Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed a bridge: on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.
Carl JungRead
The darkness which clings to every personality is the door into the unconscious and the gateway of dreams, from which those two twilight figures, the shadow and the anima, step into our nightly visions or, remaining invisible, take possession of our ego-consciousness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that our darker aspects are essential for accessing deeper aspects of our psyche and dreams.
Carl Jung highlights the significance of the unconscious mind in shaping our experiences and consciousness. He implies that the 'darkness'—or our suppressed feelings and traits—serves as a conduit to the unconscious and the realm of dreams, where fundamental aspects of ourselves, represented by the shadow and anima, may influence our waking thoughts and behaviors, often without our awareness.
Themes
DarknessUnconsciousDreamsShadowAnima
In practice
Example use cases
In a psychology lecture discussing the importance of understanding our subconscious, this quote by Jung can emphasize the integration of our shadow self.
More from Carl Jung
All quotes →The majority of my patients consisted not of believers but of those who had lost their faith.
Carl JungRead
Complexes are psychic contents which are outside the control of the conscious mind. They have been split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or to reinforce the conscious intentions.
Carl JungRead
We are in a far better position to observe instincts in animals or in primitives than in ourselves. This is due to the fact that we have grown accustomed to scrutinizing our own actions and to seeking rational explanations for them.
Carl JungRead
From the viewpoint of analytic psychology, the theatre, aside from any aesthetic value, may be considered as an institution for the treatment of the mass complex.
Carl JungRead
I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
Carl JungRead
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