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But the idea keeps plaguing him, because of the persistent

pressure exerted by the shadow. Finally, one day he gives in and

turns from farming to teaching psychology. When the ego and the

shadow work in close harmony, the person feels full of life and

vigor.

The Self – The concept of the total personality or psyche is a central

feature of Jung’s psychology. This wholeness, as pointed out in

the discussion of the psyche, is not achieved by putting the

parts together in a jigsaw fashion; it is there to begin with,

although it takes time to mature. It is sometimes manifested in

dreams, it leads to self realization, its the driving force to be

a complete person! The self is the central archetype in the col

lective unconscious, much as the sun us the center of the solar

system. It unites the personality. When a person says he feels

in harmony with himself and with the world, we can be sure that

the self archetype is performing its work effectively.

There are three ways how your psyche works together. One structure may

compensate for the weakness of another structure, one component may oppose

another component, and two or more structures may unite to form a

synthesis. Compensation may be illustrated by the contrasting attitudes of

extraversion and introversion. If extraversion is the dominant or superior

attitude of the conscious ego, then the unconscious will compensate by

devel oping the repressed attitude of introversion. Compensation also

occurs between function, which I briefly mentioned earlier. A person who

stresses thinking or feeling in his conscious mind will be an intuitive,

sensation type unconsciously. As we studied in class, this balance, which

compensation provides us with, is healthy. It prevents our psyches from

becoming neurotically unbalanced. We need to have a little Peter and Jack

in all of us. Opposition exists everywhere in the personality: between

the persona and the shadow, between the persona and the anima, and between

the shadow and the anima. The contest between the rational and irrational

forces of the psyche never ceases either. One’s integrity of “self” can

actually determine whether or not this opposition will cause a shattering

of a personality. Must personality always by a house divided against

itself, though? Jung thought not. There can always be a union of

opposites, a theme that looms very large in Jung’s writings.

DYNAMICS

——–

The psyche is a relatively closed system that has only a fixed amount of

energy also called Values, which is the amount of energy devoted to a

component of the mind. There are some channels into the psyche through

which ene rgy can enter in form of experiences. If the psyche were a

totally closed systems, it could reach a state of perfect balance, for it

would not be subjected to interference from the outside. The slightest

stimulus may have far-reaching consequences on one’s mental stability.

This shows that it is not the amount of energy that is added, but the

disruptive effects that the added energy produces within the psyche. These

disruptive effects are caused by massive redistributions of energy within

the system. It takes only the slightest pressure on the trigger of a

loaded gun to cause a great disaster. Similarly, it may take only the

slightest addition of energy to an unstable psyche to produce large effects

in a person’s behavior. Psychic energy is also called Libido. It is not

to be confused with Freud’s definition of libido. Jung did not restrict

libido to sexual energy as Freud did. In fact, this is one of the

essential differences in the theories of the two men. It can be classified

as actual or potential forces that perform psychological work. It is often

expressed in desires and wants for objects. The values for things are

hidden in complexes.

The psyche is always active, yet it is still very difficult for people to

accept this view of a continuously active psyche, because there is a strong

tendency to equate psychic activity with conscious activity. Jung, as well

as Freud, hammered away at this misconception, but it persists even today.

The source of psychic energy is derived from one’s instincts and diverted

into other uses. Like a waterfall is used to create energy, you have to

use your instincts to turn into energy as well. Otherwise, just like the

waterfall, your instincts are completely fruitless. For example, if you

think that to get a beautiful wife, you have to be rich, so you direct your

sexual drive into a business persona, which will bring you money.

There are two principles of psychic dynamics. What happens to all that

energy?

1. Principle of Equivalence. Energy is not created nor destroyed. If

it leaves something, it has to surface. For example, if a child devoted a

lot of energy to reading comics, it might be redirected into a different

persona, som ething like being Mr. Cool Dude! He then will loose interest

in reading comics. Energy also has an inclination to carry tendencies of

its source to its destination.

2. Principle of Entropy. Energy usually flows from high to low. If you

have a highly developed structure (persona, for example), instead of

equalizing, it may start drawing values from other systems to boost itself

even higher. Such highly energized systems have a

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