We must first return to simpler facts to the individual numbers
Through the discovery of the unconscious it has now become possible to throw a clearer light on these hitherto vaguely surmised relationships.
If, following Jung’s suggestion, we admit that the unconscious participates in the formation of our representations of natural numbers, then all statements about them become recognizable as realizations of only partial aspects of the number archetype.
In order to grasp the meaning of these aspects more closely we must first return to simpler facts, namely, to the individual numbers themselves, and gather together the sum total of thought, both technical and mythological assertions, which they have called forth from humanity.
Numbers, furthermore, as archetypal structural constants of the collective unconscious, possess a dynamic, active aspect which is especially important to keep in mind.
It is not what we can do with numbers but what they do to our consciousness that is essential.
Because of this my subsequent remarks balance to some extent on the razor’s edge between philosophical— mathematical and numerical-symbolical statements.
But individual number, its unique and fundamental factual material, stands always at the center of my attention, because in the final analysis it has given rise to mankind’s most varied assertions. ~Marie-Louise von Franz, Number and Time, Page 33-34
