Jung and the Individuation Process

Individuation is the psychic process by which one becomes himself, indivisibly, uniquely, a monad, in the words of Jung: one who was supposed to be. It is about the realization of the Self.

Jung discovered this process during his confrontation with the unconscious, and especially when he was painting the first mandalas (meaning pictures that depict the Center/Self) .

About these moments of initial uncertainty he writes in his autobiography:

My mandalas were cryptograms concerning the state of the self which were presented to me anew each day. In them I saw the self - that is, my whole being...

The self, I thought, was like the monad which I am, and which is my world. The mandala represents this monad, and corresponds to the microcosmic nature of the psyche.

... The question arose repeatedly: What is this process leading to? Where is its goal? From my own experience, I knew by now that I could not presume to choose a goal which would seem trustworthy to me. It had been proved to me that I had to abandon the idea of the superordinate position of the ego. After all, I had been brought up short when I had attempted to maintain it... I was being compelled to go through this process of the unconscious. I had to let myself be carried along by the current, without a notion of where it would lead me. When I began drawing the mandalas, however, I saw that everything, all the paths I had been following, all the steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point - namely, to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the center. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the center, to individuation.

During those years, between 1918 and 1920, I began to understand that the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self. ( Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Vintage Books, 1989, p. 196.)

But as expected, the individuation process is not experienced only by Jung. In his famous book Psychology and Alchemy, he draws attention to the fact that the psychotherapeutic work can be interrupted when the symptom is remitted but in some cases it continues beyond the actual therapeutic aim.

It seems that the psyche tends towards a target beyond the conscious interests of the ego, located in a so-called dimension about which the ego does not have any knowledge.

It is, of course, the realization of the Self, of that uniqueness we have already mentioned, that progressively emerge from the darkness of the collective unconscious.

This led Jung to look for the elements specific to the individuation process in the case of other people too - patients or close relatives.

The book mentioned above illustrates with the help of dreams, fantasies or hypnagogic images this centering process that leads to the Self, in the case of a person who had no prior initiation in this regard.

Dreams and the Individuation Process

The process of individuation is led by the interpretation of dreams. Of course, not all dreams refer to the individuation. Very few points to this topic.

The interpretation of these dreams is always done by the amplification method. The dream, the images of the dream are compared with similar images from mythologies, religions, fairy tales etc. In a word, cultural and spiritual products collected from everywhere.

Such a dream always has a strong emotional effect on the dreamer. This aspect is not emphasized enough by Jung's disciples.

Example of Individuation Dream

Let's give an example of an individuation dream happening during the Jungian's analysis.

It is a dream in which the dreamer sees a bright oval-shaped object in the sky, a flying object. The presence of the object creates a feeling of fear because it seems it "looks" at the dreamer and the dreamer searches for a place to hide.

From the unknown object, words are heard (which are not spoken by a voice) that tell the dreamer: Pack quickly and leave!

The words have an authoritative accent that you cannot resist.

The dreamer begins to pack but does not do it quickly enough.

In the meantime, a burning liquid leaks from the object onto the ground that gradually dissolves everything downwards until nothing remains of the landscape but only black colored void. As if nothing exists anymore.

It is easy to see in this dream the symbol of the self - the flying object - and its transforming effect on the world. (The dream has a collective character so it concerns the whole world, not just the dreamer's).

In alchemy there is a process called nigredo, or the passing to black. It is the first phase of the alchemical work.

The image of this phase is the old and crippled emperor who dies swallowed by a wolf - symbol of prima materia.

Of course, the dream is extremely complex and requires much more amplifications to be understood.

Questions about the individuation process

Some questions regarding the Jungian's individuation are answered here:

Question: When does the individuation process begin?
- In the second half of life.

Question: Is the individuation process a fact, in the sense that it leads to essential changes in one's personality?
- Of course. The individual who has gone through this experience differs from the previous one who existed only on the level of consciousness limited to standard education.

Question: How long does the individuation process last?
- Can it last a lifetime.

Question: Do all people automatically go through this process?
- No. Very, very few if we are to think statistically.

Question: Does the individuation process interfere with our religious beliefs?
- It can interfere if these beliefs are formal, superficial, without echo in the psyche.

See also:

• Steps of the Individuation Process
  Explains the process and its steps in order to acquire the wholeness.

Must-Read:

We find references to the individuation process in Jung's entire work. This concept is the core of his psychoanalytic approach. However the essential books for understanding this concept are:

• Psychology and Alchemy
   
• Memories, Dreams, Reflections

(Both can be ordered from Amazon.com by clicking the titles.)