Jung in a nutshell

Jung in a nutshell

Perhaps the most basic belief of Carl Gustav Jung was this:

Life is energy.

What does that mean?

Imagine that each of us is a container, with light streaming into us and moving through us.

"Life is energy" might seem like abstract philosophy, like one of those beliefs that's useless in dealing with real life. In fact, believing that life is energy has an enormous impact on everything else you believe, and on pretty much everything you think is important.

Just as white light actually contains within it the infinite colors of the rainbow, so the energy of life has many different qualities or faces. But all kinds of energy have this in common: they cannot be bad.

If life is energy, and if life comes from the Creator, and if the Creator is good, then energy itself must be good.

And if shame is believing that inside you are bad, then shame is always incorrect. There is never a reason to feel shame about anything you are inside, because energy itself must be good.

Understanding evil

People sometimes send their energy toward evil in the way they act. How can energy, which is inherently good, be used for evil?

Because in the process of living, we are hurt. Some of our hurts come from life itself, as when a loved one meets an untimely death. Many of our hurts come from those around us. To say this is not to blame them, for they were themselves hurt by those around them, and we can feel compassion for those who have passed their hurts on to us.

Archetypes

When I think of those infinite colors in the energy, I like to think of them as the many faces of the Creator. Usually when we talk of the Creator -- whether we call the creator God or by some other name or names -- we use a variety of words describing different qualities: all-loving, all-powerful, all-wise, all-glorious. If these are the qualities of God, they are like so many faces of God.

And if we humans are, as the writings of the Judeo-Christian tradition proclaim, "made in the image of God," then we, too, have many faces. Each of us can be strong, courageous, wise, loving, accepting, blessing, supportive, and intuitive.

Jung's concept of archetypes, in a nutshell: each archetype is like a face we have, with certain qualities. My Warrior is strong and protective. My Sovereign is blessing and supportive. My Lover is loving and connecting. My Magician is wise and intuitive.

Each archetype is more than a single quality, however. Like a character in a play, with all the qualities a character would need to be believable as a real person, an archetype has a set of qualities. Thus, my sovereign has all the qualities of a sovereign: sound judgment, mercy, a vision for the future.

My archetypes carry my wounds. If I have been shamed for my vision of the future, it is my Sovereign who carries the wound. If I have been humiliated for not exhibiting courage, it is my Warrior who carries the wound. If I have been told I know nothing, it is my Magician, and if I have been shamed for not loving enough, it is my Lover.