Encountering the Primordial Self

Abstract

Jung contended that the human psyche, like the body, has an evolutionary history. He referred to it as the two-million-year-old in us and as archaic man. Late in life, he said that by collective unconscioushe meant “age-oldphylogenetic experience.” This article poses the question: Can the psyche “remember” its phylogenetic background? The author gives a chronological summary of Jung'sideas, along with his own related dreams. She presents twenty-seven contemporary dreams that contain evolutionary references. This material is organized into stages of the encounter between the modern self and the primordial; the challenges that accompany this encounter are discussed. The importance of recognizing objective evolutionary dream content is emphasized. With human origins in mind, clinicians have a fresh way of interpreting dark-skinned and/or negroid figures in dreams. The author concludes by speculating that dreams with evolutionary or phylogenetic content may occur with increasing frequency today, in response to the worldwide extinction processes and other threats to life on this planet. A felt experience of our species ancestry may be an important healing factor.