Definitions HQ

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠how humanity came to the reality of thought: by accepting the reality of the symbol, man became lord of the earth.

The Gods (n.) cannot ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠and must not die; the irrational cannot and must not be extirpated.

The Gods (n.) were ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠"divine powers diffused in things" to the ancients, for whom "all things are full of gods" — Synesius's "symbolic enticements," very close to what psychology calls archetypal projections.

The Gods (n.) die ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when men suddenly discover they mean nothing — when really men have only discovered that they never thought about them at all.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠what we now call factors — from facere, "to make": the makers standing behind the wings of the world-theatre.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠unconscious powers, and their power grows the more unconscious they remain — those who do not see them are in their hands.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠imported new whenever the old ones turn ridiculous — as in late Rome, so today: everything from the most squalid superstition to the noblest flowering of the spirit.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠personifications of psychic forces: to assert their metaphysical existence is as presumptuous as to think they could ever be invented.

The Gods (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be taken from a man only by giving him others: where leaders are not deified by force, obsessive factors take their place, charged with demonic energy — money, work, political influence.

The Gods (n.) driven ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠out of the world must come home to the psyche, into the unknown man from whom they seem to have come.

The Gods (n.) begin ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠where consciousness leaves off, at the point where man is at the mercy of the natural order, to thrive or perish.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠personifications of unconscious contents, revealing themselves through the psyche's unconscious activity.

The Gods (n.) are ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠"nothing but" the collective unconscious inside me; to turn that around — the collective unconscious is the world of gods outside me — takes not cleverness but a lifetime.

Gods (n.) began ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as autonomous "persons," became personified ideas and finally abstract ideas; via astrology some survive only as adjectives such as martial, jovial and saturnine.

Gods (n.) came ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠first and theology later: just as the ego cannot fabricate dreams but dreams what it must, Christ and the devil were experienced as archetypes before any intellect assimilated them.

The Gods (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠demons have not disappeared but taken new names: restlessness, vague dread, a craving for pills, alcohol, tobacco and diets — and an impressive array of neuroses.