Carl Jung Says To Give Your Madness Life
I have only recently started reading Jung but I am already so intrigued by him. Carl Jung believed in the theory of a collective conscious. He believed that human beings are all connected to each other and our ancestors through a shared set of experiences and that we use this collective consciousness to bring meaning to the world. I always had this same sort of feeling but never knew how to put it into words. I tried to many times in journals and usually called it the bubble of collective consciousness. Jung puts everything into the words I was never able to.
Carl Jung believed that the human psyche had three parts: the ego, personal unconscious and collective unconscious. Jung was mostly known for his research in personality, human psyche and dream analysis. Sigmund Freud was a major influence to him and they even conducted research together. Eventually, though, Jung disagreed with many of Freud’s theories.
Jung is best known for his research in personality, dream analysis and the human psyche and spent a lot of time studying people. In his theory of personality he distinguishes two different attitude types: Introverts, which are those people who receive stimulation from within, and extroverts, which are those who receive their stimulation from the environment.
Jung also separates introverts and extroverts into four subtypes according to the functions that control the way they perceive the world. Both introverts and extroverts can be any of these subtypes, so there are eight possible personality types. These four functions are:
1. Thinking
Applying reasoning to the situations and environments you encounter.
2. Feeling
Applying subjective, personal assessment to the situations and environments you encounter.
3. Sensation
Applying aesthetic value to the situations and environments you encounter.
4. Intuition
Using your unconscious or the mystical to understand your experiences.
The collective unconscious is a universal version of the personal unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, which are shared with other members of human species (Jung, 1928). These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are represented by universal themes in various cultures, as expressed through literature, art, and dreams.
‘The form of the world into which [a person] is born is already inborn in him, as a virtual image’ (Jung, 1953, p. 188).
According to Jung, the human mind has innate characteristics “imprinted” on it as a result of evolution. These universal predispositions stem from our ancestral past.
Makes a lot of sense as it why we progressed so quickly as a species.
I couldn’t Imagine living inside the mind of Jung. The man was genuis but probably had an overwhelming amount of thoughts and ideas bouncing around his mind. He claimed to learn a lot from his dreams. In his book The Red Book he explains his soul talking to him in a dream but then it turns out not to be his soul at all..
I wrote the start of it down below and I am going to start to post a few Jung quotes and pieces every once in a while on the site because I think everyone could benefit from reading him. He really gets the wheels up there turning and sometimes we need that.
“The years, of which I have spoken to you, when I pursued the inner images, were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. It began at that time, and the later details hardly matter anymore. My entire life consisted in elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded me like an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me. That was the stuff and material for more than only one life. Everything later was merely the outer classification, the scientific elaboration, and the integration into life. But the numinous beginning, which contained everything, was then.” C.G Jung, 1957
The Red Book Readers Edition by C.G Jung. Edited and with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, Page 347:
My soul spoke to me in a whisper, urgently and alarmingly: “Words, words, do not make too many words. Be silent and listen: have you recognized your madness and do you admit it? Have you noticed that all your foundations are completely mired in madness? Do you not want to recognize your madness and welcome it in a friendly manner? You wanted to accept everything. So accept madness too: Let the light of your madness shine, and it will suddenly dawn on you. Madness is not to be despised and not to be feared, but instead you should give it life.”
I: “Your words sound hard and the task you set me is difficult.”
S: “If you want to find paths, you should also not spurn madness, since it makes up such a great part of your nature.”
I: “I didn’t know that this was so.”
S: “Be glad that you can recognize it, for you will thus avoid becoming it’s victim. Madness is a special form of the spirit and clings to all teachings and philosophies, but even more to daily life, since life itself is full of craziness and at the bottom utterly illogical. Man strives towards reason only so that he can make rules for himself. Life itself has no rules. That’s is it’s mystery and it’s unknown law. What you call knowledge is an attempt to impose something comprehensible on life.”
I: “That all sounds very desolate, nevertheless it prompts me to disagree.”
S: “You have nothing to disagree with—you are in the madhouse.”
There stands that fat little professor—had he spoken this way? And had I taken him for my soul?
Prof: “Yes, my dear, you are confused. Your speech is completely incoherent.”
I: “I too believe that I have completely lost myself. Am I really crazy? It’s all terribly confusing.”
Prof: “Have patience, everything will work out. Anyway, sleep well.”
I: “Thank you but I’m afraid.”
Everything inside me is in utter disarray. Matters are becoming serious, and chaos is approaching. Is this the ultimate bottom? Is chaos also a foundation? If only there weren’t these terrible waves. Everything breaks asunder like black billows. Yes, I see and understand: it is the ocean, the almighty nocturnal tide—a ship moves there—a large steamer—I’m just about to enter the smoking parlor—many people—beautiful clothes—they all look at me astonished—someone comes up to me and says “What’s the matter? You look like a ghost, what happened?”
I: “Nothing that is—I believe that I have gone crazy—the floor sways—everything moves.”
Someone: “The sea is somewhat rough this evening that’s all—have a hot toddy—you’re seasick.”
I: “You’re right, I am seasick but in a special way—I’m really in a madhouse.”
Someone: “Well now, you’re joking again, life is returning.”
I: “Do you call that wit? Just not the professor pronounced me truly and utterly mad.”
The fat little professor is actually sitting at the green covered table playing cards. He turns towards me when he hears me speak and laughs: “Well, where did you get to? Come here. Would you like a drink too? You’re quite a character I must say. You’ve put all the ladies in quite a flurry this evening.”
I: “Professor, for me this is no longer a joke. Just now I was your patient—”
The parlor erupts in unbridled laughter.
Professor: “I hope that I haven’t upset you too much.”
I: “Well to be committed is no small matter.”
The person who I had been speaking to before suddenly comes up to me and looks me in the face. He is a man with a black beard, a tousled head of hair, and dark shining eyes. He speaks to me vehemently: “Something worse happened to me, it’s five years now that I’ve been here.”
I realized that he was my neighbor, who was apparently awakened from his apathy and is now sitting on my bed. He goes on speaking fiercely and urgently: “But I am Nietzsche, only rebaptized, I am also Christ, the savoir and appointed to save the world, but they won’t let me.”
I: “Who won’t let you?”
The fool: “The devil. We are in Hell. But of course, you haven’t noticed it yet. I didn’t realize until the second year of my time here that the director is the devil.”
I: “You mean the professor? That sounds incredible.”
The fool: “You’re a ignoramus. I was supposed to marry the mother of God long ago. But the professor, the devil, has her in his power. Every evening when the sun goes down he gets her with child. In the morning before sunrise she gives birth to it. Then all the devils come to together and kill the child. In a gruesome manner. I distinctly hear the cries.”
I: “But what you have told me is pure mythology.”
The fool: “You’re crazy and understand nothing of it. You belong in the madhouse. My God, why does my family always shut me in with crazy people? I’m supposed to save the world, I’m the Savior!”
He lies down again and sinks back into his lassitude. I clutch the sides of my bed to protect myself against the terrible waves, I stare at the wall, so that I can at least latch onto something with my eyes. A horizontal line runs along the wall, which is painted a darker color beneath. A radiator stands in front of it—it is a railing and I can see the see beyond it. The line is in the horizon. And there the sun now rises in red glory, solitary and magnificent—in it is a cross from which a serpent hangs—or is it a bull, slip open, as at the slaughterhouse, or is it an ass? I suppose it really is a ram with a crown of thorns—or is it the crucified one myself? The sun of martyrdom has arisen and its pouring bloody rays over the sea. This spectacle lasts a long time, the sun rises higher, its rays grow brighter and hotter and the sun burns down white on a blue sea. The swell has subsided. A charitable and quiet summer dawn lies on the shimmering sea. The salty smell of water rises up………..
Get the book to read more! It’s worth the buy, trust me.
If you are interested in reading about a variety of different subjects such as mental health, inside the minds of disturbed artists, the importance of being an introvert, importance of body language and non-verbal communication, the importance of mental rehearsal and imagery, the power of our minds, mindfulness, metaphysics and the cosmic world and how all the great genius’ of the past have tapped into this power to achieve seeming miracles, addiction, abuse, the effects loneliness and so much more, please check out some of my other posts:
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