Psyche

The psyche is one’s total personality that is composed of one’s thoughts, behaviors, feelings
and emotions. It is a part of one’s psychological functioning that contains elements which
considers to be pre-personal, transpersonal and common to all. Such elements are called
archetypes or inherited structures of one’s psyche which influence human thought and behavior.

According to Jung, the purpose of human existence is the achievement of psychological

completion. There are 3 major realms of the Psyche which are separate but interactive systems
that function in a compensatory manner and also aim for harmony and balance within the
psyche as a whole.

First, the Conscious or the Ego, which is one’s field of awareness. It is experienced in the
outer world or simply, the society or the surroundings that are being sensed or perceived by a
person. Second realm would be the Unconscious, which is also an idea similar to Sigmund
Freud. The said realm contains psychic contents which one is unaware of; it has two main parts:
personal unconscious or the collective unconscious.

The realm of Unconscious in the psyche is divided into two, the first being particular to
each individual and is composed of insignificant, forgotten and repressed experiences of an
individual. In addition, it also includes complexes which are unconscious tendencies developed
through the said experiences.

Jung had a similarity with Freud’s concept of the Unconscious, however, there was one distinct
concept which made the former known for psychological development theories. Freud has
focused on the concept of one’s unacceptable repressed desires while Jung made a distinction
that the Unconscious is composed of two parts: the personal unconscious and collective or
transpersonal unconscious, the latter being the difference of the two philosophers’ theories. For
jung, humans also had the unconscious that consist of our shared ancestral past which affects
our lives in different ways.

The Collective Unconscious is a more funamental realm of unconscious; a form of psychological

inheritance which are considered to be unique and psychic structures shared by all which
influences thoughts and behavior of people.

This realm include archetypes or the inherited structures of the psyche that organize memories
into themes and relays it to the conscious mind if the right situation occurs. Archetypes basically
compose one’s personality and guide values through stages of life (the outer and inner
development). The expression of archetypes depend on several factors including one’s cultural
influences and other personal experiences.

In addition, archetypes serve as blueprint of one’s life. Jung stated that the result of evolution
affected the innate characteristics humans have today. This element of the psyche are
conveyed in literature as character and themes, in dreams, fantasies, cultures around the world,
and even in religions.
As stated, there are two archetypal stages that divide our lives into halves: first, outer
development: where conscious capacities of humans evolve through adapting to external world
and people and lastly, inner development, where there is an initiation to into inner reality of an
individual.

Jung identified varios archetypes but focused on four major types: the persona, anima and
animus, shadow and lastly, the self; each had a role in one’s personality. Starting with the
persona or mask, it can also be considered as the conformity archetype which corresponds to
the role of such archetype that involves the standards of the society one belongs in. It is the
outward face presented by an individual to the society, someon different from who they really
are. It represents social masks for various groups and situations that hides primitive urges,
impulses and emotions that are socially unacceptable. In addition, it acts to shield ego from
negative images. On the other hand, expressing such archetype can lead people to lose sight of
true selves.

The Anima and Animus archetypes are the mirror image of one’s biological sex ot their true
self. For men, their feminine tendencies are called Anima while in women, their masculine
tendencies are called Animus. Through centuries of existing together, these archetypal images
are based on the Unconscious of an individual in general. Furthermore, the patriarchal society
developed through time which conveyed discouraged men from expressing feminine side,
women and their prevented masculine tendencies, Jung said that result of full psychological
development of both sexes are undermined. Moreover, there are cases in which the Anima in
men and the Animus are overly expressed, resulting to a different gender orientation. Based on
Jung’s theory, men must be willing to accept their feminine tendencies as well as women, in that
way, one’s yearning for psychological completion comes from within one’s psyche which means
that one doesn’t need to depend on another for this satisfaction.

The Shadow archetype is considered to be one’s dark side or the animal side of personality
which includes wildness, chaos and unknown, like the id in freud’s theory. Being the source of
both creative and destructive energies, this archetype may be a result of the evolutionary theory
that involves survival instincts. Mainly, it is composed of repressed experiences, weaknesses
and the like formed from attempts to adapt in cultural norms and expectations. This might not
just contain unacceptable standards of society but also one’s own personal morals and values.
Examples would be envy, greed, prejudice, hate and aggression. The shadow may appear in
dreams and visions. For one can have inner development, one must have willingness to
acknowledge and take responsibility for own unnuacceptable characteristics instead of denial
and projection.
Last major achetype would be the Self which involves a sense of unity in experience or the
unified unconsciousness and consciousness of an individual. Through individuation, the self can
be created in which aspects of personality are integrated. As said, the ultimate goal of
psychological development according to Jung is the conscious realization of self, representing
balance, harmony and integration in the psyche. However, self is a theoretical goal for one
cannot be fully conscious of his or her psyche but the process of self-realization continues to
convey ideas of wholeness, harmony and completion through the archetypes.
Other archetypes include the father or the authority figure, stern and powerful, the mother or
the nurturing and comforting one, the child or one who is longing for innocence, involves rebirth
and salvation concept, the hero or the champion, defender and rescuer, the maiden or the
symbol of innocence and purity and lastly, the trickster or the deceiver and the trouble-maker.