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Carl Jung, on the symbolism of water

    Water is the commonest symbol for the unconscious. The lake in the valley is the unconscious, which lies, as it were, underneath consciousness, so that it is often referred to as the “subconscious,” usually with the pejorative connotation of an inferior consciousness. Water is the “valley spirit,” the water dragon of Tao, whose…

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Carl Jung: The Collective Shadow — Living at the edge of a volcano

  Joseph Wright: Vesuvius in Eruption  Jung: “The change of character brought about by the uprush of collective forces is amazing.”   The change of character brought about by the uprush of collective forces is amazing. A gentle and reasonable being can be transformed into a maniac or a savage beast. One is always inclined…

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C.G. Jung: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

  Ivan Iavazovsky: The Creation of the World      Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation with the shadow and the world of darkness. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The later procedure, however,…

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The Shadow… Good and Evil… Consciousness

    “The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.”  …