The Carl Jung Depth Psychology Facebook Group
Insight, Secrecy and Community
December 6, 1957
True connection with other people, with the world, with the cosmos, is impossible unless we know what is going on inside ourselves.
It was only my understanding of what is common to all people, the unconscious with its collective contents, the archetypal, that enabled me to relate to others.
As a young man, of course I thought I understood people and had relationships.
But other people basically meant nothing to me!
However, the urge to understand the mysteries of the soul would not let me go; I felt compelled to reflect on these things.
It did not simply come down to a compulsion, but to my own will, my temperament. It was actually what I always wanted.
Because of this intense desire to understand the soul, as a young doctor I even wished that I could experience schizophrenia myself, or at least have a love affair with a schizophrenic woman, so that I could find out what went on in these people.
I became lonely, not on account of my desire for insight, but because of what this led me to – the acquisition of insight. first there was no one around me who could understand.
And, strictly speaking, even now I am talking to you about matters I was never able to explain before – to anyone. you gain something from it, you too will be set apart from others.
Knowledge can make you feel alone, cause a loneliness.
The opposite is also true, however: knowledge of the archetypal forces is necessary to understand the deeper meaning of community and companionship.
True community comes through shared knowledge and insight.
There is little point in finding community through shared banalities.
Some special exclusive insight that can be shared with a few others is what binds people together.
For primitive people, therefore, community is always linked with secrecy. Community is a kind of mystery cult. ~Carl Jung, Reflections on the Life and Dreams of C.G. Jung, Page 15-16
