Carl Jung: Ten Quotations about Mandalas

 
Jung's first mandala

 

 

“In the products of the unconscious we discover mandala symbols, that is, circular and quaternity figures which express wholeness, and whenever we wish to express wholeness, we employ just such figures. ”

 


Memories, Dreams and Reflections
 




“Most mandalas have an intuitive, irrational character and, through their symbolical content, exert a retroactive influence on the unconscious. They therefore possess a “magical” significance, like icons, whose possible efficacy was never consciously felt by the patient.”

 


Mandala Symbolism
Page 77
 




 

“ The “squaring of the circle” is one of the many archetypal motifs which form the basic patterns of our dreams and fantasies. But it is distinguished by the fact that it is one of the most important of them from the functional point of view. Indeed, it could even be called the archetype of wholeness.”


Collected Works 9i
Paragraph 715
 




“My mandalas were cryptograms concerning the state of the self which was presented to me anew each day…I guarded them like precious pearls….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. ”

 


Memories, Dreams and Reflections
 




 

“I had to abandon the idea of the superordinate position of the ego. …
I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all 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 centre.
It is the exponent of all paths.
… I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the self I had attained what was for me the ultimate.”

Memories, Dreams and Recollections


 




“In view of the fact that all mandalas shown here were new and uninfluenced products, we are driven to the conclusion that there must be a transconscious disposition in every individual which is able to produce the same or very similar symbols at all times and in all places. Since this disposition is usually not a conscious possession of the individual I have called it the collective unconscious.”

 


Mandala Symbolism
Page 100
 




 

“In such cases it is easy to see how the severe pattern imposed by a circular image of this kind compensates the disorder of the psychic state– namely through a the construction of a central point to which everything is related, or by a concentric arrangement of the disordered multiplicity and of contradictory and irreconcilable elements. This is evidently an attempt at self-healing on the part of Nature, which does not spring from conscious reflection but from an instinctive impulse.”

 


Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
Page 388
 




 

The last drawing in the Red Book

The mandala is an archetypal image whose occurrence is attested throughout the ages. It signifies the wholeness of the Self. This circular image represents the wholeness of the psychic ground or, to put it in mythic terms, the divinity incarnate in man.”

Memories, Dreams and Reflections
Pages 334-335
 




“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 and Reflections
Page 196
 




“From the very beginning the UFO reports interested me as being, very possible, symbolical rumors…
UFOS seemed to me to have a good deal in common with mandala symbolism…
The plurality of UFOs then, is a projection of a number of psychic images of wholeness which appear in the sky because on the one hand they represent archetypes charged with energy and on the other hand are not recognized as psychic factors…
The projected image then appears as an ostensibly physical fact independent of the individual psyche and its nature.
In other words, the rounded wholeness of the mandala becomes a spaceship controlled by an intelligent being.”

Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky

 




 

11 Comments

  1. I discovered the site through an art-therapist and I’m interested on mandalas because I work the topic with my pupils from all edges.Though my work is related to art & maths, I found Jung’s quotations interesting to take into account. Thanks. Maryté Arias. Fine Arts’ teacher

  2. Carl Jung made his early visits to the USA at Clark University and Yale. Somewhere along the way, he attended some Yankee games and developed a fondness for what Americans were working on that was fresh and new with age-old archetypes.

    “When in the on-deck circle, focus on your swing and warming up your body. Consider the possibility that your anticipation of getting a hit might actually be sharpening the skills and abilities of the other team to stop you from achieving your goal.” Carl G. Jung (~1937, speaking to the NY Yankees players during a hitting slump)

    I glimpsed a photo of Carl Jung saying this while sitting with the Yankees in a group-circle on the infield grass as a motivational poster titled ‘Anticipation.’

    I can’t find this photo anywhere, if you know where I can find it, please write.

    Thanks 🙂

  3. the voice of the spiritual light being transformed into a thin reed in the darkness / a mandala of consciousness appeared in animated colors creating a circular symmetry which synchronized with his thoughts on the innovative novel as the center of the self implies the visual interpretation of the conscious mind “This is the cellular being of life in motion which could be symbolized by the typographic design of the page which reveals a marvelous complexity dazzling the sensory perception of the reader…

  4. How very interesting. As a trained counsellor I studied Jung but never realised his involvement with the mandala. It was only recently studying the Mandala that i discovered the connection.

  5. I discovered this site, because I could not find “Der Mensch und seine Symbole” from CG Jung.

  6. Please note: “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” does not contain the word ‘and’ in its title.

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