“The primordial images undergo a ceaseless transformation and yet they remain ever the same, but only in a new form they can be understood anew. Always they require a new interpretation if, as each formulation becomes obsolete, they are not to lose their spellbinding power over that fugax Mercurius and allow that useful though dangerous enemy to escape.” — CW 16, para. 396
So when the interpretation becomes obsolete, the danger is that the Mercurius, the unconscious and its influence will be lost from our conscious viewpoint. And in this state it is free to roam our psychic life doing mischief instead of working with us. As a consequence, the unconscious is projected and we are inflated and identified with instinctual forces we cannot influence. And we know that this is not a good thing because we return to paganism, nationalism and all kinds of isms, which are just a way for us to be something, because when we are alone, we do not know who and what we are.
To connect these ideas with practical psychotherapy. Well, the same principles are needed, the new interpretation of an old truths, and if we do not manage, then the therapy can’t go forward.
“Possession by the unconscious means being torn apart into many people and things, a disiunctio. That is why, according to Origen, the aim of the Christian is to become an inwardly united human being. The blind insistence on the outward community of the Church naturally fails to fulfill this aim; on the contrary, it inadvertently provides the inner disunity with an outward vessel without really changing the disiunctio into a coniunctio.” — CW 16, para. 397
Next Jung speaks about alchemical imagery describing disiunctio: dismemberment, animal sacrifices, amputations, atomization of bridegroom etc. Psychologically it means the influence of complexes which make us divided since they act as a counter pole to ego complex and often we do not know who is in charge.
“…out of monstrual animal forms there gradually emerges a res simplex, whose nature is one and the same yet consists of duality…. His filius philosophorim, his lapis, his rebis, his homunculus, are all hermaphroditic. His gold is non vulgi, his lapis is spirit and body, and so is his tincture, which is sanguis spiritualis – a spiritual blood. We can understand why the nuptiae chymicae, the royal marriage, occupies such an important place in alchemy as a symbol of the supreme and ultimate union…” — CW 16, para. 398
Out of complexes, there gradually emerge their meaning, since they are reactions of our psyche to certain events with which our conscious standpoint can’t deal with and is not adapted to. And although they work as independent centers of our psyche, within them is hidden the seed future conscious standpoint that can deal with these traumatic situations. As we consciously become able to deal with them, the need for a complex does not exist anymore and we become less divided than before. However, this process does not go without friction.
“…the ego soon becomes a shuttlecock tossed between a multitude of “velleities”[1], with the result that there is an “obfuscation of light” i.e. consciousness is de-potentiated and the patient is at loss to know where his personality begins or ends. It is like passing through the valley of shadow, and sometimes the patient has to cling to the doctor as the last remaining shred of reality… often the doctor is in much the same position as the alchemist who no longer knew whether he was melting the mysterious amalgam in the crucible or whether he was the salamander glowing in the fire. Psychological induction inevitably causes the two parties to get involved in the transformation of the third and to be themselves transformed in the process, and all the time the doctor’s knowledge, like the flickering lamp, is the one dim light in the darkness.” — CW 16, para. 399
Here we can get a glimpse of why is the alchemical imagery so appropriate to research the transference phenomenon.
“Ars requirit totem hominem… is in the highest degree true of psychotherapeutic work. A genuine participation, going beyond professional routine, is absolute imperative… arbitrary limits are no use, only real ones.” — CW 16, para. 400
How hard it is to be able to approach a case, a client in this way? It seems like an enormous attempt. Here is me, an analyst and I am whole present in this work, with all my limitations, unconscious complexes. This is not a generic case where I will use certain tools and get the job done. It is a living part of life that I will try to deal with all of my complexes. That I will do my utmost to take into consideration my unconscious, by a live process of working on my dreams, fulfilling my life obligations, or discarding them if I understand that that is what I have to do. I will do my best to try to achieve a harmonious relationship with the unconscious. And only if we are able to do it in our lives, can we hope that this will happen in the lives of our clients also. And it is not easy, quite the opposite.
“Complete redemption from the suffering of this world is and must remain an illusion. Christ earthly life likewise ended, not in complacent bliss, but on a cross… The goal is important only as an idea: the essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime. In its attainment “left and right” are united and conscious and unconscious work in harmony.” — CW 16, para. 400
“The coniunctio oppositorum in the guise of Sol and Luna, the royal brother-sister or mother-son pair occupies such an important place in alchemy that sometimes the entire process takes the form of hierosgamos and its mystic consequences. The most complete and simplest illustration of this is perhaps the series of pictures contained in the Rosarium philosophorum… Everything that the doctor discovers and experiences when analyzing the unconscious of his patient coincides in the most remarkable way with the content of these pictures. This is not likely to be mere chance, because alchemists were often doctors… they worried about the psychological wellbeing of their patients or inquired into their dreams… In this was they could collect information of psychological nature, not only from their patients but also from themselves i.e. from observation of their own unconscious content which had been activated by induction.” — CW 16, para. par401
So let’s start.
What we will try to do is to associate on the images from the series and suppose that they tell us something about the dynamics of the psyche during analysis, something that is going on between the analyst and the client/patient.
Do not expect that the meaning of these images will be clear afterwards. You see, it is like reading a bible. Even after 2000 years of humanity reading it, even now people come to some new meaning of old images. Maybe we can say something similar for these images, they represent something unconscious that is activated whenever we come into situation of relationship with someone and these images can have a purpose of making us think and give new interpretation to these dynamics. So, let’s assume that they tell us something about the dynamics between two people and try to find out something new.
[1] A wish or inclination not strong enough to lead to action.
Other parts of the seminar can be found here: