Summary of Edward F. Edinger's Ego and Archetype

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The Self is the ordering and unifying center of the total psyche, just as the ego is the center of the conscious personality. The Self is the supreme psychic authority and subordinates the ego to it.
#2 The first half of life is about ego development and progressive separation between ego and Self. The second half of life is about ego surrender or at least relativization. The current working formula is that first half of life: ego-Self separation; second half of life: ego-Self reunion.
#3 The diagrams represent progressive stages of ego-Self separation appearing in the course of psychological development. The shaded areas designate the residual ego-Self identity. The line connecting the ego-center with the Self-center represents the ego-Self axis, which is the vital connecting link between the two.
#4 The process by which these developmental stages unfold is an alternating cycle that is represented in the diagram (Figure 5, p. 41). As this cycle repeats itself throughout psychic development, it brings about a progressive differentiation of the ego and the Self.

Sujets

• Jungian
• Movements
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Carl Jung
• Psychology

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 10 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9798822504981
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Edward F. Edinger's Ego and Archetype
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Self is the ordering and unifying center of the total psyche, just as the ego is the center of the conscious personality. The Self is the supreme psychic authority and subordinates the ego to it.

#2

The first half of life is about ego development and progressive separation between ego and Self. The second half of life is about ego surrender or at least relativization. The current working formula is that first half of life: ego-Self separation; second half of life: ego-Self reunion.

#3

The diagrams represent progressive stages of ego-Self separation appearing in the course of psychological development. The shaded areas designate the residual ego-Self identity. The line connecting the ego-center with the Self-center represents the ego-Self axis, which is the vital connecting link between the two.

#4

The process by which these developmental stages unfold is an alternating cycle that is represented in the diagram (Figure 5, p. 41). As this cycle repeats itself throughout psychic development, it brings about a progressive differentiation of the ego and the Self.

#5

Inflation is the attitude and state of the ego that is in complete identification with the Self. The Self is the center and totality of being, and the ego totally identified with the Self experiences itself as a deity.

#6

The original round man is a parallel to the myth of the original round earth. The human psyche was originally whole, complete, and in a state of oneness and self-sufficiency, which is equivalent to deity itself.

#7

The child’s ego is closely connected with divinity, and this is a state of inflation. The child is innocent but also unresponsible. The adult how to achieve the union with nature and the gods that the child starts, without bringing about the inflation of identification.

#8

The same question applies to the problems of child-rearing. How can we successfully remove the child from his inflated state and give him a realistic and responsible notion of his relation to the world, while at the same time maintaining that living link with the archetypal psyche which is needed in order to make his personality strong and resilient.

#9

The state of mind that generates the idea that the world is one’s oyster is also the state of mind that generates the idea that one is the center of the universe. The ego is completely identified with the Self.

#10

The psychotherapist often sees cases of this type. Such a person considers himself a most promising individual, but he is unable to commit to any one thing in particular. He is full of talents and potentialities, but he can’t decide on one thing in particular.

#11

All of us, deep down, have a residue of inflation that is manifested as an illusion of immortality. This is commonly seen in cases of melancholia, which express the feeling that no one in the world is as guilty as we are.

#12

After the state of original inflation, mythology tells us that man became arrogant and wanted to be like God, so he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God then sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

#13

The Garden of Eden is the first myth in the Hebrew branch of our cultural tradition. It is an image of the Self, representing the ego’s original oneness with nature and deity. It is paradisal because there is no conflict yet.

#14

The myth of the Garden of Eden and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil illustrates the birth of consciousness as a crime that separates man from God and his original preconscious wholeness. The fruit is clearly symbolic of consciousness, and it brings awareness of the opposites.

#15

The birth of consciousness, along with the birth of duality, dissociation, and repression, has created a counterpole to natural, instinctive animal function. All utopian psychological theories that assume that the human personality can be healthy if it is not subject to sexual and instinctual repressions are wrong.

#16

The myth of the fall expresses a pattern and a process not just of the original birth of consciousness out of the unconscious, but also of the process that one goes through with every new increment of consciousness.

#17

The temptation in the Garden of Eden is a common dream theme that represents the original fall of man. It is experienced as something alien and dangerous, and it is never a pleasant dream. But it initiates a new attitude and orientation.

#18

The dream of eating a poisonous black cake symbolizes entering the Kierkegaardian experience of conflict, and it led to no sudden insight or change for the dreamer. But it did pave the way for a progressive increase in consciousness.

#19

The myth of Prometheus and the Garden of Eden are similar in that they both involve the separation of the ego from the archetypal psyche or Self. The ego, to establish itself as an autonomous entity, must appropriate the food for itself.

#20

The acquisition of consciousness is a crime against the powers-that-be, but it is a necessary crime, leading to a necessary alienation from the natural unconscious state of wholeness. If we are going to hold any loyalty to the development of consciousness, we must consider it a necessary crime.

#21

The same theme of inflation applies to the psychotherapeutic relationship. If a negative or rebellious reaction has emerged towards the analyst, it will be felt to be a dangerous act of inflation certain to bring retribution. But at some point, unless the forbidden fruit is eaten, development will not proceed.

#22

The myth of Icarus is a good example of how inflation can be dangerous. If you are not careful, you can fall from the heights of unreality. Dreams of flying often have some allusion to the myth of Icarus, since dreams are about escaping from reality.

#23

The myth of Phaeton is another example of inflation. It tells us that inflation has as its inevitable consequence a fall. Phaeton is the prototype of the modern hot rodder. We can never be certain in advance whether to interpret these positive or negative images.

#24

The myth of Ixion is another example of inflation. Ixion’s inflated act was his attempt to seduce Hera. Zeus foiled the attempt by shaping a cloud into a false Hera, with whom Ixion took his pleasure. Zeus surprised him in the act and punished him by binding him to a fiery wheel that revolved endlessly through the sky.

#25

The Greeks had a fear of what they called hybris, which is the human arrogance that appropriates to man what belongs to the gods. It is the transcending of proper human limits.

#26

The fear of excessive good fortune is deeply ingrained in man. The instinctive sense that the gods envy human success means that the conscious personality may not go too far without taking the unconscious into account.

#27

The Hebrew and Christian theological concepts of sin are also expressions of inflation. Sin is the breach of a taboo, and it is typically the act of stealing something that should not be touched because it carries suprapersonal energies.

#28

The reductive method is used to treat the symptoms of ego-Self identity. It is a criticism and depreciation by the patient, and it is this underlying purpose that is expressed in vernacular speech when the psychiatrist is called a head shrinker.

#29

The idea of the greater good is found in many religions, and it is usually used to justify the actions of those in power. It is also found in the writings of influential philosophers like Nietzsche and Emerson.