Carl Jung's concept of the archetype of the Self is a complex idea of embodied consciousness, symbolizing unity between body, mind, and soul. It directs us to explore and integrate the various parts of our psyche while maintaining a homeostatic balance, and serves as a guiding force on the journey of individuation.
The word narcissism is so easily thrown around these days, but is the wounding and vulnerability that lies underneath this pattern really understood? We should look at it as a continuum. We need healthy narcissism to manifest our creative endeavours in the world - Freud spoke about primary narcissism of young children which is a healthy natural expression of Self, not indicative of a problem, but needs to be mirrored by the caregivers of the child. Narcissistic personality disorder is caused by a severe early injury to healthy self-love or self-esteem, where this healthy narcissism has been damaged.
Jung was profoundly influenced by Indian philosophy. He made a comprehensive study of yoga and delivered numerous lectures focusing on a psychological interpretation of kundalini yoga. Many mystical traditions speak of a transcendent consciousness rooted in non-duality - the premise bring that everything, including humanity, is an aspect of the divine and is not separate from it.
The individuation journey pushes a person into greater consciousness of their inner world and the tension-creating polarities threatening to sometimes pull us apart. We realised we lived in a hall of mirrors. In the service of psychic survival, we have had to adjust, adapt, compromise, and even betray our authentic nature.
Jung believed that the human psyche is a self-regulating system that strives for growth and seeks to maintain a balance between conflicting potentialities (polar opposites) in the process of ‘individuation’. An important aspect in this process is the Ego-Self Axis, the vital connecting link between Self and ego.
Jung’s archetype of the Self is the central archetype in our psyche, the ‘imago Dei’ and source of life energy. Jung said “It might equally be called ‘the God within us.’ The beginnings of our whole psychic life seem to be inextricably rooted in this point, and all our highest and ultimate purposes seem to be striving toward it.”
Known as “the remover of obstacles” the Hindu god Ganesha is highly recognizable with his elephant head and human body. As an image of the divine child, Ganesha embodies the promise for enlightenment, self-realization and spiritual wholeness through the integration of opposites. Ganesha represents the unification of cosmic forces: god and goddess, eternal and temporal, infinite and finite, spirit and body, conscious and unconscious.
The Divine Child represents the emergence of a new, enlivening idea or energy which constitute a renewal and expansion in consciousness...