Man and His Symbols (1968-08-15)

Fascinating study of the psyche.Insightful exploration of the myths which inform our subconscious. While the binding is sturdy, the quality of the paper is poor. Of course, this is the publisher's issue; still, I was disappointed.

This book arrived well within the alloted time frame. I got busy and just checked emails logs to see what I've missed. It arrived as expected and along side it's paperback copy that I own I can now appreciate the hardbound version with a much richer experience.

Thanks.

- Marc

I have always been interested in Jung's works, even though I don't agree with all of it. I bought this book because I wanted to re-read his thoughts on the Anima, the Woman Within each man. I particularly like his different stages of development for the Anima. During a recent fast I felt, for about one hour, my own sexuality change temporarily. It was very clean, healthy, and respectful, and I wonder if that corresponds to Jung's second stage of Anima development. I believe that the Anima is in fact a warrior for God/The Universe, but perhaps future people will have to elaborate upon that concept. If you like Jung definitely check out this book. I also want to read his book, "Modern Man in Search of a Soul", I think is the title.

This edition --- the library / school binding --- was purchased because I was concerned that the paperback version (which I own) would fall apart over time. I wanted to give a more substantial copy as a gift, and this was the only thing available in "hardback." It cost quite a bit more than the paperback, but it wasn't worth the extra money. The book is narrow, poorly trimmed, with tiny (less than half inch) margins on either side of the text. The text itself is too small to read... seems about 7 points. The cover is cheap-looking, slightly off-kilter, and badly glued. I am too embarrassed to give this as a gift. Because the book is so narrow and firmly bound, it is exceptionally difficult to open and keep open. It requires a lot of hand strength to hold it in a comfortable position to read. It's as if the binding is spring-loaded. Libaries who carry this shoddy version are probably putting students off Jung forever. What a shame.

Turtleback books has produced the lowest quality book I've ever seen. The paper isn't white, it's grey and the pictures, which of course are an essential part of this book and has a special meaning when interpreting Jungs works, are beyond description... This book should not have been allowed to enter the market at all!

Carl Jung and his colleagues have done a great job explaining the symbols that are associated with Man's unconscious. Carl focuses on collective symbols rather than personal symbols that is where he separates from Freud as well. Also he does not support the idea of dreams merely being wish fulfillment as Freud believed it to be.It is very informative and it is a must read book.

Man and his Symbols, was my introduction to the writings of Carl G. Jung over half a lifetime ago. A plot outline for a historical romance was taking shape in my mind. Parts of my story were reflected in the archetypes of the collective unconscious Jung wrote about. After reading Man and his Symbols, I read many of Jung’s other writings. When he mentioned a classic of great literature to illustrate his points, I read it too, to see if I agreed that it substantiated his theories.

Man and his Symbols consists of one essay written by Jung, and four additional essays written by Jungian psychiatrists. Jung’s essay is entitled, “Approaching the unconscious.”

Sigmund Freud introduced the concept of the unconscious mind. The unconscious contains forgotten memories, usually of sexual traumas, that the person is unaware of, but which continue to influence his feelings and behavior. For example, sexual abuse as a girl might cause a woman to suffer physical ailments which do not have obvious physical causes. By getting the woman to remember the event, usually by hypnosis, Freud was able to overcome the physical ailment.

Jung began as a follower of Freud, and used this method on his own patients. He began to discover that behind the personal unconscious there was a collective unconscious. This contained motifs which could not be traced to the patient’s past, but which found echoes in folk tales, fairy tales, and in literature that had been written from the oral tradition.

Jung called these motifs archetypes of the collective unconscious, and saw them as mental images of human instincts. He found these images in the results of hypnosis of his patients, their dreams, great literature - especially seminal literature, like the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, and the Bible - and in the delusions of schizophrenics.

Jung’s essay in Man and his Symbols only briefly mentions what has been his most popular innovation, which has been to develop the dichotomy between introversion and extroversion. People who have never heard of Jung know what the difference between an extrovert and an introvert is. An extroverted person responds primarily to his or her environment. An introverted person responds primarily to what is happening in his or her mind. Extroverted people enjoy the company of many people. Introverted people prefer solitude, or the company of a close friend.

Jung explained the difference between introversion and extroversion in his essay “General Description of the Types.” A text of this essay can be found on the internet.

There are advantages to introversion. Nevertheless, introverts tend to have more difficulty developing social skills. This is because they tend to avoid people, and they tend not to observe how people interact. This makes it difficult for them to learn what kind of behavior is appropriate in various situations.

Jung’s work on introversion and extroversion has gone into the development of the Myers Briggs personality test. This is used to help people find what kind of occupations they are best suited for.

http://www.the store.com/Essentials-Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator-Assessment/dp/0470343907

Introverts and extroverts can benefit from reading “General Description of the Types,” and from taking the Myers Briggs personality test.

Jung’s other assertions have not become the consensus among mental health professionals. Like Sigmund Freud he emphasized dream analysis. He considered dreams to be a window to the collective unconscious. Most therapists only discuss dreams if their patients mention them.

Over the years I have had two dreams that were complex, and which seemed to have archetypical significance. I have never really understood them.

During the past year and a half I have written down what I remembered of my dreams when I woke up. Frequently I only remember the last part of what seems to have been a much longer dream. The effect is like picking up a novel, and reading several pages toward the end.

Some of the dreams express feelings I have when awake. Some deal with memories in my conscious mind. Most lack any obvious significance at all. This is typical: “A woman locks herself into a public library. On the outside people are buying seeds and sprouts for spring planting.”

In “Approaching the unconscious,” Jung writes, “I can never understand somebody else’s dream well enough to interpret it correctly.”

I cannot understand the dream I mentioned either. I doubt it has significance. Any effort to find significance in it would probably be contrived.

In his essay Jung draws attention to “anima” figures that appear in dreams and fairytales. The anima is a female figure that possesses aspects in the man contemplating the anima. The animus is a male figure that possesses aspects in the woman contemplating the animus.

A more prosaic way to explain anima and animus is to acknowledge that men are usually attracted to women with whom they have interests and values in common. Women are usually attracted to men with whom they have interests and values in common.

In his essay, “Psychology of the Unconscious,” which is not included in this anthology, Jung discusses The Song of Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In his discussion Jung finds significance in the fact that “Whatever [Hiawatha] kills, for the most part, lies next to or in the water, sometimes half in the water and half on the land.”

The Song of Hiawatha was inspired by American Indian folk tales written down by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. I have read those folk tales. The motif of “half in water and half on the land” does not appear. Nor does it appear in other literature inspired by the oral tradition, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Nibelungenlied, the Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, or the Ramayana.

A motif that Jung thinks is even more important than "half in the water and half on the land" is the motif of the dual mother. I cannot find that reflected in other literature inspired by the collective unconscious either.

I wish Jung had discussed the Legend of Perseus. This is alluded to in the Iliad. In ancient Greek and Roman literature it is told in its entirety by Apollodorus, Ovid, and Lucian. From then it survived in the oral tradition for nearly two thousand years to appear in Grimm’s Fairytales as “The Two Brothers.” It appears in Italian fairy tales as “The Dragon with Seven Heads,” and “The Sorcerer’s Head.” It appears in other European fairy tales as well.

The Legend of Perseus was written about in a book by that name by Edwin Sidney Hartland. This was published in 1894, so Jung would have had access to it.

http://www.the store.com/The-Legend-Perseus-Tradition-Custom/dp/1481035738

In this legend Perseus kills a witch named Medusa, and goes on to rescue Andromeda from a dragon. The motif of rescuing a maiden from a dragon is international. It appears in the Shinto chronicle, the Nihongi.

http://www.the store.com/Nihongi-Chronicles-Japan-Earliest-Times/dp/0415594006

The dragon appears internationally in myth, legend, and fairytales. It can be seen as a mythological image of the instinctive fear of snakes humans share with the other primates. The fire that comes from the dragon’s mouth can be seen as a mythological image of the snake’s poison fangs. Unfortunately, Jung draws little attention to the archetype of the dragon.

I believe that the collective unconscious does exist. I believe that it contains images of many of the same archaic instincts alluded to in E.O. Wilson’s Sociobiology the New Synthesis.

http://www.the store.com/Sociobiology-Synthesis-Twenty-Fifth-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0674002350

I also believe that the collective unconscious is less detailed, and somewhat differently populated than Jung asserts.

The second essay is by Joseph L. Henderson. It is entitled, “Ancient myths and modern man.” Henderson briefly mentions Perseus, and discusses how heroes in ancient legends often have tutelary figures he and Jung refer to as “the wise old man.” The wise old man appears in the Star Wars movie as Obe Wan Kenobi, who instructs the fledgling hero, Luke Skywalker.

The third essay is “The process of individualization,” by M. – L. von Franz. In this von Franz discusses the archetype of the shadow. The shadow is a hostile archetype on whom one projects negative characteristics one does not want to admit in oneself.

Shadow projections are apparent in politics. If you read Nazi propaganda about the Soviet Union, or Soviet propaganda about Nazi Germany, all you need to do is switch a few names and propaganda written by one side reads like propaganda written by the other side.

Von Franz also discusses the anima and the animus, although in greater detail than I think is accurate. He divides each into four kinds of anima and animus. He also describes the Wise old Man.

The fifth essay is entitled “Symbols in an individual analysis,” by Jolande Jacobi. The patient was a young man who was shy, introverted, lacked experience with women, and was afraid of life. When the analysis was over he was married, and in a rising career. However, he had been engaged to be married before the analysis began. He already had a good job as an engineer. One cannot say that the analysis made a major change in his life. It may have enabled him to maintain his career and his marriage.

When I read Man and his Symbols most recently I did so more skeptically than when I read it as a young man. I still see Carl G. Jung as a great thinker, who was worth the several years I spent studying his writings. One should read a psychiatrist or a psychologist for insight rather than doctrine. If what he or she writes helps you to understand and solve your emotional problems, keep reading. If not, keep looking for someone else.

After watching John Freeman interview Carl G. Jung for a BBC interview, a managing director of Aldus Books convinced Freeman to work with him to help persuade Jung to write about his ideas on Jungian psychology, ancient myths, and related symbols in a way that non-academics readers could understand. After one of Jung's dreams offered positive inferences on the issue of creating this book, Jung agreed to do it. But only as a collection of essays, including his four most admired and trusted colleagues in the project, and with Freeman as the coordinating editor. This book, written in easy to understand language, allows readers with average intelligence to understand many of Jung's complicated concepts and ideas about the unconscious and the meaning of symbols in dreams, archetypes, myths and folktales, personal therapeutic work, and the visual arts. There are many black and white photographs or illustrations throughout all five essays, bringing enlightening clarity to the authors' words. The full-bodied and useful information this book covers could easily be included in any curriculum covering psychology related to storytelling, mythology, or tale-types or excellent resource for personal growth related to symbolism.

Ms. Jamieson Haverkampf,
M.F.A. Creative Writing candidate at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts (specializing in writing for children and young adults) and author of the 4-time award winning 500+ resource guide Mom Minus Dad
Mom Minus Dad: The Essential Resource Guide for Busy Adults with a Newly Widowed Parent
Mom Minus Dad: The Essential Resource Guide for Busy Adults with a Newly Widowed Parent Kindle book

This book is a good early read for understanding Jung, but it's not a true introduction. Terms are rarely defined before being used and it can make much of the points a bit obscure. I recommend reading Jung's Map of the Soul by Murray Stein as an introduction, as it is far more clear and systematic. That said, once you have that basic understanding of Jungian Psychology, this book is worth reading.

This is a short, beautifully-illustrated intro into analytic psyche. For a more philosophical intro to the ideas of Jung, try the Portable Jung.
Jung was one of the Big 3 interpreters of myths, along with Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade. His theory was based upon the idea of a 'collective unconscious' -- that is, that deep within the human mind there is a 'hardwiring or structure' beyond language & logic. It is the source of much of human creativity and it is often fathomed (expressed) through eidetic images which are dream-like or by interpretation of dreams themselves. Non-Jungian psychiatrists and clinical psychologists have never really 'proven' the validity of Jung's 'collective unconscious.' I suspect like religion & myth it is a self-validating construct -- either you relate or do not based upon personal introspection / reflection. However, it has become a Great Idea of the 20th century which has endured beyond the usefulness of Freud's 'subconscious' or id because of its relevance to comparative myths, religion, & visual arts.
Freud considered 'unconscious' or id as a repressed part of personality which produced mostly negative effects, i.e. neuroses. Jung considered the 'collective unconscious' more positively, as a potential source of creativity as well as an expression of neuroses. This was in part because Jung's patient base was primarily middle-aged and his therapy often was concerned with 'mid-life crises'. Does that make any sense? Not included :The letters between Freud & Jung are especially interesting.

A symbol, Jung explains, is a word, picture, photograph, statue, etc. that always signifies something much larger than what we immediately know, and therefore points to the unconscious.

In this book, Jung first introduces us (the lay public) to the unconscious and it's machinations that can be found in personal ticks, social characteristics, dreams and fantasies. The unconscious can manifest personally in the complex, those group of personal characteristics we acquire through private experience, and the archetype, the 'motif' behind the group symbol such as the religious symbol of the Cross, or the fairy tale image of the Old Wise Man.

The unconscious, you see, is just as much, if not more, a part of the Psyche as the consciuos ego is, and therefore plays a large role in the development and sustainment of all major human achievements such as Religion, the Sciences, Arts and so forth. Even the most logical scientific theory contains projected unconscious elements of the scientist, Jung reminds us, perhaps the most telling in the post-enlightenment age.

Following is a grand sweeping presentation of the symbol in Religion, Science and Art and even the mundane everyday experience of the individual that though is comprehensive, doesn't dwell too long on any of it's subjects. Breadth, and not depth for each subject seems to be preferrred here, as this remember is an introduction and not written for the specialist.

A wonderful 'get to know you' book from Carl Jung in his late years at the close of his psychiatric career. Everyone should be introduced to this man and his far-reaching ideas...

This is written for a mass audience and is probably Jung's most accessible work. It remains one of the best psychology books written for a wide audience. It can still be a difficult read as it seems geared towards college students. As many reviewers have noted, Jung wrote only one part of this book while his students do the rest. However, I have much more of an appreciation for Jung, psychology, art and many other things after reading this great book. Creative art psychotherapies (art, dance, music, drama, poetry) trace their roots back to Jung. Since Jung's other works are much more difficult this is a good place to start. The book is divided into 5 parts: 1) Approaching the Unconscious, 2) Ancient Myths and Modern Man, 3) Process of Individuation, 4) Symbolism in the Visual Arts, and 5) Symbols in An Individual Analysis. Each part is roughly 50-75 pages. The first part was written by Dr. Jung himself.

Buy this book!

Steven B. Herrmann, PhD, MFT
Author of "Walt Whitman: Shamanism, Spiritual Democracy, and the World Soul"

I read this book thirty-five years ago and it is still one of my favorites. With the recent publication of Jung's Red Book we can now see where his descent into the archaic psyche began, what its roots were in the various dialogues he conducted with figures of his imagination, and what his breakthrough to the origin of religions revelations might have to contribute to the challenges in our contemporary world situation that is rapidly witnessing a meltdown in monotheistic fundamentalism currently plaguing the globe. C. G. Jung's seven brilliant essays "Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams" written in fluent English and published shortly after his death in 1961, form the last summation of his monumental life work and it is still the best book around on dream analysis for the professional and the layperson alike. I can gladly say that what stands out for me most as a post-Jungian writer and poet is the accent Jung places on language. He writes in such an effortless way, I feel, that it boggles the mind. This may be Jung's masterpiece. I recommend Jung's seven essays to all readers at whatever level they might be in their exploration of the human mind. The other chapters in "Man and His Symbols" are all exceptionally well written by his closest followers; all are great teachers of Jung's psychology of individuation, particularly Marie-Louise von Franz, and Joseph L. Henderson.

What Jung says in this book is that analysis is an individual endeavor engaged in between patient and analyst, and we must come to this work without any pre-formed theoretical ideas; more importantly, all depth-psychotherapists must be mindful of this: dreams can only be understood when "we are able to learn the language of the patient" and "we must pay particular attention to the language of dreams that are symbolic." "The study of this language," Jung adds "is almost a science in itself" (227).

The language of dreams and their interpretation arises from the patient's "original nature" (255) and in order to understand what this is, we would be wise to take clues from "children" and so-called "primitive societies." What Jung suggests here is that to interpret dreams correctly, we need to scrutinize the "archaic remnants" of the human mind to arrive at "tap-root." By this he means we need to get to know the "archaic mind" or "archaic man" inside each person, "whose psyche was still similar to that of an animal" (228). The "archaic psyche," Jung writes, is what we were as children. We were that mind, but did not know it because we were completely submerged within it. This means we carry the archaic history of humankind from the cradle to mid-life to old age and death.

In the seventh Essay there is a footnote, moreover, a reference to Mircea Eliade's masterpiece "Shamanism." Jung points to the indistinguishability here between dream images and emotions. The two, affect and image, exist side by side, he says. It is precisely their "emotionality," Jung asserts that gives dream images such "critical importance." When a dream image is stripped of its emotion, or "numinosity," Jung cautions all we are left with is a "word picture" (258). Thus, the task of the depth-psychologist is to stay attuned to the emotions, the feeling-toned rhythms of dream images.

Because we have stripped the sacred of its mystery and numinosity, moreover, Jung says that "nothing is holy any longer" (254). Jung conjectures that our subjective consciousness has forgotten that "God speaks chiefly through dreams and visions" (262) and because the world's religions have not retained much of their "original numinosity," we need to turn to our "original revelations" to uncover the truths of our own individual Selfhood. By this Jung means that "infantile memories" still contain imprints of "archetypal modes of psychic functioning" that are the primary channels or psychic gateways for "a greater extension of consciousness" (259).

Jung was at pains to point out in the end that people today are "painfully aware of the fact that neither" our "great religions" nor our "various philosophies" can provide us with "those powerful ideas that would give" us the "certainty" we need "in face" of the present world situation (261). "Change must begin with one single individual" he says and "it might be any one of us" (261).

This is a book for beginners and analysts; for the highly specialized depth-psychologist and layperson alike. It is one of the best books around: Jung's final summation of his monumental life-work.

As previous reviews have noted, this is not a comprehensive overview of Jung's work. But it is a perfect introduction to some of his most important concepts, with an initial essay by Jung himself & several more by key figures of Jungian thought & work. By directing their focus to very specific points, these essays illuminate Jung's ideas in a clear & accessible way, particularly for the lay reader, for whom this volume was intended.

If there's any one theme, it's that of the Symbol: its power, its manifestations, its meaning to the individual. I especially like Aniela Jaffe's "Symbolism in the Visual Arts," which looks at the appearances & continual re-appearances of powerful spiritual symbols through the history of art, illustrated by the work of many fine artists; and also Joseph Henderson's "Ancient Myths and Modern man," which demonstrates how primal symbols, far from being part of humanity's past, are still quite present & working within the psyche of contemporary culture. But every essay is well worth reading & re-reading.

Jung's goal with this volume was to provide a primer of sorts, a beginner's guide to the riches & mysteries of the human psyche. In this he succeeded -- I can't imagine anyone reading this book & not coming away with a deeper appreciation & better understanding of the inner universe. Highly recommended!