Carl Jung: The unconscious can realize itself only with the help of consciousness and under its constant control.
Letters of C. G. Jung: Volume I, 1906-1950 (Vol 1)
Dear Dr. N., 2 December 1937
I have the feeling that you are really going a bit too far.
We should make a halt before something destructive. You know what my attitude is to the unconscious.
There is no point in delivering oneself over to it to the last drop.
If that were the right procedure, nature would never have invented consciousness, and then the animals would be the ideal embodiments of the unconscious.
In my view it is absolutely essential always to have our consciousness well enough in hand to pay sufficient attention to our reality, to the Here and Now.
Otherwise we are in danger of being overrun by an unconscious which knows nothing of this human world of ours.
The unconscious can realize itself only with the help of consciousness and under its constant control.
At the same time consciousness must keep one eye on the unconscious and the other focused just as clearly on the potentialities of human existence and human relationships.
I certainly don’t want to interfere, but before I go to India I would beg you to reflect on this warning.
With kindest regards,
Yours, Carl
~Letters, Volume 1, Pages 239-240
