a good writer to most people and a good writer can write a good fiction book. And that’s all this sounds like. All he cares about is if he is going mad or not the whole time. I think that like most people he wasn’t getting any of these images naturally and was experimenting with hallucinagen drugs and then writing as if that is truth. All these scientists can’t understand a psychic medium or how they get their visions from so they take drugs in order to see “visions” and it’s all delusional. He is a delusional individual. And it’s just frustrating to see that people think this guy is an expert. There’s a reason why he abandoned the red book for alchemy. Alchemy promises you results in a science lab. There’s a reason why all these people with science degrees all geared towards alchemy because their belief systems limit their imagination. It’s like one minute these people hate the religion that was forced down their throats and then when it comes down to it nothing is real unless it matches with their belief system. Idk you can hate me I’m just trying to understand why everyone thinks he’s so great.

Sophie Rain earning money from men that will never touch her made me think about how it's easier to use men than it is to be a "good girl". I regret being a dumb girl that genuinely believed men value kindness when I get better results treating them like dirt and women like Sophie Rain prove this. I look similar to her, she's nothing special. Most women that aren't overweight can get men to do stuff for them/give them money for dancing around fully clothed or simply their company. I regret wasting my youth being a dumb girl paying half for dates (I only did it with one man when I was naive about dating and he's the only one that didn't value me) when there are men that will pay for everything and actually enjoy it. I feel like most relationships are manipulative and it's better to be on the winning side. What would Jung say about Sophie Rain and parasocial relationships?

Eg, of when I say everytime I am actually willing to act willingly, something goes wrong-

I spend days thinking about a new painting, maybe I procrastinate a bit, but then I also really continue working on it and have an idea about how its gonna be, so I go to assemble all my supplies to start my project, only to spend hours searching for my paints and brushes. Later that day I find out from family that they had mistakenly put my box in the trash.

I wanna sew a new project and the sewing machine isn't working anymore. yes bc it had been sitting idle for a while, but I've seen it sit idle for longer and it works just as fine

In university a lot of minor things happened as well, there are more, but I'm mentioning 2 -while filling out admission forms, they had send me a wrong admission number, they didnt fix it yet nor did I try to, so now everytime in the exam hall, I have to take a fresh notice and signature from the head, bc mine is an unique case & I'm sure this roll number thing can complicate things later on for me.

Also, everyone got their college IDs, I got mine 3 months later, and the guard interrogated me a couple of times, only to let me through after getting to know my condition.

Background: I feel depressed and tired and I'm in a gap year, bc it felt like the right thing. I have a thing for art, music, etc. And now I am not forcing myself to work, so yes I am doing nothing for longer periods (yet I feel tired).

(PS - I'm not depressed or Burnout clinically, just in general)

I wait for ideas and action that are actually more willing to come through me, hardly they come, when I think about how precious life is and the fear & excitement of future.

I'm already tired & very less frequently I wanna work or take action, if that wasn't bad enough , hear me out - Everytime I have an intention, when I wanna do something & take action, something or the other happens, (idk if that's what people call unlucky). This way it takes me double the effort and it distracts me a little from the real thing, from my og intention. I lose motivation also overall stresses me out more and overall takes away from my energy.

Energy time and motivation that I had for the intended project I can see fading and I'm slowly moving away from the zone of creation and creativity, that's what it feels like.

Eg, of when I say everytime I am actually willing to act and take action, something goes wrong-

I spend days thinking about a new painting, maybe I procrastinate a bit, but then I also really continue working on it and have an idea about how its gonna be, so I go to assemble all my supplies to start my project, only to spend hours searching for my paints and brushes. Later that day I find out from family that they had mistakenly put my box in the trash.

I wanna sew a new project and the sewing machine isn't working anymore. yes bc it had been sitting idle for a while, but I've seen it sit idle for longer and it works just as fine

In university a lot of minor things happened as well, there are more, but I'm mentioning 2 -while filling out admission forms, they had send me a wrong admission number, they didnt fix it yet nor did I try to, so now everytime in the exam hall, I have to take a fresh notice and signature from the head, bc mine is an unique case & I'm sure this roll number thing can complicate things later on for me.

Also, everyone got their college IDs, I got mine 3 months later, and the guard interrogated me a couple of times, only to let me through after getting to know my condition.

Background: I feel depressed and tired and I'm in a gap year, bc it felt like the right thing. I have a thing for art, music, etc. And now I am not forcing myself to work, so yes I am doing nothing for longer periods (yet I feel tired).

(PS - I'm not depressed or Burnout clinically, just in general)

I wait for ideas and action that are actually more willing to come through me, hardly they come, when I think about how precious life is and the fear & excitement of future.

I'm already tired & very less frequently I wanna work or take action, if that wasn't bad enough , hear me out - Everytime I have an intention, when I wanna do something & take action, something or the other happens, (idk if that's what people call unlucky). This way it takes me double the effort and it distracts me a little from the real thing, from my og intention. I lose motivation also overall stresses me out more and overall takes away from my energy.

Energy time and motivation that I had for the intended project I can see fading and I'm slowly moving away from the zone of creation and creativity, that's what it feels like.

And you will be soft on all others

For you cannot truly be soft on others until you are soft on yourself

The one who is unmerciful with themselves is bound to lash out at others eventually

How one treats themselves is how they will treat all

So be kind to yourself, accepting of yourself, warm to yourself, nurturing to yourself, easy on yourself

Do not be in denial about what you are, what you feel, or what you have done

Do not be in denial about any aspect of what you are

For to be in denial is to be harsh on yourself, it is to say that what you are is so terrible it must be denied

All that is brought to the light is healed and illuminated, so be light on yourself, and bring what you feel to the light

Admit what you feel, what you think, what you want

Admit it all

For hating things in yourself will lead to hating those things in others, and hatred never appeases hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal

Accept even your hatred, admit even your hatred, accept your hatred, and it will be appeased, soothed, just as an angry animal is soothed when it is made to feel safe and well fed

And all evil is only a lack of love, a need of love, a need of acceptance, a lack of that warm embrace, even the most hateful one among you. So love your hatred, and it will soften back into the love it truly is

The shadow does not exist except as the absence of light

I have been dealing with depression and suicidal ideation all my life,And every time I was about to do the act I would get distracted by something.i have been doing better lately but something trapped me back in that dark place.This time I decided to contemplate suicide while meditating.As I sat on the floor I started to feel a weak wind move around me,it sounded like buzzing sound was inside the wind.I thought I was hallucinating until my cat perked up its ears every time the sound got louder.The wind kept leaving and coming back and every time it came back my cat seemed to notice it.In the end I felt the wind blew past me and it made my head clear.before I was skeptical about the supernatural,but now I’m sure it’s real.I used to say things like “if their was a god humanity would be his abandoned children”.but i was wrong,the universe has been speaking to us since the beginning.we just been misinterpreting its message with religion.You have to let the devil in so god can burn the house down.I couldn’t have gotten this far if it wasn’t for Jung.

Though I made this a while back, I’ve been thinking recently about the archetypal forces present in my life and psyche. I thought it’d be interesting (and insightful) to hear some thoughts about the archetypal nature of the forms and symbols in this work

I'm new to Jung. Synchronicity seems to be his most tenuous (or at least far-fetched) theory, so I want to know if he has many other theories on metaphysics or consciousness that relies on synchronicity as a given.

(edited to remove my thoughts on synchronicity since everyone just wanted to debate its existence which wasn't the point of this post)

what does jung exactly mean by Meaningful Work?