6. Death
During the seminar, part of the work around the image consisted of associations and discussions of its symbolic motifs. Much of this material was not preserved in the written version and is therefore omitted here. The same applies to the remaining Rosarium Philosophorum images discussed throughout the seminar.
Vas hermeticum, fountain, and the sea have here become sarcophagus and tomb. King and queen are dead and have melted into a single being with two heads. — CW 16, para. 467
Jung now discusses parallels to the alchemical operations of putrefactio and mortificatio. These parallels show how death is followed by new life. The new being is the hermaphroditus, and together they represent the rebis or lapis, the goal for which the opus has been undertaken.
The coniunctio is the union of consciousness, represented by the sun, and the unconscious, represented by the moon. Since we cannot observe this process directly, it is projected. The alchemists projected it into certain chemical processes.
Psychologically, the situation represents the extinction of consciousness. Since we cannot observe this process directly within ourselves, we tend to experience it as taking place in a person to whom we are emotionally connected and onto whom it is projected. In a relationship between a man and a woman, the man becomes the carrier of the woman’s animus projection, while the woman becomes the carrier of the man’s anima projection. These projections influence the personalities of both partners.
Jung points out that the essential issue is not the personal relationship itself, but a man’s relationship to his anima and a woman’s relationship to her animus. The character of the relationship is largely determined by these inner figures. A genuine relationship becomes possible only when identification with these projections is refused. This is the basis of a meaningful relationship and of the psychology of relationships in general. It is no small task.
At one point in the analysis, a conflict emerged around money. The client had not met her financial obligations on time and, because I already felt near the end of my strength with the case, I experienced this as a lack of appreciation. The issue of payment merely provided an opportunity for me to become stricter regarding rules and boundaries. The client reacted very emotionally and more or less terminated the analysis.
Looking back, however, I can see that my reaction was emotional as well. The problem was not merely financial. Rather, the dynamics of anima and animus had become acute, and the need to recognize them became of central importance.
If one approaches these dynamics in an overly personal way, one fails to do justice to the process that is actually taking place.
The personal protagonist in the royal game should constantly bear in mind that at bottom it represents the “trans-subjective” union of archetypal figures, and it should never be forgotten it is a symbolical relationship whose goal is complete individuation. — CW 16, para. 469
This union of archetypal figures, the coniunctio, constitutes the psychological basis of the transference neurosis. Transference and countertransference arise as consequences of its projection.
The union of conscious mind or ego personality with the unconscious personified as anima produces a new personality compounded of both… Not that the new personality is a third thing midway between conscious and unconscious; it is both together. Since it transcends consciousness it can no longer be called ego but must be given the name of the “self”. — CW 16, para. 474
7. The Ascent of the Soul
In the case I have been describing, I eventually found a way of dealing with my emotions, with my anima, and with the influence they exerted on me. I developed a greater capacity not to identify with these contents, not only in this particular case but more generally. From that point on, I had more strength to feel hurt, to feel the need to react, and yet not react immediately.
Of course, these are things we attempt to do in every analysis. Yet each case involving similar dynamics demands that we bring our own development to another level. This work was done after the client had ended the analysis. As I managed to work through these issues in myself, I received a phone call from the client, and we were able to find common ground and continue the analysis.
It was a fascinating event because the call came at precisely the moment I had reached the conclusion of the line of thought I have been describing. In my dealings with the client, I was able to allow her to experience similar emotions and contain them without becoming overwhelmed by them.
This picture corresponds psychologically to a dark state of disorientation. The decomposition of the elements indicates dissociation and the collapse of the existing ego-consciousness… This collapse and disorientation of consciousness may last a considerable time and it is one of the most difficult transitions analyst has to deal with, demanding the greatest patience, courage and faith on the part of both doctor and patient. — CW 16, para. 476
The dead body of Mercurius, the unconscious, is contained by the water, or perhaps contains itself. The psyche grasps the psyche.
Faced with the disorientation of the patient, the doctor must hold fast to his own orientation; that is, he must know what is of value in the dreams, and do so moreover with the help of aqua doctrinae which alone is appropriate to the nature of the unconscious. In other words, he must approach his task with views and ideas capable of grasping unconscious symbolism. — CW 16, para. 478
Jung also points out that the analyst attempts to help the patient grasp his or her own psyche through understanding.
The psychological interpretation of this process leads into regions of inner experience which defy our powers of scientific description… I must therefore content myself with a bare mention of the archetype which is inwardly experienced at this stage, namely the birth of the “divine child” or—in the language of the mystics—the inner man. — CW 16, para. 482
8. Purification
Jung draws a parallel between the falling dew and Gideon’s dew and equates it with Mercurius. He then continues toward the idea of albedo, that is, the illumination that follows the darkness. The blackness is washed away by the royal art, enabling the alchemist to purify the material and remove its impurities.
Psychologically, these impurities always cling to natural products such as dreams. Purification means that we discard everything in the dream except the general principle on which it is based. One way of approaching this problem is through the dramatic structure of dreams. In simplified form, this means reducing a dream to three sentences: the initial situation, the definition of the problem, and its resolution. This helps us formulate a hypothesis regarding the dream’s meaning. Yet even when we have discovered the meaning of a dream, the work is not finished. We have merely gained psychological insight into it.
Jung describes the state of possessing intellectual insight as still lacking something, namely feeling values. This is why a purely intellectual attitude eventually has to be abandoned. The dew signifies the return of the soul. Psychologically, it corresponds to the danger that analysis, therapy, or even life itself may become trapped in one of the conscious functions.
In the example I have been describing, the client and I eventually managed, after almost a year of work, to identify the central problem: the projection of danger and the aggressive behaviour that followed from it. Yet this too was only an intellectual insight. The need to apply this understanding in practice then became apparent.
I became conscious of the fact that I was projecting my own aggression onto the client. This was essentially the same dynamic that existed between the client and her environment. I could hardly expect the client to accomplish in her own life what I was unable to accomplish in mine.
For my part, I consciously tried to ignore the inner alarms that told me not to say certain things because I feared the client would react aggressively, always within reasonable limits, of course. In this sense, I had to begin using my feeling function more consciously, and so did the client. As an intellectual type, this was precisely the function that had been neglected.
It often happens that the patient is quite satisfied with merely registering a dream or a fantasy… He will then fight against even intellectual understanding because it seems an affront to the reality of his psychic life. Others try to understand with their brains only, and want to skip the purely practical stage… That they should also have a feeling-relationship to the contents of the unconscious seems strange to them or even ridiculous. — CW 16, para. 489
This fourth stage is the anticipation of the lapis… whose fulfilment could never be the object of empirical experience at all. — CW 16, para. 492
For, when the soul vanished at death, it was not lost; in that other world it formed a living counterpole to the state of death in this world. Its reappearance from above is already indicated by the dewy moisture… the dew is synonymous with aqua permanens… which in turn signifies the illumination through the realization of meaning. — CW 16, para. 493
Next: Part 8. The Psychology of Transference: Return of the Soul and The New Birth
Previous: Part 6. The Psychology of Transference: The Naked Truth, Immersion in the Bath, The Conjunction
Contents: Psychology of Transference (2017)