Carl Jung postulated the existence of two layers of unconsciousness: the personal, relatively superficial level which contains material derived from individual experience, and a deeper level, the collective unconscious: the receptacle of universal, archetypal symbols which are thought to have the same characteristics everywhere, in all individuals and cultures. These symbols have their roots in the infancy of the human race, rather than in the infancy of the individual, and Jung's theory is implicitly critical of the reductive monotony of Freudian dream interpretation which is limited to discovering the repressed wish that the dream is assumed to fulfil. Jung believed that important parallels could be drawn between ancient mythology and the thinking that was analogous and found in primitive religion, dreams and the thought processes of childhood.
Borrowing a phrase from Bukchardt, he described archetypes as primordial images which have imprinted themselves on the human mind over the millennia but which are modified by the specific circumstances of the period in which they manifest themselves. Among the key archetypes to be identified were: the persona, the mask we are required to wear in order to make ourselves acceptable to other people; the anima, or female side of the male psyche, and animus, the male side of the female psyche and the shadow, or animal side of the psyche, which bears some resemblance to Freud's concept of the id and the self.
These fundamental archetypes may be symbolized in a variety of ways. For instance, the philosopher's stone, or lapis, was a particularly potent symbol of selfhood. In Jung's view, the dilemma in which modern humanity finds itself is caused by the neglect of psychic reality, and that to escape from this dilemma we must return to the unconscious, to learn or perhaps to re-learn the symbolic language of the soul.
This point seems to be of considerable social (and clinical) relevance. The individual, whose personality is too rigid, will function in a superficial, inflexible way whereas someone with an undeveloped personality may seem hostile or lacking in social skills; if the shadow, or primitive aspect of the personality is over-controlled it may erupt in violent, unpredictable ways. The man who is out of touch with his anima will have problems with nurturing and intimacy; the woman who is out of touch with her animus may be passive and unassertive; the person who is unaware of his self as an organizing principle will confront conflicting emotions and remain disintegrated. All these situations can contribute to psychological ill-health, as well as to the general malaise that, Jung believed, is a characteristic of our times.
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