fei75766_ch04_107-148.indd 116  02/19/20 09:00 AM
Part II    Psychodynamic Theories116
Four years later, Jungcame across abook bytheGerman philologist Albrecht 
Dieterich thathadbeen published in1903, several years afterthepatient wascom-
mitted. Thebook, written inGreek, dealt withaliturgy derived from theso-called 
Paris magic papyrus, which described anancient riteoftheworshippers ofMithras, 
thePersian godoflight. Inthisliturgy, theinitiate wasasked tolookatthesununtil
hecould seeatubehanging from it.Thetube, swinging toward theeastandwest, 
wastheorigin ofthewind. Dieterich’s account ofthesun-phallus oftheMithraic cult
wasnearly identical tothehallucination ofthemental patient who, almost certainly, 
hadnopersonal knowledge oftheancient initiation rite.Jung(1931/1960b) offered 
many similar examples asproof oftheexistence ofarchetypes andthecollective 
unconscious.
Asnoted inChapter 2,Freud alsobelieved thatpeople collectively inherit 
predispositions toaction. Hisconcept ofphylogenetic endowment, however, differs 
somewhat from Jung’s formulation. Onedifference wasthatFreud looked firsttothe
personal unconscious andresorted tothephylogenetic endowment onlywhen indi-
vidual explanations failed—as hesometimes didwhen explaining theOedipus com-
plex(Freud, 1933/1964). Incontrast, Jungplaced primary emphasis onthecollective 
unconscious andusedpersonal experiences toround outthetotalpersonality.
Themajor distinction between thetwo,however, wasJung’s differentiation of
thecollective unconscious intoautonomous forces called archetypes ,eachwithalife
andapersonality ofitsown. Although agreat number ofarchetypes existasvague 
images, onlyafewhaveevolved tothepoint where theycanbeconceptualized. The
most notable ofthese include thepersona, shadow, anima, animus, great mother, 
wiseoldman, hero, andself.
Persona
Thesideofpersonality thatpeople show totheworld isdesignated asthepersona. 
Thetermiswellchosen because itrefers tothemask worn byactors intheearly 
theater. Jung’s concept ofthepersona mayhaveoriginated from experiences withhis
No.1personality, which hadtomake accommodations totheoutside world. Each of
us,Jungbelieved, should project aparticular role,onethatsociety dictates toeachof
us.Aphysician isexpected toadopt acharacteristic “bedside manner,” apolitician 
must show afacetosociety thatcanwintheconfidence andvotes ofthepeople, and
anactor should exhibit thestyleoflifedemanded bythepublic (Jung, 1950/1959).
Although thepersona isanecessary sideofourpersonality, weshould not
confuse ourpublic facewithourcomplete self.Ifweidentify tooclosely withour
persona, weremain unconscious ofourindividuality andareblocked from attain -
ingself-realization. True, wemust acknowledge society, butifweoveridentify with
ourpersona, welosetouch withourinner selfandremain dependent onsociety’s 
expectations ofus.Tobecome psychologically healthy, Jungbelieved, wemust strike 
abalance between thedemands ofsociety andwhat wetrulyare.Tobeoblivious 
ofone’s persona istounderestimate theimportance ofsociety, buttobeunaware of
one’s deep individuality istobecome society’s puppet (Jung, 1950/1959).
During Jung’s nearbreak withreality from 1913 to1917, hestruggled hardto
remain intouch withhispersona. Heknew thathemust maintain anormal life,and
hiswork andfamily provided thatcontact. Hewasfrequently forced totellhimself Final PDF to printer