Relationship with the mother is embedded in everything, and it's really hard at first to spot what exactly is a problem in it. The relationship can even seem normal on the surface, but actually, be really toxic. And from that toxicity, it can spread to other areas in your life, especially to the relationship department in general. One of the hardest things on that road is to accept that you are also playing a part. That the problem is not (only) the mother who wants to "devour" you. But there is also your desire, willingness, and a need to be "devoured". It's such a defeating thing to face, that it's not surprising that people just suppress the whole thing. And even then, when you accept your part and stop participating, the mother will call out to you. Over and over to play your old game, and each time you have to (gently) say no. Eventually, you will both heal. But it's a rough transformation. (ain't them all)
Hi Ivan M, many thanks for your thoughtful insight, it shows the inter-relatedness of attachment, and how as a system, it needs to be considered from the perspective of all elements involved thereon. Kindest Regards, Steve.
My mother always used to say she wanted me to be gay because it would piss my dad off ect. She threw me a Hello Kitty birthday party in my late teens. Crazy messed up
I am turning 40 and I find myself so embedded in this issue. This mother-complex energy feels like a big spell on me with a huge gravity force and I can't pull myself out of it. The more I try I fail and it is making me desperate sometimes. I already have an autoimmune illness because of that.
Hi @willdasilva4459, much of the pressure people feel, will be their instincts pushing them to move away from the internalized 'representations' that are capping their instincts (summed up by the 'Complex' in question). It's tough, dis-identifying with those tacit incorporations we take in to our Self-Concept. An individual is 'themself' and not anyone else's influence upon them. To make that separation in identification, so that someone at last identifies with themself, as ‘themself', is to be free from what can become auto-suggestion. It's not easy, at first , but the effort is worth it. Kindest Regards, Steve.
Dunno your situation, but I'm the son part of the an enmeshed mother-son dynamic. I'm late thirties and the only thing that's begun to work for me is a combination of 1) having obvious observable success in your own life (which you still have to constantly broadcast to her, since she always dismisses them as successes) and 2) stop indulging and listening to her and 3) stop feeling guilt when she acts depressed and hurt and emotional and literally cries for weeks. Number 3 is key. One has to make oneself immune to the crying and see it as the mother's immaturity and part of her manipulation.
HEre I am, 2 am, contemplating how 3 strangers talk about me and know me better than I do, in a loft drinking tea. So painful to hear this at the age of 45.
Explains my early 20s and the turmoil from the painful separation I had to embark on given my mothers neurosis and addiction but apparently even more deeper than that..
Very good, thank you. I've been doing this work recently, so this video was rather timely. The amount of men carrying this wound in our society today is astounding.
I'm a mother and I am here to learn how NOT to be. My son is 24 and in Special Ops. That was quite challenging to this older mom (66), a leftie child of the 60's (although I've become more centrist with age). I signed off on my son joining the military at 17 even though I was conflicted about it. But I am a firm believer in the Hero's Journey so I surrendered to that. We get along well. Infrequently he will ask my opinion or advice and I try to wait for that invitation. I will say that my relationship with his dad was toxic. I think we both had mother complexes. We both came from divorced parents so we stayed together because of my son. I am wondering how that might play into the equation. I just started seeing a Jungian analyst so I will also broach it with her but there is always so much ground to cover. I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions.
Hi Sharon, thanks for sharing . Life experience hard won! Blessings and Respect to, You and to Your Son. Paine and I would be happy to hear from you if you feel that’d help. You could reach out either through our Discord or here via a direct message. Kindest Regards, Steve & Pauline 🙏
I told my mother I felt lost and didn't know who I really was or what I wanted in life. She told me I was overthinking it and never brought it up again.
Hi @waylonjenninz, thank you for sharing, context is everything, including how we interpret that context. Much misunderstanding can come from a situation not being reciprocally understood by the parties involved. Over-thinking, can be a factor in some instances, as too much ruminative cognition, can separate us from a natural adaptation to ourselves and our wider context. However, a mother's influence on how a young man comes to regard himself, including his relationship to his psyche, as well as the world, would have been laid down in his early years. Sometimes, parents have an 'unconscious' (intuitive) understanding, of the necessity to loosen the attachment bond between themselves and their children. This can manifest in situations such as the one you describe. Of course, in some cases, it can be the reverse, and the parent may not offer the right reaction because they do not want the attachment (dependency) based upon an affective-maturational stage for their child, to be resolved, so they respond in a way that generates a sense of separataion anxiety, insecurity and lack of confidence. Everything depends on the whole-context, how that has evolved, and where the respective parties to it are, in their own development. Ultimately, we are supposed 'to leave the cave'. This allows us to become who we should be, regardless of how positive or negative that 'paleolithic' attachment to early devlopment, may have been. Respect to You, and for Your Journey, Kindest Regaards, Steve.
@@JungToLiveBy Steve, thank you for the thoughtful response. The context is important and complicated in the whole-context you speak of. I'm thankful to have found your channel and am interested in the biologcal aspects, the release of potential biologically that you speak of. (If I understand that correctly.) So interesting to see these descripitions that ring so true and seem to have affected so many. I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. :) Respect and all the best to you.
Thanks, @waylonjenninz, we have a new video coming out on Complexes, which also covers a lot of other material including an integrated mind-body-environment understanding of the human condition. Blessings to You, and Respect, ror You and for Your Jouney. Kindest Regards, Steve
@@JungToLiveBy Love you all! I have learned so much from your channel. You cleared up a lot of confusion for me. Verified a lot of my convictions. I have told a lot of people how much I enjoy your channel. Shared videos with our 4 children. You have improved my abilities as a therapist tremendously as well. I find myself sharing, in my own way, your ideas with others. Very good responses. If people respond well I tell them to give you all a listen.
In some communities, boys go through initiation ceremonies as they enter adulthood, especially designed to sever the tie of dependency on and overinfluence of the boy's experience of the mother aspect. These initiation ceremonies enable the youth to become an adult man in his own right. Without such a rite of passage, many youths of today are left floundering in immaturity, continuously living within the mother's area of life.
I find this video extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, confirmed by experience. Mothercomplex... oh my. Sacrificing my career has seemed to be necessary as a means to slay my mothercomplex. I have acted accordingly through recent years, guided by my instinct. This may sound like a drastic measure but for me it is without a doubt right thing to do (and way to go).
Jesse Lee Peterson insists that to be born again of the Spirit, one must forgive one's mother directly, for being controlling, etc. If you haven't seen him I highly recommend it. Especially Get a Job's Savage Moments (clips).
I can appreciate the push against the idea of getting lost in fantasy. I can see that prioritising instincts in treatment as an explanation can push someone to connect deeper towards their actual experience of life. However, I see a danger that concieving archetypes as instinctual drives reduces them and leads to a loss of what is human within them. So, to say that the "lover archetype" is driven by an instinctive drive towards sex might cut out the puppy dog problems of romantic fantasy, but it also cuts out the extent to which sex is not really just the satisfaction of an instinctual hunger for sex, but also the physical enactment of intimacy, and in fact love in it's many variations. Similarly, the idea of a warrior, also captures more about the nuances of what it is to achieve dominance than the idea that there is a simple drive for dominance - warriors have to become disciplined, have to learn honour, the efficient use of energy and embodiement. A king doesn't just hold status, he holds status because he fulfils certain functions on behalf of a kingdom; the ability to decide for example, to administer justice, even to fulfil the health of a kingdom, as traditionally conceived. These metaphors are in fact richer than their reduction to instinctual drives; engaging with them doesn't necessarily lead to being lost in fantasy. Getting lost in fantasy depends on the way the role is taken on, and how a person engages with an archetype in relation to their own life - the hinge between personal life and archeytpal image. I have read Moore's book Lover Magician King Warrior and I think it is quite schematic and a bit cliched. But the idea that these images themselves are suspect, or reducible to simple instictual drives I don't agree; that's dependent on the way someone engages with them. I've seen these 4 images used in very powerful ways for men that help them re-orient themselves towards their actual lives. It's worth saying that whilst some people might be lost in myth, and want it to "save them" through passive enagement with it, the far more common experience for most people is to be highly alienated from it, and from numinous experience in general. That's symptomatic of a general cultural suspicion of images that cuts people off from mythic images as a generative product of the living psyche.
Maybe these are just representations of different configurations of multiple basic instincts clustered around one dominant instinct? So say the "warrior" is fundamentally a desire for dominance with some additional fluff that's also fundamentally instinctive. Placating those instincts would then eliminate the need for the warrior 'image' if you wish.
Hi Toby Chown, thank you for taking the time and trouble to share your views. They're appreciated and respected. My perspective is: in-depth transformative clinical work, with thousands of people over 40 years. That pressure testing vessel has been very tough, for me, and I don't offer these very hard-earned empirical insights, lightly. I of course respect differing views, and welcome them. I do know, however, the difference bewteen theory and real world front-line application in the lives of others. My Very Best Wishes for your journey, Kindest Regards, Steve.
@@JungToLiveBy Thanks Steve. I appreciate your getting back to me. I am a clinician too, with 10 years experience, I work as an HCPC registered dramatherapist with children families and young people affected by substance misuse in the family. My training and practice has a strong jungian base. I've enjoyed listening to your working together of Jungian theory with neuro-psychology and clinical experience. I like the project to ground jungian psychotherapy in complexes in ways others can grasp. If I think about my clinical experience though, and experiences in groups, I still am not sure to what extent you can separate instinct and and archetype. If you talk to people about their lives, they will find images and metaphors that reflect their life story which they can then embody and work through their inner conflicts. I get that cerebral intellectualising can misdirect people from the bridge betweeen images and their actual life. But i couldn't quite tell what made you so scornful of those archetypal roles - i've seen them used in men's group as containers for powerful transformations, and they do seem to offer a simple map for different aspects of the masculine self. Thanks for the videos have been enjoying them. I would be interested to see your take on about conspiracy theory and q anon as this seems to be a rising issue in both alternative spiritual and men's communties as the lockdown continues
Fascinating content as usual. As I come to grips with a biologically grounded understanding of archetypes, I begin to question the effectiveness of traditional jungian techniques like active imagination. How does a successful execution of active imagination (for example, Jung working through the red book) affect the instincts in a way that allows a successful transformation of character? And how does this differ from what transpires during what may be called a pseudo active imagination, i.e.: those you've alluded to in previous videos that have been seduced and trapped by the imagery itself. Also, is there a confirmed release date for the personal myth guide? Keenly looking forward to it.
Hi again jazzsta555, very good questions... If successful, then the changes in conscious attitude and outer adaptation, will allow a fuller release of instinct - and a consequent reduction in instinctive-pressure. This pressure is a fundamental element in neurosis, as it is the drive behind the emotional reaction to an unresolved situation. This has been demonstrated in Neuropsychoanalysis (Professor Mark Solms work as a clear example). Archetypal images are a mixture of 'actual' innate images, and those derived from transgenerational psucho-culotural transmission - i.e. narrative myths and fairy tales etc. They engage 'dialaectically, to produce a 'Resultant Image' in the psyche of each individual, with of course, shared collective elements based on common experience within the same culture. These resultant images are therefore analogs to Jung's 'Archetypal Images'. Instincts are on a 'timed release' from the genome. Just as people can't choose to stay at the age of (say) 10 years, biologically, so too they can't choose to halt the development of their brain/mind/psyche. Both, of these processes are under genomic control, and through the process of gene expresion and instincts, they actualise in the maturing individual. The effects of outer pressures (psycho-social, psycho-cultural, and enviornmental), can, and do have effects. Instincts can be 'satiated' by approximationwith respect to their goals, but they will always pressure the individual to adapt, optimally. Returning to your question, pseudo-active imagination, can stillacheive the same results, which shows that active imagination isn't 'necessary and sufficient, to acheive the same outcome. In terms of depth-sychology, active imagination has its limits, as a technique. It suited its creator (Jung) and he practiced it accordingly. Many people find it useful in terms of personal development. Kindest Regards, Steve.
@@JungToLiveBy Thank you very much for the response Steve. Your exposition is appreciated. As these videos have made me realise, Jung's personal myth, historical context and psychical equipment are to be held in mind to derive practical benefits from his work. Prior to understanding this, I thought active imagination would be a magic bullet for me because I had a pre-disposition towards indulging in fantasy like Jung did. However, my fantasy life is nothing like Jung's. No castles, mythic creatures or Wise Old Philemons. The fantasies that arise in me always involve a dissociated look at my personal gratification: there's always a crowd, I'm always the centre of attention, and the fantasy is always from a third person perspective. The most common form this takes is a favourite fantasy triggered by music where I see myself performing the music I'm listening to to an adoring crowd. Prior attempts at active imagination lead me on a wild goose chase of trying to find archetypal meaning in these daydreams. I strongly suspect now that it may just be an inferiority complex at play. My current roadblock is that I waste time on these fantasies and keep returning to them in times of stress (and oddly, even times of celebration). Breaking this addictive allure and replacing it with something healthier seems to be the next step in my personal development. I hope that my continuing application of the self-hypnosis technique will help more than active imagination did 🙏🏽.
Hi Jack Deniston, so long as you don't act it out.... Ultimately, the internal representation of the 'mother' is what has to be dealt with, as that will persist until its resolved with. Kindest Regards, Steve.
Ive had these issues lately, antichrist delusions stemming from the godhead pan. Not sure what i can do to fix this. Im trying to get sober to confront it, but without an external responsibility, it seems hard to form a diamond. Imma keep trying though
Hi! I’m new to this channel (amazing work!!!) Could you help orient myself please as I am new to C.G. Jung’s work What is meant by connect with your Instincts? Which instincts exactly? Thank you
Hi @rochmarcbenoit, many thanks, we have a definitive video on Meta-Instincts coming out in the next couple of weeks. You could check out our most recent nine videos on the channel to get a better grasp of these in the wider context. Kindest Regards, Steve
They are saying that people with this complex tend to be highly analytical (extraverted thinking) as a way to contradict the mothers exagerated empathy.
You know, sometimes mothers can create this tension for their sons, because it's acted from the feelings of inferiority. What do I mean? I mean, it is easier not to resolve problems, but instead use their sons as a «psychological surrogate». For instance, my mother has always had problems with relating to men. She even chose those who have had issues, sometimes even there was a feeling, that she doesn't even love them, men. It's like a «relating wound» and also impossibility to love due to those things. And sons play the role of a crude replacement for that inability to create a proper connection with men. Also, interesting to see that my mother occasionally acts like a little girl, making me understand that it might have been this modus operandi she has been using throughout her life, which shows her infantile-driven actions. And sometimes even says to me, that she sacrificed her time and money for me. Though, I haven't been asking to do so. See? Those things play its role and she does lots of things just to act out of her complex and evading any possibility to face her problem. And if I'm going to speak with her about this, she may turn on her hysteria reaction, though not strong, but she wouldn't take a look at I'm saying. I even had thoughts about this matter, like I'm imprisoned. Though, I got that insights while being high, at the same time withdrawing from heroin. You might find this interesting. Mother complex, heroin addiction and being entrapped by mother. Interesting also the fact, that I'm looking like my father, i.e. lots of facial features. Sometimes I even had a thought, that she's still into my father, though she can't reach my father, because she abandoned him in the past, due to the fact that cheated on her. However, both of them have relating problems. I find also interesting that he found a woman, that even older than he, though he said that he can give any woman he wanted, but he chose someone special, which hinted me that he may have also a mother complex. Also, an interesting synchronicity. Recently I've started once again to listen to one record, Opeth - «Ghost Reveries», which is a conceptual album. And you know what is interesting about this piece of art? Because the main theme of the album revolves around a mother complex. It's like a person being possessed by devil kills his own mother (no one in right mind would do this, if there is no presupposition, and mother complex is the key here, that's why the themes of freedom). And later he tries to flee from what he has done, even people persecute him with his deed that he has done. Probably, it was done unconsciously through affect, that's why fleeing from the thing that he has done. At the same, it loooked like praying to some power, that can grant freedom from this complex. Though, it looks like something occult, if we take a look deeper, it would be obvious, that there is a mother complex. However, it looks like the representation from the dark side, because calling upon dark forces to free himself is quite radical and at the same time the main character has some feeling that he had done something wrong, from the narration. Though, instinctively it looks like he did the right thing, though it had done through the dark force, that's why some consequences - he is either persecuted with real people and at the same time there is some persecution inside, which looks like he may physically be freed from his mother, though on psychological level he is still trapped. I find this narrative of this album is quite interesting, especially calling upon devil to free the main character from his mother and his later reactions to the things he had done. Like negative resolving of mother complex through the occult approach. And there is no any mentioning of a father, so basically it is the mother complex. And not long ago I watched «Joker». I find those synchronicities are interesting, because those things show why am I feeling this way, being entrapped. However, every incarceration has its own end and I'm on my way to freedom, which reminds me the song of Iron Maiden - «The Prisoner», like the scent of freedom, the end is really nigh. And I'm not speaking about doing anything bad, I mean freeing myself from that complex, by going further. Like metaphor of slaying the mother complex, not anything ill-intended.
Do you think something like social media or gaming can act like a quasi-devouring mother? I feel like this is the biggest dragon that I have to slay currently.
Those might be more along the lines of the Green mythology Sirens who "lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island".
Hi again Knight Arnold my friend. Yes, in the sense that they can contain and limit expression and development. The main way out of that, is to track the footsteps of your instincts and how they may have been channeled off into substitutions for enagement with the psychosocial world. Instincts can be diverted, but never completely, and that's when we feel the compulsion to double down against their protests by further imersion into distractions. Kindest Regards, Steve.
My mother has resorted to harassment via police well being checks since I went no contact due to her undermining every single achievement, ESPECIALLY relationships
I think Archetypes are more relevant on a collective level in society. It seems like there is an event horizon for archetypes - if there is potentiality in the Time the archetypal possession will happen, it's effectiveness will be determined by how close it is to the "black hole of the real". For example: Jesus, Hitler, Caesar, Peterson, the Nanny Government - and now AI (Machina or the Matrix) is on the horizon. Im not saying these are actual archetypes in the real world, but they do posess some archetypal imagery on (obviously) different strengh levels. Maybe my point is mute, but there defiently is a principle that differentiates these ,- i guess - ideas from being unsuccessful to successful. My personal experience with archetypes is very brief, I have taken huge amount of interest in a character from a story - which admittedly fufilled the archetypal image. But instead using it as some sort of end-goal fantasy i looked at the reason why i have taken such a sudden interest in the character - understanding that, helped me integrate some things.
Hi Laszlo Gerb, many thanks for your thoughtful reflections and analysis, they suggest a great deal of insight and progression on your journey. Kindest Regards, Steve,
Hi Olly, thanks for your kind words and support. Yes, we should look more closely at narcissism. We have covered up but we could develop the topic more. Re narcissistic abuse, that is ‘intended’ to distort the victims instincts and their expression of them. Kindest Regards, Steve.
I think your talking about Maher and "ambitendency" yesterday i liked x today i don't like x. Resulting in passive aggressive personality which dsm 5 should have keep. So the mother doesnt want the child to individuate and behaviorally or verbally said if you act different from me i remove love from the young child.
Hi Ed Green, attachment is a very important aspect of life and causes a great deal of suffering where it goes wrong. It can be fixed, it’s never easy, but engaging with that process is an affirmation of self value and self worth that shouldn’t be denied in ourselves. Kindest Regards, Steve.
Do you have any comments on the “death mother” I’ve encountered images of Medusa, more precisely gorgons in some phantasies over the past year, and I’m just begging analytic work. How may approaching the mother complex differ if the complex takes on elements of turning one kid to stone. How does the serpentine aspect of Medusa affect in relationship
Hi Cory Aldridge, many thanks for your question. Are you going through self-analysis? I ask as we have to be careful about accepting 'suggestion' from well-meaning therapists who may sometimes use 'mythic' constructs to illustrate an otherwise ordinary (albeit very real and difficult path). Mythic constructs, and talk of 'archetypes' can cause problems that weren't there, as such. At best, they should be firmly presented as cultural narratives that help 'model' something at a collective (socio-cultural and 'human') level of common experience. A danger, can be, that they are taken as being 'real' internally, and personally. For some, this will not be a problem, but for others it is positively dangerous. I know for example of someone very recently in the UK whose use of Jungian language, archetypes and symbiols was used to section him under the mental health act, as being evidence of a psychosis. Fracture lines in the personality, will be widened by the 'suggestion' of reified internal 'characters' who have mythic, god-like powers of autonomous action - and are capable of overwhelming force against the normal conscious personality. Such ideas are usually 'safe', but by no means always, and not always under the varying conditions of stability that pordinary people commonly endure under stress. Myths and so-called 'archetypes' are best considered as allegorical, rather than personally real. We don't heal a split by making it wider. Kindest Regards, and Best Wishes for Your Journey, Steve.
Just to go over what you've said, archetypes are the well-trodden narratives of instincts or instinctual clashes either between people or within a person?
This all sounds really interesting, but having just randomly clicked this video, a little recap of what was discussed last time might make it a little easier to follow? I realize it’s really complicated stuff… But just a thought :)
Hi @thirstykayak246, the channel grew in an organic fashion, so there's a lot that's spread out across it. it is complicated, and we don't want to offer material that's at an internet-guru, pop, or celebrity psychologist level. Our work is empirical, it comes out of decades of front-line work, and we offer it openly. I'll talk to the team about your suggestion. Kindest Regards, Steve
Steve, in your enjoyable "rant" you paired some of Gillette's archetypes with their respective instinct (Warrior-Dominance, King - Status, Lover - Sex...).... but you stopped there.... can and should the instincts behind these archetypes be defined in any more detail and what instinct/s do you believe is behind the MAGICIAN archetype?? Is it an instinct for spirituality, knowledge or something else? And if dominance is an instinct, can we expect the ego to control that by itself... or is that perhaps also the role of culture... performing as a psychotechnology...an upgrade to human consciousness... that over millennia has resulted in at least fleeting moments of collective homeostasis (peace)? Or does collective homeostasis come from an instinct for spirituality that, when integrated properly, offers some sense that we are not alone and all one?
Slightly confused about the mention of archetypes. From my understanding, archetypes exist within the collective and play themselves out on a cultural level. They’re ‘larger’ than the individual, expressed through many individuals and have a greater agenda than merely the individuals own life. I may be mistaken.. still quite new to this. Just to clarify, in this video you are referring to the personal unconscious, and that the mother issue exists as a complex within the personal unconscious. The issue lies in the individual misidentifying the complex as an archetype and therefore approaching it from the wrong angle. Am I right? Brilliant content btw. Also, thankyou for sending through the shadow integration manual, have been studying over it the past few days. Concise and full of really useful info. Helps with understanding the terminology in college too!
Hi Tom Hoskins many thanks for your questions. Taking a step back from otherwise a-priori theoretcial assumptions, 'archetypes' demonstrably exist as psycho-cultural images, and in particular 'narratives' that contain a through line around which the 'characters' - the so-called 'archetypes' act out instinctive patterns of development and expression. These 'myths', 'fairy tales', 'dramas, films etc' mirror solutions to innate expectations and anticpations within the genome. Individuals within a culture, then internalize these cultural narratives, which are transgenerational representations of ancestral experience, as images and narratives to illustrate and inform consciousness about the instinctive drive to complete genomic potential . This can be modelled as 'Individuation', 'Self-Realization', 'Self Actualization' etc. The internalized images from culture, interact with genomic and instinctive pressure to produce 'Resultant Images' that are both personal and in part collective. Collecytive in the sense that people may have been exposed to the same or similar cultural effects, and, that we share a common set of instincts, released from our collective biology (genome). Resultant images are what Jung referred to as 'archetypal images'. The personal unconscious is real, and is demonstrable experimentally. As a concept/construct it is close to academic cognitive psychologu's understanding of information processing and declarative memory. It's also close to Freud's model of the Preconscious. The Shadow, cannot form until it has an Ego that produces it - that is, they form in relationship to one-another. Relating, is imemdiate and instinctive, and is the basis for Jung's Anima. Relating starts with 'attachment' to caregivers at birth - most often the mother. This is instinctive and the same brain structures and neural pathways are involved in all mammals. The Anima is therefore present imemdiately, the Shadow takes a lot longer to form. The Anima, as in 're;ating' as an adaptive function, remains the main issue of maturation and health (psychosocially) throughout life. Kindest Regards, Steve.
Hi Steve, thanks for taking the time to reply. A-priori theoretical assumption - wow, thanks for pointing that out, I knew my philosophasting was something but couldn’t put a word to it lol! Such an informative reply. Alongside our psychology access we have to do sociology, which speaks a lot about ‘socialisation’. This ‘download’ of archetypal symbols (although they don’t refer to them as archetypes in sociology) within the culture into consciousness is considered ‘top - down’. The other is ‘bottom -up’, whereby the symbols are created by the individual. From my understanding of what you’ve written - the archetypes are passed through the generations through symbolism in art in a sort of cyclic motion.. individual creates the art which reflects the instinct, then then art is socialised into the individual in the next generation to teach them of the instinct. And the cycle repeats. Jung manages to address both of these ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom up’, nature vs nurture. It’s like the chicken and the egg ordeal. I hope I’ve understood you properly here? Thankyou for clearing that up. Also represents some of the negatives of postmodernism. The inclination to almost remove/deconstruct the trans-generational representations and meta-narrative and leave nothing in replacement... just a void... is kind of scary! I like the analogy of Freuds ‘preconscious’ as a similar representation of the personal unconscious. I will have a read into the cognitive approach and their view on it too.. will be great to see some demonstration of the personal unconscious. Don’t suppose you have any studies which reflect this? Also, when referring to the shadow, are we referring to an aspect of the personal unconscious, or the personal unconscious in its totality? Really amazing stuff.. Thankyou Steve.
Many thanks Tom Hoskins, very much appreciated. Re The Shadow, Jung himself was imprecise about it, and tended to define it in a specific context - hence the confusion most feel in trying to pin down what he meant. I tend to specify it as being a part of the Personal Unconscious that has a compensatory rleationship to the Ego - which as a field phenomenon, surrounding the Ego (with this being the nuclear complex if that field) - then the Shadow is also a field phenomenon with its own nuclear complex, which I refer to as the Alter-Ego Complex. This allows the 'function' of compensation and its structures to remain differentiated from the wider field of systematized complexes, that make up Jung's Personal Unconscious. It makes sense homeostaically, and homeostais is a feature of the brain and its finction as well as the 'psyche' (see Prof Mark Solms work on neuropsychoanalysis). With respect to studies, I'm working with colelagues on a paper for submission to the Neuropsychoanalsysis Journal covering this topic. Thanks agaion, and Kindest Regards, Steve.
Hi Kelvin Givens, Why not indeed.... It's a good place to start. That said, the latest on instincts comes through Professor Mark Solms, Freudian Psychoanalyst, Neuroscientist and founder of Neuropsychoanalysis. His material is on RU-vid. Kindest Regards, Steve,
Can the anima some how be influenced by the mother complex, meaning are parts of the anima we seek in us related or influenced by the mother, if so how much of it is the mother and how much of it is a man's own individual desire.
Hi Alfred of Nothing: very good questions. Under pressure of analysis and natural observation, many Jungian constructs become blurred or fail. That can become confusing. At the level of complexes, both Mother and Anima inter-activate and inter-supress one another. Remember that complexes are systems of association, relationship and affect or 'emotion'. Jung belived that they were formed around an archetypal nucleus. What is certain is that they (the complexes) are real - and can be demonstrated experimnetally (for example his foundational work on complexes in CW 2). The nucleus of complexes, however, seems according to the latest Neuropsychoanalytic and Affective Neuroscience work, to be instinctive rather than 'archetypal'. Many followers of Jung will not want to accept that particular red pill, but it is what the science is showing. Kindest Regards, Steve.
