Stream of Collective Unconsciousness

An Effort to Correlate William James and Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung and William James

Modern Man is Superman. He is Ape-man in making in cyclic order or disorder. Learning and unlearning are also cyclic and at times it  could be arduous to decide which one is more difficult. The stream of consciousness does not decide the thought process without an evocation. Politics is an integral part of poetry. The conflict is observed and absorbed, but not necessarily resolved. Perception itself is a resolution. Form is an embellishment. Naked truth is not a beauty, only embellished truth is capable of creating the illusion which is loved by egocentric psychopaths.

The alley is full of rats and cockroaches. Some of them are metamorphosed. They seek inspiration from the unknown, invisible pink unicorn. Terror and ugliness have the same repercussions on egalitarians, humanist and even feminist. It attacks on the shadow the existence of which is always deniable. The denied existence culminates into collectiveness. The Sun does not sink at horizon alone. It takes away the collective shadows and allows natural darkness to pervade.

The beauty of art is in the unconscious mind of the beholder. He has no option but to appreciate it. All ugliness when put together becomes a beautiful stream. The stream is transient, to hold it one should practice transience. Art is reflection of Ugly as Beauty. The weavers are forever doomed. If the mirror were broken the Lady of Shallot would die, even without meeting her beloved.

Nothing is ordinary. Ordinary cannot exist. The existence itself is an evidence of extraordinariness. Though it does not matter that existence is hollow, so far art of affectation is alive. This art is deeply seated in the collective unconscious of Human Archetypes, which was either in the past or will take birth in the future. In any case water is the house and wriggling is the fate. The shadow is resurrected with fire out of ambers. Extinguishers have eternal patience.

The gap between what we are and what we ought to be is filled with stinking garbage. To remain where you are is the safest way. Salvage is an act of imagination. It nourishes art. Meanwhile, create art out of garbage around you, and someday you may cross the impassable sea. It is possible  that you will be disappointed after reaching at the other end since the description of 'ought to be' is flexible.

Unlock the complex. It is only in your mind. Simplicity is the key. Vision is obscured by subjectivity. Search for your own answers, and you will find they corroborate with the universal answer, codified in a Sanskrit or Latin verse.

Pexels

Dark shades of purple do not enchant a cat, especially the Black Cat. Her obsession with flash is her void. Nothing would ever fill it. Take the chance, but do not admire. Do not ride on her back, she has a tendency to jump from well to well.

All illuminated souls dwell together. The wisdom acquired by them percolates through seven heavens. Don't be a Banyan, be a leaf of grass. The intensity of receptiveness is more important.

The elements never betray, but senses may. Huge monstrous waves do not teach the same lessons as ripples do. A gentle breath invigorates and a thunder tests your stamina.

(This is the gist of preface of my forthcoming book. Please do not quote without permission)

 ©  Vipin Behari Goyal

Other similar post:

Carl Jung's Theory and Literature

Carl Jung's Theory and Literature

                                                 Wizards of Collective Unconsciousness

All fiction is but a dream, all dreams are but a reality. No other stream has contributed towards enrichment of Literature as compared to Psychology. They are inseparable in a way, and one was always confused for another. Sigmund Freud was nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature for his psychoanalysis.

Jung is lesser known than Freud. The magnitude of his work is still unexplored. Due to Eastern influence on his work of Collective Unconscious, he was not well appreciated by his contemporaries. West had a tendency to evaluate anything related to East as inferior. Only Arthur Schopenhauer could draw the attention of West towards rich philosophy of Buddhism. Siddhartha  by Hermann Hesse  also contributed in exploring rich Buddhist Philosophy. Romain Rolland  a Nobel Laureate in Literature was inspired by Sigmund Freud. Rolland studied Eastern Philosophy which is labeled as Eastern Mysticism  since it is not easily comprehensible. He had an "oceanic feeling" which prompted Freud to raise this issue in his further work. Mysticism does not aim at 'human transformation' but its object is self-actualisation. It is the transformation of human concepts from the Unreal to Real.

It requires a great deal of courage to admit that 'primitiveness' of eastern tribes is a sort of 'advancement' since it uses collective unconsciousness which is deeper, stronger and unique. Modern man has become so isolated that he finds it impossible to connect his personal unconsciousness with any other individual, so the wonders of collective unconsciousness are a distant dream for him.

Haggard in "She" and "King Solomon's Mines" and Mary Shelley in "Frankenstein" have made use of Jung's wonderful concept of three layered selfhood of personality -present consciousness, past and prehistoric or racial. All mythology  is also work of collective unconsciousness. Recently, some authors temper with mythology in order to create sensation. They are  playing with negative energies of the cosmos which always try to conquer positive energy.  Proceeding in one direction would create equal and opposite force and both would survive together.

The archetypes discovered by Jung have opened a treasure box for historians, anthropologist, scientist and authors to discover and base their work on different models of archetypes and their social and Psychological significance.

 If human civilization is endless and there is no imminent catastrophe, after a few centuries, today's man will be called primitive and would be despised for its greed by future generations. The word desire for Fire in the poem by Robert Frost is a soft version of greed.The fuss of Dream Analysis would never be over. Work of Freud and Jung would always be a landmark, but many new theories and interpretations are needed to understand the symbolism and  enrich the theme. A combined group of Social Scientist, Psychiatrist, Psychologist and Philosopher tuned with collective unconsciousness  can do miracle.

There is no Tabula rasa in the realm of collective unconsciousness. 

In“Emperor Jones” a modern play by Eugene O’Neill the personal and collective unconscious of Brutus Jones is revealed when his ‘conscious ego’ breaks gradually. He is trapped in the dark forest which is symbol of his psyche where the sound effect, hallucination and illusions have been used by O’Neill to depict the transformation of Jones. Mary T. David says “The gradual disintegration of his conscious ego,the revelation of his personal and collective unconsciousness and his flight from himself (the fundamental self from which the blind pride and its self image have so long separated him and which inevitably comes into its own) constitutes the dramatic movement.”Brutus Jones’s mind contain ideas of human race in general  and inherited traits peculiar to his own race, tribe and family.Theses all archetypal symbols and patterns are thus collective unconscious which remain latent in a man. It is projected in Jones when he hallucinates the racial memory of being sold as slave and faces Congo witch doctor.The collective unconscious is projected under the influence of fear.

Readers are requested to post comments.

© Vipin Behari Goyal

Advocate,Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur