Reddit mentions of Ego and Archetype (C. G. Jung Foundation Books Series)

I think some of the answers are missing the mark here. Try this book if you have the time.

I found it best illustrated the balance between unconscious and conscious. From my memory it might be easier to understand the other extremes away from individuation. On one extreme you have someone consumed by the unconscious. Impulsive people controlled by emotions and ruled by superstition, completely ruled by their animal impulses and archetypical motivations. At the other extreme you have entirely logical and completely detached people. These types are likely to be sociopaths, very calculating and often confused by why others let emotion get the better of them, they see no need for legends, myth, and story.

The other comments are not wrong in that Intuition, feeling, sensing, and thinking need to be balanced. That is just a smaller facet of the bigger picture. By balancing these four attributes one can better search within ones self to see the separation between mind and spirit, unconscious and conscious. Once you can do that you can further yourself down the path of individuation and achieve a balance and self actualized state.

I find a great litmus for where someone stands is looking at what desires define them. Do they obsess about something? Do they follow some cult or ideology, perhaps even a TV show or novel? If so they are being consumed by unconscious desire. Is the subject more inclined to rational thought? Do they scoff at tradition and are more focused on some material needs/gains? Then they are probably dissociative from their unconscious desires.

By balancing between these two states of mind the binary self becomes whole. Only then can someone individuate.

>I started to see the Bible as a repository of empirical psycho-social truths captured in the form of myth in a sense similar to what Joseph Campbell describes.

You have GOT to read a book called Ego and Archetype. I agree with you, the bible is richly full of all kinds of incredibly profound psychological meaning, metaphors for psychological development that reflects the inner reality of humanity. I don't believe that the bible has much by way of literal reality in it, but that doesn't diminish the meaning which is there. And it is this book that totally transformed my views of the bible. This book talks about the psychological meaning and metaphors found in bible stories, in greek mythology, and in dreams reported by clients in therapy. It also has some new and unique views on the suicidal (and homicidal) impulse and where it comes from. It is a psychology textbook written from the Jungian school of thought (archetypes, etc) and it explains how these stories are metaphors for stages of development we all go through. Their explanation of Adam and Eve will blow your mind - its so clear and so simple and yet so different from how you've ever thought about it. It also has a lot of really great stuff about Job in it, which you mentioned. And it doesn't take a position either way on whether or not there is a God - both atheists and (somewhat openminded) churchgoing Christians will find lots to love in this book. From what you've written here, I think you would completely love this book. I know its a lot to suggest you should buy a book just based on some random redditor's recommendation, but I am so confident that you will be very glad you did.

I think the key idea to keep in the mind is the subjectivity of what is meant by "superpowers." Encounter with Self, made possible once freed from addictive coping mechanisms, can be an extremely spiritual/empowering/life changing experience.

It is the realization of your full potential, quite literally a supreme state of being compared to 'mindless' impulses and automatic behaviors we've mistaken identified as being all that we really are.

tl;dr: Stop reinforcing illusions of the mind through masturbation and porn, become who you really are.


* The book you mentioned sounds a lot like "Ego and Archetype" by Edward Edinger [(http://www.amazon.com/dp/087773576X]) "This book is about the individual's journey to psychological wholeness, known in analytical psychology as the process of individuation. Edward Edinger traces the stages in this process and relates them to the search for meaning through encounters with symbolism in religion, myth, dreams, and art. For contemporary men and women, Edinger believes, the encounter with the self is equivalent to the discovery of God. The result of the dialogue between the ego and the archetypal image of God is an experience that dramatically changes the individual's worldview and makes possible a new and more meaningful way of life."

Definitely recommend if you're interested in philosophy and literal interpretations of religion seem silly to you. Helped me understand how NoFap works on a psychological level (separating the shame from sexuality in general)

I know personally I feel like a creep if I see a really hot girl and try to make advances with the intention of having sex with her - its a weird automatic feeling that I must not be what she is looking for, and my advances would be inappropriate.**

I think one of the big reasons for this feeling is that it has been conditioned into us by years of having to express our sexuality in private, when no one was looking, behind closed doors. I think a common problem for many of us here is that we feel uncomfortable expressing sexuality/making sexual advances with real life people. Our first sexual experiences growing up were subconsciously paired with the underlying feeling of embarrassment if we were caught by our parents... 12 year old's having sex with each other is condemned as inappropriate by society, even though it is a perfectly natural impulse. But as children we were unable to make this distinction for a while and we naturally got confused... This practice prevents a lot of teen pregnancies sure... but it can be very damaging to children who learn to associate sexual release with something akin to "wetting the bed" or "pooping in your pants." The only way to reteach our self sexual appropriate behavior is by stopping the PMO and being forced to satisfy our sexuality through real life social interaction.

Hmm, I don't have any specific advice. It sounds to me like a depression - Google that shit and see if fits and if there is any good standard stuff you can do about it. It certainly doesn't help that it's November (assuming you are in USA/Can/EU).

Last time I was in a similar place I got the fuck out of dodge - it didn't 'solve' my issues, but it gave me enough new energy that I could refocus and deal with my shit from a better place.

Another time I was depressed (middle of winter and no money, so travelling was out of the question), I just hermited it up with some good books:

1. http://www.amazon.com/Ego-Archetype-Edward-Edinger/dp/087773576X
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567
   
   and went for a lot of late night walks by myself in the cold all bundled up. Did a lot of thinking - didn't even try to socialize. It was cathartic and I processed a lot. When spring came I was in a much better place.
   
   Just my experience, take what you can from it.
   
   
   

ah Individuation huh! I was able to always understand this term, through CGJs writings, intellectually but never really practically. I haven't found any of his writings yet where he really delves into the practical way to accomplish individuation. I do know that his personal process relied heavily on active imagination and this would seem to be his recommendation (for much of his life he did not want his process revealed because much of his writings come from his personal interaction with his own psyche and he feared this would not be considered scientific (also the reason he did not want Liber Novus (The Red Book) published)) because he saw it as a more focused way to access ones unconscious as opposed to dreaming. But often, as i believe is the case with Marie LVF, other of his followers were better able to describe his method. I just got this book by the then Chairman of the New York Institute of the C.G. Jung Foundation ,which takes the process of individuation as one of its main topics, for that reason.