The Red Book as the Source of Jung's Psychological Types

Abstract

This essay demonstrates the connection between the visions recorded in Liber Primus, Part One of The Red Book, and the theoretical concepts developed in Psychological Types. The first section of the essay outlines the historical circumstances leading to the composition of The Red Book: Jung's break with Freud and his attempt to understand the conflict between them as a consequence of temperamental differences. The heart of the essay is devoted to an account of Jung's encounters with the archetypal figures of the unconscious and his interpretation of their symbolic and psychological meanings. The psychological dynamics of these visions reveal the need for Jung to sacrifice an identification with his superior function, thinking, and to pursue the union of thinking with the opposed inferior function, feeling. Subsequent visions introduce a uniting symbol. In Psychological Types, Jung names this process of amalgamating conscious and unconscious contents the transcendent function. Reflecting upon his visions, Jung concludes that so long as individuals are unaware of the discord between conscious and unconscious forces, the struggle is externalized in civil and military conflicts. Moreover, where Eros is neglected or missing, an unconscious identification with Power invariably fills the vacuum.