I am an avid fan of Carl Jung, and I am utterly fascinated by his genius in finding a connecting thread to translate spiritual phenomena through the conventions of psychological observation. In my opinion, Carl Jung invented a way to connect spirituality to metaphysical and psychological phenomena through his intuitive knowledge of the processes of the unconscious and how they interface with the conscious, translating into psychological premises. It’s really amazing, which is why many schools of thought continue to study and eulogize his work to this day.
One of the most fascinating things about Jung, for me, is the fact that the man was a creative. He was not caught up in the stereotypical masculine logic employed by non-essential intellectualism. Carl Jung invented many theories and coined many terms that have been etched into the psychological lexicon. Ever heard of the words “complex,” “archetype,” or “anima”? These are all terms coined by Jung. Today, in the field of psychology, it is commonplace to hear phrases like “In Jungian Psychology.” You’ve got to give it to the man because his impact was so profound that his perspectives have become canonized in the field of psychology.
As for me, not meaning to sound blasphemous to the religious (Christian), I see Jung as a Christ figure. I take this stance because, from personal experience, Jungian psychology has helped me understand deep intricacies of my psyche, which in turn gave me much insight, enabling me to demystify the dark mists of conditioned reasoning from my mind. Most importantly, in Jungian psychology, there exists a concept called Individuation. Carl Jung defines individuation as a process of reconciling parts of ourselves that have been suppressed into the unconscious because we deemed them unpleasant or unacceptable due to the filter of social conventions we adopted. These suppressed parts of ourselves go into the unconscious unresolved, constituting the “shadow.” Carl Jung describes individuation as a process of accepting and integrating the shadow, leading to a reconciliation that brings the individual into a wholeness of self because they have chosen to accept the so-called dark parts of themselves, resulting in no more psychological disturbance.
We have talked quite a bit about Carl Jung but have not really treated the article from the essence of its title: The Person and The Individual. So, first off, what does this title imply, and what role does Carl Jung play in conveying this meaning?
The Person
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Who is the person? First questions that friends and family ask after someone gets involved in a fight or squabble that leads to facial disfiguration of some sort. But this is not what we are talking about here. In this paragraph, we refer to "the person" in the context of a definition that resonates with the psychological essence of this article. Just as the title implies—The Person and The Individual—we make a contrast that may seem paradoxical because we wonder: What is the difference between a person and an individual?
A person is someone who has adopted a “person”-ality from the archetypes presented to them through the conditioning of movies, TV shows, series, documentaries, etc. A person is a culmination of ingrained notions and ideals, safe to say institutionalized by social conditioning, adopting an identity that aligns with the spectrum of social cultural conventions. A person is a singular host of an identity that is a microcosm of a larger macrocosm, such as society, religion, a club, a group, etc. A person chooses an avatar that they deem will afford them social leverage and survival within the tribe. Cultural and traditional norms are part of the determining factors of a person’s avatar since they are social beings who find some sense in the flux and postulations of the collective. In simple conclusion, a person is an identity accepted as a function of herd reasoning without critically rationalizing the identity to see if it resonates with the truth of their soul.
The Individual
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The individual is someone who, by nature or means, respects the ethos of critical reasoning and adopts ideals only by the resolution reached through the rationalization of their premise and stimulus. The individual holds dear the essence of their uniqueness, which manifests their eccentricity. The individual stands out because they embody their unique signature and manifest it in their dress sense, attitude, and self-metabolism. Unlike the person, the individual manifests the tenets of their conduct from a deep-down resolution of their ideological perspective from the soul level, which is inevitably in accordance with resolutions made as a result of first-hand deduction from the observation and study of stimuli, agency, etc.
The individual is a natural emblem of wholeness because they have learned to look within and understand that only they can truly help themselves through their mental coordination. The psychological configuration of the individual echoes one of Jung’s theories, which states, “In order for a tree’s branches to reach heaven, its roots must first reach down to hell.” The individual understands that they must awaken and enliven parts of themselves that have become lost in the sea of the occasional randomness that plagues our kind. This tree analogy by Jung is another way of explaining his concept of individuation. Another of Jung’s quotes that supports his premise on individuation is: “We don’t become enlightened by imagining figures of light but by making the unconscious conscious.” In order for the individual to be, they ought to have gone through or at least have some sense of self-presence needed in the journey of individuation.
Individuation
It is a consensus in psychology that our 3D mind is made up of different layers of consciousness: the subconscious, the pre-conscious, and the conscious. At the periphery of consciousness is the ability to observe, perceive, and evaluate. But what happens when the conscious is not aware of the ongoing shenanigans beneath it, and these shenanigans are still a part of it, but it is unaware of their workings and the significant role they play in the synthesis of personality? According to Jung, it is in the unconscious that concepts like complexes arise, as well as other forms of psychological incoherence, all due to a lack of synchronization between the conscious and the unconscious.
Individuation is the path to the birth of the soul, for it is only through individuation that there can be a reconciliation between the conscious and the unconscious, wherein awareness of all the mundane things within the unconscious are accepted and transmuted. Individuation requires embracing one’s darkness as a normal aspect of their personality and integrating it through the shadow, leading to the conquest of a great fear: the acceptance of oneself. The acceptance of oneself is the most vital aspect of individuation, as it allows the individual to look within without any critical judgment of self, which are by-products of religious conditioning.
Individuation is the alchemy of the soul and is directly connected to the individual’s essence, which they can manifest if they consciously tread the path of accepting and transmuting the world within. Without individuation, a person remains a person: a vessel hosting an identity that is not intrinsically rooted in their essence, playing a script that panders to social convention and validation. A person can never become an individual if they do not go through the process of individuation. An individual is in tandem with the will of the universe, which is to discover one’s true essence, evolve with authenticity, and find a career that brings natural joy, affecting the hearts of people around you as they witness your participation.
A person is not the ideal of divine will; creation did not create diversity for the sake of humanity appearing monotonous in looks and appearances. Instead, an individual, in their uniqueness and eccentricity, exudes the color and glam that the beauty of creation radiates, along with the independence of mind to evolve when necessary.
A person is readily available; the individual is exclusive. We are all here and are meant to become “Individuals.”
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