The Collective Unconscious
Our theory of archetypes
Art intuitively apprehends upcoming changes in the Collective Unconscious. ~ Carl Jung.
What better example of Jung’s aphorism could possibly be found than Marc Chagall’s archetypal painting of Solitude? Indeed, Chagall beautifully captures the anxiety and disorientation that he sensed and likewise we sense on the 90-year-long threshold of a new paradigm. Like Chagall, we intuit expectations of Earth-shattering change. The painting’s ebony cloaked skies echo and reecho the seething madness from Chagall’s bedeviled world of 1933.
The concept of the collective unconscious, as proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, refers to a deeper, shared layer of unconscious psychic material that transcends the individual and, remarkedly, is epigenetically inherited from ancestral and universal experiences. Our genes, Gentile and Jew alike, were singed with sorrow by WWII and the Holocaust. Within analytical psychology, this truth underscores the existence of a shared reservoir of archetypal experiences and symbols that shape human behavior and influence our collective psyche.
Evil conjures up strange fascinations from dark shadowy places; were this not true, we would not be so enthralled by it. The sociopathic and psychopathic implications of this truth give rise to heebie-jeebies in those of sound mind. Certainly, I am not the only one who cringes in horror when Klaus Schwab utters such assurances as “you will own nothing and be happy.”
Du wirst nichts besitzen und glücklich sein.
Science has progressed a great deal since Jung first published Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious in 1959. In addition to Jung’s thought, Rational Spirituality posits another mechanism by which collective unconscious archetypes influence and shape our lives, namely the morphogenetic field, a concept defined by Rupert Sheldrake in 1984 (the calendar year not the book
):
Morphogenetic fields carry information only and are available throughout time and space without any loss of intensity after they have been created. They are created by the patterns of physical forms (including such things as crystals as well as biological systems). They help guide the formation of later similar systems. And finally, a newly forming system "tunes into" a previous system by having within it a "seed" that resonates with a similar seed in the earlier form.
Is the World Economic Forum, for example, tuned into a previous system?
Sheldrake later termed the action of the morphogenetic field, Morphic Resonance. From his perspective, the DNA in the genes of a living system (like an oak tree) does not carry all the information needed to shape that system, but can act as a "tuning seed" that tunes in the morphogenetic fields of previous systems of the same genotype. Morphogenetic fields are thus repositories of what could be described as genetic habits.1
We hasten to add that the morphogenetic field is identical or similar to an interactive information/energy field called the Collective Unconscious, which is populated by universal archetypes as Jung described. The two fields are one, in our opinion.
The Rational Spirituality Theory of Archetypes envisages each archetype to represent a unique node in a vast interconnected rhizome-like neural network. The archetypes, e.g. caregiver, hero/heroine, saint, devil, explorer, warrior, etc. that most closely relate to an individual’s psyche are likewise those nodes with which the particular individual is most likely to resonate and consciously engage, be it for good or evil. When the latter, this resonance is commonly known as possession.
In The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (1972)2, Jung wrote:
Archetypes are the living system of reactions and aptitudes that determine the individual’s life in invisible ways. (Emphasis mine)
Archetypes are sometimes referred to as “psychic organs,” as a helpful analogy. Just as physical organs maintain homeostasis inside healthy human bodies, psychic organs strive for balance inside human minds, a far greater challenge.
Archetypes are sometimes referred to as “psychic organs,” as a helpful analogy. Just as physical organs maintain homeostasis inside the human body, psychic organs strive for balance inside the human mind, a far greater challenge; the ego constantly interferes with this process.
We previously noted in The Archetype of the Apocalypse:
.. archetypes of the Collective Unconscious also boast overpowering influence. This dynamic attribute is often overlooked and underappreciated. An archetype is a living, psychic organism inhabiting simultaneously both the collective psyche of humankind and one’s own personal psyche. We may further assert that since archetypes can assert intentionality, they themselves are consequently conscious.
Hitler was the archetypal "charismatic leader.” He was not a "normal" politician - someone who promises policies like lower taxes and better health care - but a quasi-religious leader who offered almost spiritual goals of redemption and salvation. He was driven forward by a sense of personal destiny he called "providence."3
Of course, we attribute Hitler’s ego-driven obsession with ‘providence’ and personal destiny to “archetypal possession.”
Synchronicity
A particular, benevolent activity of the Collective Unconscious is synchronicity, which Jung dubbed “meaningful coincidence.”
‘Synchronicity,' wrote Jung, is the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer. (Emphasis mine)
It then remains up to the observer either to ignore or to attempt to interpret the acausal event. Clearly, an archetype somewhere in the Collective Unconscious’ neural network tapped someone on the shoulder, initiating a process known as syntony. But why? Well, there could be any number of reasons.
Confirmation. Synchronicity often confirms a thought someone just had or communicates that an individual is on the right track. When you explore a rabbit hole with good intentions, you invite synchronicity.
Encouragement. Once someone acknowledges and embraces transpersonal communication, incidences of synchronicity tend to increase. What also increases, de facto, is self-awareness, i.e. a measure of consciousness. Sadly, most synchronicities go unnoticed or simply ignored.
Intuition. As we develop the habit of recognizing and interpreting synchronicity, we evolve our innate faculty of intuition, the sine qua non of synchronicity. We become more adept at pattern recognition and analytical thought as well.
These purposeful attributes lead the soul toward superconsciousness, which always serves as a force for good. As for the Dark Side, neither the Shadow nor Dark Charismatic Ruler archetypes would ever be motivated to utilize synchronicity; it inculcates self-awareness, which is anathema to the Dark Side. Instead, evil archetypes prefer chaos, hive-minded groupthink and Wetico.4
Jung’s entire psychology has a profoundly holistic character, and his concept of synchronicity has a fundamental role to play in supporting this orientation. Synchronistic events disclose deep interconnections between mind and body, between one person and another, between humans and the natural world; even, it seems to some, between humans and a reality transcending the ordinary empirical world. For the appearance of corresponding patterns of meaning in contexts that, so far as we are able to discern, are causally unconnected can suggest that there is a superordinate level of reality that in some sense is unitary, what Jung referred to by a term borrowed from alchemy: the unus mundus or ‘one world.'5 (Emphasis mine)
Of course, at Rational Spirituality we refer to Jung’s “superordinate level of reality” as Superconsciousness. This higher state of consciousness, perhaps the highest state, is not something we grasp at with an intention to possess. Rather, it is an exalted state that we share; a divine realm in which we participate.
When the soul approaches superconsciousness, it begins to recognize and embrace its own divine status - the totality of Self - as well as its earthbound responsibilities. There no longer is separation between God and humankind. There is only unus mundus. These two hands finally touch.
Theosis
Ironically, this mystical and near incomprehensical touching represents the fons et origo of tribulation for the Roman Church of Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor, an argument we will develop in a later article. An abstract appears below.6
For the better part of 2,000 years, the Church has bridged and defined that tiny albeit hugely significant space between Adam’s finger and God’s finger. Throughout the ages, humanity’s ultimate salvation has, in fact, depended on those hands finally touching - why, the very act itself symbolizes and defines salvation. The Roman Church, for obvious reasons, insists instead upon separation.
Was it not Christ’s mission to proclaim to the Ages the unity of Heaven and Earth; of God and Man: the Good News? The unus mundus - “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”
“God became human so that we might become divine,” wrote Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. This sums up the Eastern Church’s doctrine of Theosis.7 While the doctrine does exists in the Roman Church - where it is known as divinization - it nonetheless is downplayed. Few have ever heard of it (by design). The Eastern Church is straightforward regarding theosis, whereas the Roman Church is rather squeamish.
Athanasius’ pronouncement reveals the notion that Christ’s incarnation initiated a transformative journey for humanity. It implies that by following in Christ’s footsteps, humanity embarks on a journey of spiritual metamorphosis leading to the unitive state of Superconsciousness, the state of consciousness that enjoys affinity with the divine nature, the state of consciousness all mystics teach.
In Rational Spirituality speak, superconsciousness, when attained, affords one the ability to access information stored the Akashic Field.
I have learned that all knowledge is available to us. We don’t have to create it; we have only to access it. Simply ask in the right way—not with pride in your accomplishment, but with an open heart. I don’t even mean to ask humbly, in the sense of being self-deprecating. Don’t think about yourself at all, nor about your ability or lack of it. Concentrate, rather, on attuning yourself to Infinite Consciousness and ask for guidance in what you want to do. It’s delightful, fun, and deeply inspiring to work and let yourself be used in this way. ~ Ervin Laszlo in Science and the Akashic Field.
Archetypes
The Field of Archetypes is not static. They come and they go. They unite and they subsume. They trick and they treat.
There are good ones and evil ones. Among the good ones are the hero/heroine, mentor, companion and savior. Among the evil ones are the tyrant, monster, narcissist and shadow.8
The attributes of good archetypes are well recognized. The evil ones, less so. While the evil ones are skilled at glossing over their nefarious objectives to make them appear honorable and well-intentioned, these archetypes are, in fact, driven by power and greed. They are content in achieving their objectives by whatever means necessary - the end justifies the means (Machiavellianism).
The Collective Unconscious is a quantum field that exists within the unseen Akashic realm - the realm of spiritual warfare. It influences, and is in turn influenced by, the state of affairs on Earth as attested by the well known Hermetic maxim, “As above, so below.” This saying, called the Law of Correspondence, alludes to the dynamic interaction between the archetypal entities involved, with those above (macro) and those below (micro) each impacting the other. In the final analysis, the good archetypes eventually prevail.9
But at what cost to us in the microcosm below?
Gilman, Robert. (1985) Morphogenetic Fields And Beyond. (Article)
The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. (Internet archive book)
Viewpoint: His dark charisma. (BBC article)
We delved into Wetico in our piece titled, The Age of Aquarius. (Substack post)
Wetiko can be conceived of as being an evil, cannibalistic, vampiric spirit that inspires people under its sway to take and consume another’s resources and lifeforce energy solely for their own profit or emotional satisfaction, without giving anything back of value from their own lives. Wetiko thus violates the sacred law of reciprocity in both human affairs and the natural world as a whole.
Energizing Jung's Ideas About Synchronicity. (Article)
During the late 19th century Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov, shed light on a pivotal moment in Western Civilization. At the time, the Roman Church held a prominent centuries-old role in shaping society through its civilizing and educational mission. However, within the novel, the character of the Cardinal Grand Inquisitor personifies the Church's missteps. Over the years, the Church had veered off course by distorting and exaggerating the miracles and supernatural aspects of Christ's mission. Consequently, the rational minds of many found it difficult to reconcile faith and belief in Christ, as the Church's teachings seemed illogical. This distortion led to a detachment between humanity and God, as the Church's influence became more bureaucratic and removed from a personal connection with the divine. In fact, the Grand Inquisitor boldly declared to Christ, who had returned to Earth, that the Church alone was sufficient for the world's spiritual needs.
Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature, (Article)
The Ultimate List of Archetypes (Over 325). (Article)
See also: How to Integrate Your Dark Side
Thermodynamic Proof that Good Always Triumphs over Evil. (Article, .pdf)
I appreciate your post, love the pictures and historical psychologists and literary references.