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489 definitions

Carl JungThe Archetypes and the Collective UnconsciousDictionaryish

The book's index

The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

276 concepts · 489 definitions

The 120 most-defined concepts
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An Archetype (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠less a scientific problem than a matter of psychic hygiene: if none existed, we would have to invent them to keep our highest values from sinking into the unconscious.

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An Archetype (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a vessel we can never empty and never fill; focus it too sharply and its core loses its luminosity.

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An Archetype (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠like the axial system of a crystal: it preforms the structure in the mother liquid without having any material existence of its own.

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An Archetype (n.) once ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠constellated leaves no lunacy its people will not fall prey to — the Roman salute, the fasces, the swastika luring millions to death.

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The Unconscious (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only to touch us and we are it — we fall unconscious of ourselves.

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The Unconscious (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠consciousness's mother; in its youthful pride consciousness may disown its father, but never its mother.

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The Unconscious (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a “nothing” that is reality in waiting: tomorrow's thought, tomorrow's deed, even the fate we will mourn tomorrow, all sleep unconscious in our today.

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The Unconscious (n.) works ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠with two hands, one always undoing the other: the princess both wants and does not want rescue, and steers the hero to the forbidden room by forbidding it.

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The Anima (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the serpent in the garden of the harmless man full of good resolutions and better intentions; whatever she touches turns numinous, dangerous, taboo.

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The Anima (n.) wants ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠life, and so she wants both good and bad; in her elfin realm those categories do not exist.

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The Anima (n.) lost ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for good after the middle of life costs a man his vitality, flexibility and kindness — what follows is premature rigidity, crustiness, pedantry, or weary resignation.

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Anima (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a purely empirical concept, meaning no more than “arthropods” does — a name for a group of related phenomena, not mythology.

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The Psyche (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the one thing man thought of last when explaining myths — precisely because the process that made them was unconscious.

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The Psyche (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no Archimedean point outside itself — only the psyche can observe the psyche, so its substance stays unknowable.

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The Psyche (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the one thing we can be certain of not knowing; the materialist claim that it merely reflects chemistry flies in the face of experience with almost metaphysical presumption.

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The Psyche (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the mother of every human fact — civilization and war, its destroyer, alike; invisible, yet undeniably real.

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Consciousness (n.) at ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a higher level is equivalent to being all alone in the world.

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Consciousness (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the moment the world springs into being: on the Athi plains, watching the herds graze, Jung felt the world had not known it existed until someone knew.

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Consciousness (n.) does ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not produce its own energy; it is fed by the inconspicuous root of the unconscious — the forgotten fish, the bread, the wheat.

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Consciousness (n.) does ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not exist without discrimination of opposites — the Logos struggling out of the primal warmth and darkness of the maternal womb.

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A Mandala (n.) heals ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only when made spontaneously; nothing can be expected from an artificial repetition or deliberate imitation of such images.

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A Mandala (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a birthplace, a vessel of birth in the most literal sense — the lotus in which a Buddha comes to life.

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A Mandala (n.) spins ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠leftward into the unconscious and rightward out of it — hence "sinister" and "right," and stupas circled clockwise.

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A Mandala (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Nature's attempt at self-healing: a severe circular pattern that compensates disorder — appearing in children of divorcing parents, in neurotics, in schizophrenics.

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The Shadow (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠possesses a man keeps him standing in his own light and falling into his own traps; if there is no doorstep to stumble over, he builds one and thinks he has done something useful.

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The Shadow (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a living part of the personality that wants to live with it; it cannot be argued out of existence or rationalized into harmlessness.

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The Shadow (n.) whether ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠individual or collective carries within it the seed of an enantiodromia — a conversion into its opposite.

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The Shadow (n.) hides ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠meaningful contents under an unprepossessing exterior: behind it stands the anima, and behind her the wise old man.

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Spirit (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not created by man; it makes him creative — and permeates him so thoroughly that he is in gravest danger of thinking he created it and “has” it.

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Spirit (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the dynamic principle, the classical antithesis of matter's inertia — at bottom the contrast between life and death.

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Spirit (n.) pictured ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as always coming from above becomes a hiding place for every timid soul who has no wish to become anything other than he is.

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Spirit (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠my own when something psychic in me feels like mine; when it feels strange, it is somebody else's — and may be possessing me.

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The Collective unconscious (n.) precipitates ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the present politico-social delusional systems as decisions — not to be regarded causally, as necessary consequences of external conditions, which are only occasions, jumping-off grounds.

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The Collective unconscious (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the unconscious — not shadowy or futile like the contents of consciousness, but the a priori condition of consciousness itself.

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The Collective unconscious (n.) showed ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠itself when a schizophrenic clerk's vision of the sun's penis — wag your head and it moves, and that is where the wind comes from — was later found almost word for word in a Mithraic papyrus he could never have read.

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The Collective unconscious (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no more mystical a hypothesis than the existence of instincts: if action has inborn forms, why not imagination and thought?

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The Self (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠always present but sleeping, like Nietzsche's “image in the stone” — the secret of the philosophers' stone.

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The Self (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠at once simple and an extremely composite thing — a “conglomerate soul.”

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The Self (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a source of energy whose urge is to become what one is, as every organism is driven to assume the form characteristic of its nature.

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The Self (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠“smaller than small” as an individual and “bigger than big” as the equivalent of the cosmos — the world's absolutely other, without which no knowledge is possible.