LETTER FROM C. JUNG TO...

"Su carta del 7 de mayo de ,1960 es tan amplia, que no se por dónde empezar a contestarla. El
a path that I would propose for a solution to our contemporary problems is in
reality the process that I have been forced into as a modern individual who faces
social, moral, intellectual, and religious insufficiency of our time. I acknowledge the fact that
I can only give a partial answer: mine, which, by the way, is not universally valid.
but perhaps it may be enough for a restricted number of contemporary individuals.
Especially when my main position is nothing more than this: 'Follow that will and that
path that experience confirms as yours and that is the true expression of your
individuality. Since no person can become aware of their individuality, to
less that it is closely and responsibly related to its peers, such
a person will not withdraw to a selfish desert when trying to find themselves.
One can only discover oneself when one is found deeply and unconditionally.
related to some and generally to many individuals with whom she will have a
possibility of comparing oneself and getting to know each other. If someone, in supreme selfishness, withdrew to the
Solitude of Mount Everest, I would discover enough about the amenities of those lonely places.
heights, but nothing about himself; that is, nothing he did not already know before. The man, in
general, finds itself in this situation because it is an animal endowed with the ability to
introspection, but without the possibility of comparing oneself to other species or animals as well
equipped with consciousness. It is a superior animal, exiled in a small planetary point of the
Milky Way. This is the reason why it does not know itself; it is found cosmically.
isolated. He can only confidently declare that it is not a monkey, a bird, a fish, nor a
tree. But what is positively remains dark. Humanity today dreams of
stellar communications. If we could communicate with the population of other
stars, perhaps we would find the means to learn something essential about ourselves.
Incidentally, we find ourselves living in a time when 'homo homini lupus' threatens.
become a terrible reality and when we find ourselves in a cruel need to know
beyond ourselves. The science fiction about trips to the Moon, to Venus, or to Mars
and the legends about flying saucers are effects of our bewilderment, but no less than that
intense need to reach a new physical and also spiritual base, beyond our
actual awareness of the world. Philosophers and psychologists of the 19th and 20th centuries have tried to provide
a New Land within ourselves, the Unconscious. Without a doubt, this is a discovery that
could guide us in many aspects. Where our fictions about Martians and
Venusians are based only on speculation, the Unconscious is within reach of the
experiencia humana. Es casi tangible y familiar para nosotros, pero al mismo tiempo su
existence is strange and difficult to understand. If we take for granted what I call
"Archetypes" is a verifiable hypothesis, then we find ourselves faced with qualities
autonomous, with a sort of consciousness and a psychic life of their own, which
can be observed, at least partially, in us; not only in living men, but
even in the
"historical course of many centuries." Whether we call them Gods, Demons, or Illusions,
they exist and function and resurrect with each generation. They have a huge influence both
in individual life as in collective, and despite their familiarity, they are curiously not
humans. This last characteristic is the reason they have been called Gods or
Demons in the past and why they have been understood in our scientific era as the
psychic manifestations of instincts, in that they represent habitual attitudes and
universally occurring, thoughts-forina. They are basic forms, but not
personified manifestations or, in another sense, concretized images. They possess a high
degree of autonomy, which does not disappear when the manifested image changes. When,
for example, the belief in the god Wotan disappears and no one thinks of him anymore, the phenomenon
originally called Wotan remains; only his name changes, and as National-
Socialism has been reborn on a large scale. A collective movement consisting of millions of
individuals, each of whom shows symptoms of wotanism, proves, therefore,
that Wotan never dies in reality and that, on the contrary, he retains his original vitality and his
autonomy. Our consciousness only imagines that it has lost its gods; in reality, they
they are still there and just need a general condition to resurface with a greater
force. This condition is a situation in which a new orientation and adaptation are made.
necessary. If this matter is not clearly understood and is not given an appropriate response,
the "archetypes" that precisely express this situation are introduced into it and produce the
reaction, which has always characterized these times; in this case, Wotan. As
only a few individuals are capable of listening to and accepting good advice, it is a sum-
It's unlikely that anyone pays attention to the warnings of a voice that alerts to danger.
that Wotan is taking control again. On the contrary, they will fall headfirst into the trap.
As we have largely lost our gods and the current state of our
religion does not provide an effective answer to the global situation in general and the 'religion' of
communism in particular, we find ourselves in a predicament similar to that of Germany
pre-nationalist of the year 20; that is to say, we are willing to take the risk of a next, and this
universal time, Wotanist experiment. That is to say, mental epidemic and war.
We still do not realize that when an 'archetype' is found unconsciously
constellated, and not consciously understood, we are possessed by it and forced to comply
fatally with his destiny. Thus Wotan represents and formulates our way of proceeding; without
embargo, this does not solve, of course, our problem.
The fact that an archaic god formulates and expresses the dominant of our behavior,
It means that we must find a new religious attitude, a new realization of
our dependence on the superior dominants. I don't know how this would be possible without a
renewed self-knowledge of man, which will inevitably have to begin with the
individual. We have the means to compare Man with other psychic 'animalias' and give him a
new place, which sheds an objective light on its existence; that is to say, as a being operated and
driven by archetypal forces instead of his free will; that is, by his arbitrary selfishness and
his limited awareness. He should learn that he is not the owner of his own house and that he has to
carefully study the other side of your psychic world, which seems to be the true one
owner of your destiny.
I know that this is merely a 'pious wish', for the realization of which centuries are needed, but
In each 'Eon' there are at least a few individuals who understand that the true work
of man consists in persevering and passing on his tradition to future generations and for
a time where the inner vision has reached a deeper and more general level. First,
the address of a few
it will change and, in a few generations, there will be a number. It is thus impossible that the
common mind, within this generation, and even in the next, undergoes a visible change, because
the modern man seems to be completely unable to understand that, under certain conditions
circumstances, he is a stranger to himself. But whoever is capable of such inner vision, without
no matter how isolated he is, he should be aware of the law of synchronicity, to which he
It refers to the Chinese proverb that says: 'The pure man, sitting in his house and thinking about the
straight thoughts, will be heard to me! miles away.
Neither propaganda nor exhibitions are necessary. If the 'archetype', which is universal, that is to say,
identical to itself always and everywhere, is properly treated, although it is in one place
solitary, will be, however, reached and completely modified; that is, simultaneously and in
everywhere. Thus, an old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: 'Not
it doesn't matter how far away you are and how lonely you feel; if you do your job conscientiously and
truly, unknown friends will seek you out and come to you.
I think that nothing essential has ever been lost, because its 'matrix' is always present in
we and from it can reproduce and will reproduce, if necessary. But only
those who have learned the art of withdrawing their eyes from the blinding light of opinions
currents and that close their ears to the noises of ephemeral slogans, can recover the
essential.
You certainly affirm, with Multatuli, the Dutch philosopher: 'Nothing is completely certain'; and
I should add with him: "And not even this is truly certain." The intellect can expose
his profound statement that there is no Absolute Truth. But if someone loses their money, this
money has been lost and this is as exact as an absolute truth, which means that he does not
he will be consoled by the intellectual depth. There is something like a convincing Truth, but
We have lost your vision, mainly due to our shifting.
intellect, for the sake of which we sacrifice our moral certainty, in exchange for gaining only a
inferiority complex, which —by the way— characterizes Western politics.
To be is to do and to act. But our existence does not depend solely on our I-Will,
because our actions and deeds greatly depend on the domination of the Unconscious. I do not
I am not only projecting myself from my ego, but I am also made to be a creator and
active; staying still is only good for those who have been too active or
perversely active. Otherwise, it is an unnatural artifice that necessarily interferes in
our nature. We grow, we bloom, and we wither, and death is the final stillness, or
It certainly seems that way. But much depends on the spirit, that is to say, on the meaning or significance within.
from which we make and act, or, in other words, the meaning with which we live. This spirit is
expresses itself or manifests itself in a Truth, which is undeniable and
absolutely convincing for the entirety of my being, even though the intellect, in its vague-
to bundle endlessly, will continue forever with its. "but" and its "perhaps", those that, however, do not
they should be suppressed, if not well received as opportunities to continue overcoming our
Truth.
You have chosen two good representatives of the East and the West: Krishnamurti prefers
the irrational, leaving the solutions to the calm; that is to say, to themselves, as a part of the
Mother Nature. Toynbee, in the other ex-triumvirate, aims to build and shape opinions. None
they believe in the flourishing and unfolding of the individual as the experimental, doubtful work
and deceiver of the living God, to whom we must lend our eyes and ears and our mind
discriminators, for which they have been incubated for millions of years and brought to light some
six thousand years ago; that is, at the moment when historical continuity
from consciousness becomes visible through the invention of writing.
Men find ourselves in painful need of a Truth or of a self-understanding.
similar to that of ancient Egypt, of which I have found a living example among the Indians.
Taos pueblos. Their chief of ceremonies, the old Och-wián Biano —Lake of the Mountain—, told me
Once: 'We are the people who live on the roof of the world; we are the children of the Sun, which is
our Father; we help him rise daily and cross the firmament. By
consequently, white men should not intervene in our religion. If they continue
doing it and preventing us from doing our work, you will see that in ten years the Sun will not be
it will raise more.
The master of ceremonies correctly presumed that his days, his conscience and his sense
they would die destroyed by the narrow-mindedness of American rationalism and the same
would happen to the world in total, being subjected to identical treatment. This is the reason why
I seek to find the best Truth and the clearest light that I can reach. And since I have
Having reached my highest point, I can no longer transcend it. I keep my light and my treasure, convinced
that no one will win —and I myself would be hurt without hope— if I lost her. She is the highest thing.
and precious, not only for me, but especially for the darkness of the Creator, who needs
to Man to illuminate his Creation. If God had fully foreseen his world, it would be
a mere senseless machine and man's existence, a useless whim.
the intellect can glimpse the ultimate possibility, but the totality of my being says 'No' to this...
Sincerely yours,
C.G. Jung.