Grounded in the natural philosophy of the Middle Ages, alchemy formed a bridge: on the one hand into the past, to Gnosticism, and on the other into the future, to the modern psychology of the unconscious.
Carl JungRead
Man is in need if a symbolical life- badly in need. We only live banal, ordinary, rational or irrational things- but we have no symbolic life. Where do we live symbolically? Nowhere except where we participate in the ritual of life
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of living a symbolic life, rich in meaning beyond the ordinary elements of existence.
Carl Jung suggests that humans require a symbolic life to find deeper significance in their experiences. He argues that in our everyday lives, we are often caught up in mundane realities, lacking the rich symbolism that rituals can bring. This absence of a symbolic existence leaves us feeling disconnected from the deeper meanings of life, highlighting the importance of participating in rituals that connect us to something greater.
Themes
Symbolic LifeRitualMeaningExistenceCarl Jung
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on existentialism, one might quote Jung to emphasize the significance of finding meaning in everyday rituals.
More from Carl Jung
All quotes →The majority of my patients consisted not of believers but of those who had lost their faith.
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Complexes are psychic contents which are outside the control of the conscious mind. They have been split off from consciousness and lead a separate existence in the unconscious, being at all times ready to hinder or to reinforce the conscious intentions.
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We are in a far better position to observe instincts in animals or in primitives than in ourselves. This is due to the fact that we have grown accustomed to scrutinizing our own actions and to seeking rational explanations for them.
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From the viewpoint of analytic psychology, the theatre, aside from any aesthetic value, may be considered as an institution for the treatment of the mass complex.
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I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
Carl JungRead
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