Jungian interpretation of religion

The Jungian interpretation of religion views all religious experience as a psychological phenomenon, and regards the personal experience of God as indistinguishable — for scientific purposes — as a communication with one's own unconscious mind.

Introduction

Carl Jung established a school of psychology called depth psychology, which emphasizes understanding the psyche through dream analysis. Other workers in depth psychology have used other methods with some success, but dream analysis remains the core of depth psychology. Works of art and mythology are interpreted similarly to dreams: a myth is "a dream being experienced by a whole culture."

Inevitably archetypal figures appear in personal dreams which closely resemble mythic figures, which leads to a natural interest in experience of religion as a psychological phenomenon.

Jung emphasized the importance of balance in a healthy mind. He wrote that modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious.

Jungian psychology is typically missing from the curriculum of most major universities' psychology departments. Jung's ideas are occasionally explored in humanities departments, particularly in the study of mythography.

History

Jung's parents were fervent Christian missionaries, and part of Jung's early life was occupied with resolving his personal conflict between his stern upbringing and his his own feelings about religion. This settled in on the "scientific" interpretation of religion, which treats religion as a psychological phenomenon only, and neither affirms nor denies a greater reality.

Although Carl Jung was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician, he searched through other subjects, attempting to find a pre-existing myth or mythic system which aptly illustrated his ideas about the human psychology of religion. He began with Gnosticism, but abandoned it early on. Later he studied astrology and then speculative alchemy as a symbolic system. It is not clear from his writings if he ever settled on any one of these systems of symbols.

Jung and Mead's study of Gnosticism

Carl Jung and his associate G.R.S. Mead worked on trying to understand and explain the Gnostic faith from a psychological standpoint. Jung's analytical psychology in many ways schematically mirrors ancient Gnostic mythology, particularly those of Valentinus and the 'classic' Gnostic doctrine described in most detail in the "Apocryphon of John" (see gnostic schools).

Jung understands the emergence of the Demiurge out of the original, unified monadic source of the spiritual universe by gradual stages to be analogous to (and a symbolic depiction of) the emergence of the ego from the unconscious

However, it is uncertain as to whether the similarities between Jung's psychological teachings and those of the gnostics are due to their sharing a "perennial philosophy", or whether Jung was unwittingly influenced by the Gnostics in the formation of his theories. Jung's own 'gnostic hymn', the "Septem Sermones ad Mortuos" (Latin: The Seven Sermons to the Dead), would tend to imply the latter, but after circulating the manuscript, Jung declined to publish it during his lifetime. Since it is not clear whether Jung was ultimately displeased with the book or whether he merely suppressed it as too controversial, the issue remains contested.

Uncertain too are Jung's belief that the gnostics were aware of and intended psychological meaning or significance within their myths.

On the other hand, it is clear from a comparison of Jung's writings and that of ancient Gnostics, that Jung disagreed with them on the ultimate goal of the individual. Gnostics in ancient times clearly sought a return to a supreme, other-worldly Godhead. In a study of Jung, Robert Segal claimed that the eminent psychologist would have found the psychological interpretation of the goal of ancient Gnosticism (that is, re-unification with the Pleroma, or the unknown God) to be psychically 'dangerous', as being a total identification with the unconscious.

To contend that there is at least some disagreement between Jung and Gnosticism is at least supportable: the Jungian process of "individuation" involves the addition of unconscious psychic tropes to consciousness in order to achieve a trans-conscious centre to the personality. Jung did not intend this addition to take the form of a "complete" identification of the Self with the Unconscious.

ee also

*Archetypal psychology

References

* Hoeller, Stephan (1989), "Gnostic Jung". Quest Books. ISBN 0-8356-0568-X
* Jung, Carl (2002), "Answer to Job". Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-28997-1
* —— (1967), "Seven Sermons to the Dead". Stuart & Watkins. ISBN 0-7224-0001-2