Living in Harmony with the Archetypes
Living with the Primordial Images of the Unconscious
Do we ever understand what we think?
We only understand that kind of thinking which is a mere equation, from which nothing comes out but what we have put in.
That is the working of the intellect.
But besides that, there is a thinking in primordial images, in symbols which are older than historical man, which are inborn in him from the earliest times, and, eternally living, outlasting all generations, still make up the groundwork of the human psyche.
It is only possible to live the fullest life when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them.
It is a question neither of belief nor of knowledge, but the agreement of our thinking with the primordial images of the unconscious.
They are the unthinkable matrices of all our thoughts, no matter what our conscious mind may cogitate.
Collected Works 8
Paragraph 794
I have a problem with the term “harmony”. Perhaps a dynamic relationship is more required, for it allows and insists (or seems to) on a continuous struggle between acceptance of and resistance to our inner knowing.