Carl Jung Resources > Individuation Steps
Steps of the Individuation Process
The individuation is an autonomous process of accomplishing of the individual wholeness experienced as a psychological completeness. In Jung's terms, the individuation means the realization of the Self
, which is the conjunction of the conscious and the unconscious. In the practical accomplishment of this goal, the interpretation of the dreams plays a dominant role because dreams are the expression of the unconscious, both of the personal and of the
collective one. It is possible to establish a set of steps which take to the final goa
The first step is the assimilation In Jung's psychology, the shadow represents the negative (dark) side of the ego. In other words, it represents the ethical aspects which are rejected
by the ego and which are projected in other persons as belonging to them. The assimilation of the shadow means the acknowledgment of these moral deficiencies as being part of our own personality. The
shadow can appear in dreams in the form of close people - friends, relatives, and work colleagues - who exhibit immoral behavior traits from our point of view. For example, a
The individuation is the path that takes us to our complete being including both consciousness and unconscious (Run back to me by Nikki Flores) The second step is the confrontation
Anima is the man's femininity and generally speaking his emotional side. The anima archetype controls the
relationship between man and woman in different stages, from the mother-son relationship to the marriage. The anima can symbolize different experiences, from the woman
who wakens the Eros of the man, to the spiritual guide or the supreme goddess (Isis, for the Egyptians, the Virgin Mary for the Christians). The third step is the encounter with This image embraces our inborn wisdom, the meaning, the significance; it is the spirit or the spiritual (not to be confused with the intellect). The wise man symbolizes a
distinct thinking, completely unknown by the ego, a universal and timeless wisdom. He can take the form of a guru in our dreams (Buddha, Ramana Maharshi), professor (Albert Einstein), doctor
(Sigmund Freud), priest (Albert Schweitzer) etc., in short, any public figure with authority, offering advice or teachings. Jung states that this archetype manifests itself in
difficult life times (which trigger the individuation process) and which offer basically a bridge from the initial difficulty to a balance state, felt as a salvation. (Also called
The End of the Process
Can be signaled through the vision of the mandalas, which are the diagrams that draw schemes of the Self, of the psychic wholeness. These mandalas are spontaneous, individual visions which have to be understood and
integrated in the mental context of each of us.(1) An essential point has to be emphasized: the individuation process is generally not a process which can be completed in a given time frame. The unconscious cannot be
completely assimilated - it is practically infinite in its manifestation. This is the reason why the process can take a life time or it can finalize itself after the death!
The road which takes us to the accomplishment of the individuation is not a direct Finally, the individuation process does not seem to be a
necessity for all people. This explains why all dreams that indicate this process show up to a minority characterized by introversion and interest in spiritual life. In his famous autobiographical book
Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Jung begins with the sentence: "My life is a story of the self-realization of the unconscious".(2) So what he understands through individuation is not a fulfillment on
the ego level, such as a respectable professional career, a successful marriage, financial success etc., but a complete actualization of the potential of the unconscious, which goes
beyond the limits of the social life, towards the spiritual fulfillment. However, Jung points out that, parallel to his effort to accomplish the individuation process, the individual has to
maintain contact with the reality through a minimum of social integration. Notes: 2. And continues: "Everything in the unconscious seeks outward manifestation, and the personality too desires to evolve out of its unconscious conditions and to experience itself as a whole". C. G. Jung - Memories Dreams, Reflections, Vintage Books, 1989, p. 3.
Read also:
What is the collective unconscious About anima About animus The archetype of the Wise Old Man Further resources:
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