Theories of Personality 9th Edition

Chapter 4 Jung: Analytical Psychology 119

Although the self is almost never perfectly balanced, each person has in the
collective unconscious a concept of the perfect, unified self. The mandala repre-
sents the perfect self, the archetype of order, unity, and totality. Because self-
realization involves completeness and wholeness, it is represented by the same
symbol of perfection (the mandala) that sometimes signifies divinity. In the col-
lective unconscious, the self appears as an ideal personality, sometimes taking the
form of Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, or other deified figures.
Jung found evidence for the self archetype in the mandala symbols that appear
in dreams and fantasies of contemporary people who have never been conscious of
their meaning. Historically, people produced countless mandalas without appearing to
have understood their full significance. Jung (1951/1959a) believed that psychotic
patients experience an increasing number of mandala motifs in their dreams at the
exact time that they are undergoing a period of serious psychic disorder and that this
experience is further evidence that people strive for order and balance. It is as if the
unconscious symbol of order counterbalances the conscious manifestation of disorder.
In summary, the self includes both the conscious and unconscious mind, and
it unites the opposing elements of psyche—male and female, good and evil, light
and dark forces. These opposing elements are often represented by the yang and
yin (see Figure 4.2), whereas the self is usually symbolized by the mandala. This
latter motif stands for unity, totality, and order—that is, self-realization. Complete

Personal

unconscious

Anima (femininity) Animus (masculinity)

Personal

unconscious

Collective

unconscious

Conscious (ego)

Conscious (ego)

Conscious (ego) Conscious (ego)

Shadow

Persona

FIGURE 4.1 Jung’s Conception of Personality.