Alchemy: Jungian definitions – Edinger states, “… alchemical images describe the process of depth psychotherapy … individuation” (p. 2). Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy, a series of processes (eg., calcinatio) symbolizing changes that need to take place for an individual to individuate (grow).
Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy: A book written by Edward Edinger that symbolically describes the major alchemical processes occurring naturally in individuals. The alchemical processes are the following: Calcinatio; Solutio; Coagulatio; Sublimatio; Mortificatio; Separatio; and Coniuntio.
Archetypal Psyche: see collective unconscious
Archetype: an inborn pre-formed structure that has certain general characteristics. For example, a baby knows instinctually how to relate to his mother because of archetypal structure of mother in the baby’s unconscious. Then through the baby’s experience with the personal mother the archetypal structure is fleshed out by the specific experiences. Archetypes reside in the collective unconscious. Archetypes have a psychoid aspect.
Calcinatio: Jungian definition – Calcinatio is the fire process in alchemy. It is illustrated by images and dreams of fire that occur to symbolically burn away old attitudes and/or worldviews in an individual.
Carl Jung (1875-1961): was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology (Jungian Psychology). He wrote The Collected Works of C. G. Jung.
Collective Unconscious: the realm of the archetypes including the Self. Ancestral memories and religious instinct reside here as well.
Consciousness: Jungian definition – bringing parts of the collective unconscious into ego awareness. Becoming more aware of the workings of the psyche and the meaning of individuation.
Consensus Reality: a common, shared worldview, what a group or culture chooses to believe (Wikipedia), a collective worldview (i.e., everyone knows this is true).
Dark Night of the Soul: This term and its meaning were derived from the writings of St. John of the Cross (a 16th century mystic). The dark night of the soul describes a phase of spiritual desolation where a person feels alone in the desert abandoned by God.
Day of Pentecost: The 50th day after Easter Sunday that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples.
Edward Edinger (1922-1998): a brilliant Jungian analyst who has written numerous deep and compelling books. All of them are worth reading.
Egocentric Ego: implies that the ego is the center of the psyche and not the Self. Egocentric ego occurs in the writings of Fritz Kunkel (1889-1956) and John Sanford, (1929-2005) Jungian analyst and Episcopal priest.
Ego Inflation: an identification of the ego with an archetype, especially the Self. Many times the motivation comes from an unconscious power urge. Also, a person not recognizing the authority of the Self can lapse into egocentricity and thus ego inflation.
Enlightenment: A narrow definition is awakening to a higher level of consciousness.
Furies: in Greco-Roman mythology, three goddesses of vengeance. They would see that the wicked received justice. They would afflict criminals with madness and never stopped pursuing them. They were also called “The Daughters of the Night.” They had snakes for hair and blood dripping from their eyes. The words furious and infuriated are derived from Furies.
Grace: Christian definition – an unearned gift from God
Nigredo: the alchemical state of blackness, the first stage of the alchemical process. An individual experiencing the nigredo may have a variety of the symptoms of depression and may feel deep despair.
Opus: Jungian definition – the alchemical opus is an individual’s sacred work to discover/create the philosopher’s stone, individuation.
Pearl of Great Price: Christian definition – the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:45-46), Jungian definition – the alchemical opus, the alchemical philosopher’s stone.
Philosopher’s Stone: Jungian definition – in alchemy the miraculous substance, the Self.
Projection: a psychological defense mechanism that unconsciously places part of a person’s psyche onto another person or thing.
Psyche: a Jungian definition, psyche is the total of the conscious mind and the collective unconscious.
Psychoid: The psychoid aspect of an archetype means that an archetype can not only interact with the inner world, but through the synchronicity principle, an archetype can connect with the outer world of matter– organic (e.g., bodily symptoms) and inorganic (e.g., through a car’s mechanical failure while driving resulting in a car accident). Neither the bodily symptoms nor the mechanical failure nor the car accident was caused by an archetype. An archetype, through synchronicity, can connect a person to the meaning of important events in his or her life.
Psychosis: loss of contact with reality.
Self: the guiding center of the psyche; the God-image in the psyche.
Solutio: in alchemy, dissolution by water.
Soul: Christian definition – the immortal essence of an individual
Soul-work: spiritual work recognizing that God is involved in the individuation process.
Spock: an unfeeling, intellect-worshiping Vulcan in the Star Trek TV/movie series
Star Trek: An American TV/movie series. Its genre is science fiction.
Sublimatio: An alchemical process ruled by the element air. To move higher: spiritually, in consciousness, into the air like a bird. Seeing from a more comprehensive perspective.
Theodicy: a defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.
Transcendent Function: The function is called “transcendent” because it allows an individual to transcend his or her attitude and arrive at a new one; it potentiates psychology growth (The Transcendent Function by Jeffrey C. Miller, p. 14).
Trickster: Trickster’s Qualities: as stated by Harold Scheub (author of Trickster and Hero: Two Characters in the Oral and Written Traditions of the World): obscene, aggressive, selfish, amoral, like the basest of humans, agent of chaos, disrupts harmony, loves dance, has a diminutive size, clownish, grotesque, rootless, unattached, outsider, has no job, invents clever ruses, wears a variety of masks, outrageous, lives in the liminal state (between), undifferentiated energy, ungovernable, untamed, tests boundaries, dependent on his wiles, sometimes amiable, sometimes brutal, unpredictable, master of disguise, master of deception, often menacing, fundamental building block of storytelling, contains within itself the seed of transformation, master at masquerade, almost always physically inferior to the dupe, agent of change, often androgynous, death-dealing, uncaring, ignoble, ribald, sly, capricious, uses trickery, invents ruses, destroys and creates. His is the comedy of the absurd. In the heavens, he is called a divine trickster (e.g., Loki); on the earth, a profane trickster e.g., brer rabbit).
Trickster’s Qualities: as stated by Edward Edinger (author of The Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology and many other books): A Paraphrase:One role of the trickster (as Hermes) can be the orchestration of synchronistic events through the psychoid aspect of the trickster archetype. The trickster can be viewed as the personification of the synchronicity principle.
Origins: archetype in first humans
Communicated origins: ancient oral narrative tradition, folklore, fairytales, myth, and other literature
Important Note: I believe the trickster is not the biblical God or Satan. However, either God or Satan may willingly play a trickster role.
Unconscious: see collective unconscious.