Chapter I, Part II of Dionysus: Myth, Cult and Psychology (2013).
What characterizes a particular culture is the collective consciousness shared by the people who belong to it. The development of consciousness presupposes a certain repression of contents that are not compatible with it. This process first takes place on the individual level and, if it proves valuable and in accordance with the dynamics of the collective unconscious of a particular period, it gradually becomes established as a standard and forms part of the collective consciousness. In this way an entire civilization adopts a particular way of life, together with certain values and ideas that constitute its collective consciousness.
Throughout the history of culture there have been different tendencies regarding what is considered more important: instinct or image. If we compare Roman culture at the time of the rise of Christianity with medieval Christian culture, we can observe significant differences in collective consciousness and psychological attitudes toward image and instinct. Nietzsche addressed this problem in The Birth of Tragedy through the opposition of the Apollonian and Dionysian principles.
Apart from these historical tendencies, one can also perceive differences between nations. While the conscious attitude of one nation may be more strongly determined by the Dionysian principle, that of another may be more strongly determined by the Apollonian principle. A person whose culture places a conscious emphasis on the Dionysian principle and who travels to a culture characterized by a conscious emphasis on the Apollonian principle can readily observe such differences. We know that consciousness is always coupled with the unconscious, and if consciousness is closely related to the Dionysian, we can expect an Apollonian tendency in the unconscious, and vice versa. While Dionysus is concerned with instincts and the accompanying affects and emotions, image and the accompanying affects and emotions belong to the domain of Apollo.
The rituals and archetypal images contained in the myths of Dionysus represent a compensation for the split between consciousness and instinct. Consciousness has become too one-sidedly related to the archetype through the archetypal image and has neglected the importance of its relationship to the archetype through instinct. Since this split does not exist in living creatures other than human beings (domesticated animals excluded), we may assume that it emerged with the birth of consciousness and became particularly problematic with the development of culture and city life. It is no coincidence that Dionysus was worshipped in Crete, the first European civilization, and in Athens, where he was one of the principal gods.
From a psychological standpoint, the development of culture parallels the development of collective consciousness. Culture and collective consciousness serve an important purpose: they ensure that the developmental achievements of a particular group are not lost with each new generation. They constitute a body of values, ideas, laws, customs and knowledge transmitted from generation to generation and contain behavioural and thought patterns that have proven valuable in the past.
On the one hand, culture and collective consciousness are extraordinarily valuable achievements because they save both individuals and groups from having to repeat already attained stages of conscious development. On the other hand, they do not take individual differences fully into account. Since the development of the group ultimately originates in the individual, there is always a danger that new developmental tendencies will be repressed. This danger becomes particularly acute when inner and outer circumstances have changed to such an extent that culture and collective consciousness no longer possess an adequate conscious solution and themselves become a repressing factor against new tendencies striving to emerge from the unconscious.
If we examine the specific relationship between culture and instinct, we can observe that at certain points in history instincts and the emotions accompanying them became antagonists of culture. This can be seen in the myth of Mithras and in the bullfighting tradition of Spain, where the death of the bull serves as a symbolic image of the sacrifice of unreflective instinctual behaviour and the affects accompanying it in the service of cultural development. Being able to control one’s emotions and refrain from killing another human being in a state of rage is a cultural achievement. Likewise, monogamy and the regulation of sexual impulses contributed to family stability and released considerable energy that could be directed toward cultural aims.
Although the repression of certain instinctive patterns may once have been necessary for cultural development, there comes a time when these old debts must be paid and something must be done with the repressed instincts and the emotions that accompany them. The dominant attitude of consciousness that leads to such a condition is frequently depicted in fairy tales and alchemy through the image of the old king who, although once full of vitality, now requires renewal and rebirth. In the context of the Dionysian myth, the old king represents a collective consciousness that has become antagonistic toward instinct and its accompanying affects and emotions. Through this antagonistic attitude, the opposition gradually accumulates in the unconscious. Since the instinct itself remains repressed, the only aspect consciousness is able to perceive directly is the emotional tone that accompanies it.
Other parts of this chapter can be found here: