Sacred Peak on Nostr: While I generally in a broad sense have sympathy for some of Jung's work, it also has ...

While I generally in a broad sense have sympathy for some of Jung's work, it also has some pitfalls. There is logically no such thing as a 'collective consxiousness' other than in the context of some national identity including stories, etc. People are individuals. We are all exposed to different stories through our own unique experiences and lives.

It isn't possible to say that I as a Canadian am a part of some collective consciousness. My life is different than that of my friends, parents and fellow citizens. There is perhaps some overlap but that is it.

I went through Analysis with a respected Jungian Analyst here several years ago. His Analysis was great but... he also invited me into a dream work group.

People in the group, particularly intellectual university types bullied people who had unique views and used 'collective consciousness' as an argument to belittle people and mock their dreams.

To understand Jung and his work, you have to go deep. Skimming the surface and using his work inappropriately and without understanding causes harm.

Dreams are formulated from symbols. These symbols are unique to each individual. Our dreams are about our own inner subconscious and when we dream we express ourself in our own metaphors.

For example, dreaming of a particular friend or family member is a metaphor for what that person means to us. Dreaming of chocolate could be a metaphor for just plain eating, a sickly sweet personality, overindulgence, some metaphor involving its texture, smell, etc. The work of dreams is self discovery and the metaphors are the mind trying to understand itself.

Metaphysics is not real. The world is real and so are we.

Here's my copy of Jung's Red Book.