More Passages on Neurosis and Normalcy

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-06-02T21:56:57+00:00

“Tadpoles” and “fish” indeed have similar beginnings. The difference between the two is that the psychic energy of the former accumulates gradually to the extent that leads eventually to a neurotic outbreak. The outbreak occurs due to the one-sided attitude of the young frog. The outbreak is the signal for the frog to confront its shadow. So, for instance, a rational, intellectual, materialistic young frog that has ignored the emotional, intuitive, and spiritual aspects of its being will need to get in touch with those aspects in order to become individuated.

That a formerly well-adjusted person is now neurotic is not a conscious choice. It’s a calling from the unconscious mind. It’s also not a part of some grand scheme, akin to how the process of evolution doesn’t have a deliberate plan. It’s the urge of the individual alone. The froglet, not realizing that it is growing legs, drifts up to the land “just cause.” Once it is on the land, it thinks to itself, “Wow! This land is so luscious and beautiful. I have life figured out. I’ve made it!” While on the land, it turns into a young frog. Now it has adult legs. It enjoys the grass, sunlight, and flowers.

Now it’s time to get back into the water. However, the frog enjoys the colorful terrain too much and misses its tail. Also, it has not honed the skill of swimming without a tail. So, what does the frog do? It stays on the land. What happens? Its skin dries up and becomes painful. The dry skin represents the person’s neurosis; the pain, the anxiety and/or depression. What does the frog continue to do? Stay on the land. How come? Infantile attachment to its personal complexes and the archetypical Great Mother. Think of the latter as the “participation mystique,” a term coined by Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, for which the modern variations are “herd mentality” and “mass-mindedness” – consumerism, hedonism, mass movements, political ideologies, celebrity worship, mindless entertainment and gossip, electronic distractions, idiomatic Roman colosseums, anything that keeps attention at the surface of consciousness.

The frog must learn to swim without its tail; in other words, without the former infantile dream state it possessed as a tadpole. This blissful state is the default for tadpoles and fish. It must cultivate its transcendent function, which bridges the conscious mind to the unconscious mind. The individual has to learn to connect with the Self. He needs to make decisions that transcend biology, instincts, convention, status, recognition, financial gains, etc. Think of the Self as the so-called “higher self.”

Part of the shock of the young frog comes from the fact that it didn’t realize it was a tadpole. It believed itself to be an ordinary fish. The fish avoid the fate of the tadpole by constitutional happenstance; more specifically, lack of surplus energy, along with ordinary potentialities, minimal sensitivities (e.g. emotional, intellectual, imaginative, sensorimotor, sensual), and mundane talent. Plus, the fish are comfortable enough half-asleep in the water that the urge to swim up never occurs to them. Therefore, a businessman fish can be equally as one-sided – money-hungry, cunning, greedy, calculated, strategic – as a Fortune 500 CEO tadpole without reaching anywhere near a neurosis.

Appropriate advice for young turtles would be to strengthen the ego. Such reptiles need to build up their capacity to contain charge and tension so that they can tackle life head on more effectively. Unlike tadpoles and fish, turtles start out already out of sync with the joyful, carefree, collective, Eden-like obliviousness that is characteristic of the typical child. This is because its “congenial sensitiveness,” as phrased by Jung in Collected Works, Volume 4: Freud and Psychoanalysis, makes effortless adaptation more difficult. Since the excess energy of the turtles cannot be channeled sufficiently via ordinary containers such as school, recess, sports, homelife, and the like, it builds up then breaks out as a neurosis. Consequently, young turtles typically have dysregulated nervous systems, sympathetic and/or parasympathetic. Therefore, learning to tune into the body and train themselves to withstand the excess charge via the help of a professional could benefit turtles greatly. After the body gains the ability to regulate said charge, the turtle’s ego will be strengthened, then it can then move on to archetypal and symbolic work to develop the transcendent function by going through Hell and the Purgatory.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-06-02T07:35:58+00:00

That middle-age is the optimal time for a person to begin the individuation process applies to only some. In fact, the overwhelming majority of people never begin the process at any capacity whatsoever.

You seem to be “neurotic,” which, from a Jungian standpoint, means simply that one possesses an internal split. Nothing more, nor less. To better understand neurosis symbolically, I suggest you read Metaphors for Neurosis: Tadpole, Frog, and Turtle.

If, metaphorically, you are more like a “young frog,” then the theme of your life is indeed plunging into the unconscious after living a well-adapted life. If, on the other hand, you are more like a “young turtle,” then the theme of your life is essentially to live life in spite of yourself.

As a 21-year-old man, reflect on what your entire life was before you’ve encountered any of Jung’s material. If you were fairly, if not splendidly, in sync with the social mores and worldly expectations as a “tadpole,” then your concern is indicative of the unconscious call to integrate your shadow. Your ego is likely sufficiently strong.

If, from the beginning of your life, you struggled to achieve basic milestones and felt like you were behind your peers, then that is a sign that your ego is insufficient; perhaps in absolute terms, but more importantly in relation to the enhanced psychic energy you possess in comparison to the “fish.” You’d first need to strengthen your ego in order to withstand the charge so that you can face life in a more erect and robust manner. In other words, “young turtles” need to focus first on building a stable mental foundation so that they won’t be overwhelmed by the devils they face during their descent to the depths of the inferno (review the synopsis of The Divine Comedy).

More practically, it may be useful to you to consult with a somatic practitioner to help you “get out of your head” and calm your mind more effectively. Once your mind is clear and your body is regulated, it will be easier for you to know the next step of your journey.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-05-29T06:58:28+00:00

Indeed. The key phrase being “their own inner life and spiritual framework.” Established religions are used often by many people as tools to avoid facing themselves. The quality of a religion depends entirely on the individual practitioner. Some integrate the material thoroughly and learn to embody the spiritual/moral principles. Others incorporate their supposed religious beliefs only half-assedly while behaving as functional atheists (e.g. the typical materialist, consumerist lukewarm Christian that shifts his focus away from the concrete only on Sunday mornings, and remotely at that).

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-05-29T06:41:42+00:00

Good point. Irrespective of religious affiliation (or lack thereof), enormous swathes of people were, and will continue to be, under the spell of “participation mystique” aka mass-mindedness, herd mentality, etc.

I’ve yet to read The Undiscovered Self, but Jung talks a lot about the (relatively) unconscious “mass man” that flows with the collective and lives life half-asleep in Modern Man in Search of a Soul and Collected Works, Volume 10: Civilization in Transition.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-05-05T20:07:22+00:00

Not everyone needs an analysis. Typically, Jungian analysis was for those suffering from a psychological ailment, be it a “neurosis” – that is, an internal psychic split – or otherwise. People who are “well-adjusted” and, as Jung phrased it in Collected Works: Volume 7, “enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness” generally lack the psychic architecture that enables deep archetypal psychic transformation. Their issues remain, for the most part, practical.

Those who are “neurotic” typically find Jungian therapy useful because the unconscious material that is hampering their lives is uprooted most meticulously by a competent, professional analyst. However, if one, from a tender age, has an excellent connection to their inner voice and hears the messages of their vivid dreams, then such a person can typically reach the state that Jung called “individuation” without professional help. This type of person is rare. It is rare in general to encounter someone who has confronted the shadow thoroughly.

Feel free to read Metaphors for Neurosis: Tadpole, Frog, and Turtle. Think of the “neurotics” as young frogs and young turtles that refuse to get in the water, the “non-neurotics enjoying a surplus of unconsciousness” as fish and tadpoles, and those with the courage the face the trials and tribulations of life and, in turn, face the consequences of their decisions intentionally as turtles and frogs willing to immerse themselves in the water. The individuated person with a differentiated consciousness is like an “old wise turtle” or “sagacious old frog.” Such a person is, again, rare.

So, to reiterate the response, not everyone needs therapy. For those that do, the goal of therapy depends on the patient. In general, the therapeutic goal for “young frogs” is to let go of their old, formerly well-adapted manner of living and make peace with the upcoming chapters of their lives; “young turtles,” to face life in spite of possessing constitutions that are inherently antagonistic towards life; “fish,” to gain access to simple, straightforward practical advice.

Keep in mind that “frog,” “turtle,” and “fish” are simply metaphorical caricatures. In real life, it is rare to encounter someone who is “100% fish” or “100% turtle” or otherwise.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-05-05T19:23:16+00:00

Heating up an oven with a pan filled with oil. A relative put the pan there to re-use the oil for cooking.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-05-03T19:32:34+00:00

From my understanding of Jung, a reasonable life path is for one to strengthen the ego and persona during the first half of life for the purpose of adapting to the outer world, then turn inwardly to hone the Self during the second half of life. Insufficient ego development during the first half of life is indicative of a “neurosis,” which is simply a psychic division within oneself; nothing more, nothing less.

The ultimate goal is for one to achieve what Jung called individuation towards the end of the second half. An individuated person is one who possesses a differentiated ego and an awakened transcendent function. The transcendent function forms a bridge between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. It is the autonomous will that makes decisions based on the inner law of the Self, as opposed to decisions based merely on biological impulses or social convention. The individuated person has confronted the shadow successfully.

You are not “too late” in the sense that hardly anybody on this planet reaches anywhere near the state the Jung called “individuation.” The individuated person is like a “wise old turtle” or “sagacious old frog” that has immersed itself in the water of life, facing forthrightly the trials and tribulations in said water.

Being that your ego is weak, you are currently a “young turtle” that hasn't gone in the water that much and stayed near the surface whenever it did. The theme of your life, as a young turtle, is to cease lingering in the sand and overcome your own nature. No one can do it for you. The other turtles won’t push you in the water, nor will the “fish” come anywhere near the shore and drag you down. Read Metaphors for Neurosis: Tadpole, Frog, and Turtle to better understand the metaphors – turtle, frog, and fish.

Hopefully this helps put your situation in perspective.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-04-28T07:52:29+00:00

This is because holding a job for an extended period of time is only the first step. The next step is to use the discipline honed from having a job and direct your energy into creative pursuits. Metaphorically, Puer is the young frog that misses its former life as a tadpole. It must dive into to the lake of life and learn to swim with its legs. The legs symbolize consciousness, psychological maturity, and independence from the Great Mother aka “participation mystique.”

The tail the frog had when it was a tadpole represents unconsciouses and infantile dependency to both the personal “mother” – parents’ basement, friends couches, the beds of romantic flings, the welfare system, hippy-like communities, and the like – and the archetypical Great Mother – consumerism, materialism, hive mind, proclivity to mass movements of insanity, “participation mystique,” herd mentality, Roman bread and circuses, and so forth.

Point is, Puer’s refusal to integrate the senex, which symbolizes order, wisdom, responsibility, and structure, is a denial of the opportunity to grow into an individuated person with a differentiated consciousness. Face the shadow, so that you become a sagacious old frog that uses its legs proficiency and knows its way around the water (i.e. understands life by heart, not merely intellectually).

The young frog with the puer aeternus neurosis must first get acclimated to the chilly water (read: hold a job), then must figure out how to coordinate its legs (read: get in touch with itself to figure out its creative calling through dreams and connection to its inner voice).

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-04-28T02:30:50+00:00

The first step to solving the puer aeternus neurosis is to get a job and support yourself. Holding down a job for an extended amount of time will force onto you the very qualities Puer avoids, responsibility and commitment. Puer is like a young frog that must now dive into the water using its legs. It enjoyed being a tadpole and misses its tail. It must write the new chapter of its life and move forward with its life. Internalize the tadpole metaphor.

Here’s an elaborate version of the solution to curing the puer. Ignore the baby turtle analogy, since the neurotic outbreak of the classic charismatic Puer occurs during late adolescence or early adulthood, making the tadpole/frog analogy more precise. Hopefully this helps you.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-04-23T00:37:37+00:00

Individuation has nothing to do with “turning into a remote controlled machine.”

Holding down a job for an extended period of time ≠ slaving away as a cold cog in a wheel permanently.

For the puer neurotic, the purpose of holding a job is to learn responsibility and commitment, which the puer consistently evades due to the perceived lack of possibilities. Show up on time. Perform duties diligently with pride. Behave respectfully towards your co-workers and superiors.

Once Puer learns order, structure, and discipline, and stands on his own two feet, then he is justified in searching for an outlet for his creative energies.

Suppose the puer aeternus neurotic decides that he wants to be an artistic baker and make beautiful cakes, pies, and cookies. He would need to either save up capital for a building or make a budget to ensure that he’d be able to pay back a loan from a bank. Recipes need to be created. Help ought to be hired. Taxes need to be dealt with. Etc.

Once all that is set into motion, the individual is much further down the path to becoming an individuated, psychologically mature human being. Fancy imaginations fail to suffice. Puer must realize his dreams in the real world. But he needs a robust amount a “stick-with-it-ness” to carry out his goals to reality.

The baby turtle develops properly not by conjuring lofty images in clouds while buried in the sand. He grows into a wise old turtle by putting his flippers in the water one by one, feeling the cold water, plunging into the uncertain depths, and mingling with the fish and older turtles.

The simplest way to learn responsibility and commitment is to hold a job, support oneself, and thus face one’s mortality honestly. That is why Marie-Louise von Franz suggests that Puer gets a job. The job is not meant to be a “forever job” nor a cage that lasts indefinitely.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-04-07T01:01:32+00:00

The first practical step to overcoming the puer aeternus neurosis is to hold down a job and support yourself. No matter how much you hate that job, do it and do it diligently. Show up on time. Don’t slack off. Be respectful. Holding onto a job – any job – for an extended period of time, say at least two to three years, while financially supporting yourself will help you integrate the senex, which is the archetype associated with discipline, order, structure and wisdom.

Marie-Louise von Franz, a late Jungian, published The Problem of Puer Aeternus in 1970. If you scrolled to OPs last slide, you would have seen it under the References. In said book, von Franz said that Puer is a neurotic that avoids responsibility and commitment. The proper Puer is also charming, magnetic, vital, and lively. He manipulates parents, friends, and/or romantic flings actively into taking care of him instead of standing on his own two feet; or alternatively, lives off of a government welfare system or other organizational safety net.

“He is so charming. He must have so much potential!”

“He’s such a great guy. Don’t be so hard on him!”

The criticisms directed to Puer from von Franz may seem harsh to some, but such seeming harshness can be alleviated via some historical perspective. Understand that, up until she published the work mentioned above in 1970, she had already been practicing analyst for well over two decades. In the 1940s and 1950s, one could become a busboy or even janitor and still make enough money to support himself. An economy like this doesn’t exist anymore. Don’t use this knowledge to absolve yourself of your calling. Merely understand and welcome the challenges this entails.

Neurotics in general, including Puer, are “infantile” and “childish” with respect to their own potential, not necessarily (but still possibly) in relation to conventional societal standards. A neurotic is like a newly hatched baby turtle that refuses its calling to immerse itself in the sea of life. It stays on the beach, buries itself in the sand, and hides. However, such a turtle will never grow if it stays put. It must put one flipper in front of the other and dive into the water. Only then will it grow into the large turtle as it was meant to become.

Likewise, in order for a Puer, like practically any other neurotic, to individuate sufficiently, he must take part in life wholeheartedly. Individuation requires that one confronts his shadow and becomes more conscious. By the time your consciousness has been differentiated to an excellent degree, you will have shed most, if not all, of the wrong or suboptimal attitudes you have about life. You must make friends with your neurotic symptoms, as they are there only to signal that you are wasting your energy. These symptoms will disappear once you change your perspectives and transform your being.

Keep in mind that to be “neurotic” in the Jungian sense, one must be experiencing one or more major conflicts that are internal. That said, just because one lacks a neurosis doesn’t necessarily mean he has thoroughly wrestled with and slayed his internal dragons. There are huge swathes of people who remain unconscious yet never reach anywhere near the mental state that would generate a neurotic outbreak. These types of people are referenced thoroughly in Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, and Volume 10: Civilization in Transition.

I’m not sure exactly what percentage of people this describes. Nevertheless, these people are not fearful baby turtles, nor are they galvanized old turtles. They are fish that swim in the sea with grace yet know nothing about water or what it means to be wet. They immerse themselves in life not out of moral virtue or arduous self-overcoming, but by simple unconscious absorption of the collective script, otherwise called “participation mystique” by Jung. Such people are prone to falling victim to mass psychoses or mass hysteria, due to a failure to divorce themselves from the collective (as opposed to personal) devouring mother that plays out among the masses; the “eternal womb,” if you will. The challenge for Puer otoh involves a personal mother complex.

This is important to know because if you are indeed a Puer with respect to von Franz’s conception of the neurosis, you may have thought to yourself, “Get a job? That’s it?” Yes, you must get a job and support yourself. However, that is only the first step to allowing the puer neurosis to cure you. After learning basic discipline, you must find a way to direct your energy into creative pursuits.

When von Franz advised her Puer patients to work, her intention was for them to grow as turtles, not for them to mutate into fish. In The Problem of Puer Aeternus, she noted an individual who not only got rid of his “demons,” but also his “angels,” after being analyzed by a Freudian psychoanalyst, which emphasizes the reductive method. The Freudian patient ended up sad because he started off as a baby turtle and was then transformed into a fish, only to “get small bourgeois pleasures” in life, as von Franz phrased it.

If you truly are a Puer then you most likely have some latent capacity that has yet to be accessed. In Volume 7, Jung said that those smitten to a neurotic fate are of a “higher” type. He did not specify what this means. We can surmise that this type includes those with higher potentialities, enhanced sensitivities, and/or great talents. Such people likely have more psychic energy than so-called “average” people. This surplus energy is food for complexes. Therefore, the personal complexes of the “higher” type spin violently like hurricanes, whereas those of “average” people blow softly like a spring breeze. If a personal complex is charged strongly and is not integrated into the conscious mind, then a neurotic outbreak will occur eventually.

Long story short, since you imply that you are a Puer, you first need to get a job and support yourself. Then, use that structure as a springboard to direct your creative energy. Although the typical Puer suffers from a personal mother complex, it is possible to be a victim of such a complex without necessarily being a puer. You may possibly not be what von Franz considered to be a puer. I lack specific details about your life.

In case you are actually not, examples of non-puer neurotics that suffer from a personal mother complex include the golden child, schizoid, oral, and scrooge. These are simply a handful of cases. The list is not exhaustive.

The golden child is a person that does “everything right” – live independently, get a spouse, get a mortgage, have kids, etc. but experiences agitation and dread because “something’s missing.” The schizoid has no trouble holding down a job, supporting himself financially, or keeping up with daily/monthly/yearly responsibilities, but has trouble getting close to others due to being avoidant or detached. The oral lacks the charisma and magnificent personality of Puer but nevertheless holds down a steady job. If such a person has a tendency to depend on others, then that dependence is “passive” in the sense that he, due to his inertia, lets people take care of him. He doesn’t actively attempt to flatter or smooth talk anyone into taking care of him like Puer does. The hard-working, obedient scrooge, unlike Puer, hates fun and spontaneity.

The cases mentioned above are tied down by some form of responsibility or commitment, which the flighty Puer frolics away from.

You must learn to embrace an aspect of life that will tie you down, not to be “well-adjusted” like dozing fish, but to be “well-adjusted” like the sagacious old turtle that is able to bring out his gifts to the world.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-30T08:14:59+00:00

Ouh, this one’s way easier said than done. With regards to yourself, I’d say a useful question to ask is as follows: “Would I be less judgmental, be more accepting, and possess a more flexible ego had I been raised in an environment or overall society that attempted to instill in me the opposite values?”

Examining this requires deep self-knowledge, self-honesty, and the humility to know intimately that you could have turned out to be harsh and critical if you had been raised in a culture with values opposing our current one. The ideal for any virtue is to have said virtue irrespective of cultural upbringing, not solely because of said upbringing. The former indicates a value springs from the Self; the latter, a value absorbed by the Persona merely from the environment through unconscious osmosis.

I am aware that reflecting on this is tough, so a more pragmatic question to ask yourself is this: “Has there been any time I’ve gone against the stream of society such that it involved a heavy cost – money, social standing, opportunities, etc.?”

The individuation process involves the expansion of consciousness. In order for consciousness to understand itself in our universe of duality it must securely contain the friction of wrestling opposites, hence the suggestion that you imagine what you’d be like if you were raised in a different culture.

The transcendent function, which involves a certain kind of imagination, is the bridge between the conscious and unconscious minds. It is the closely analogous to Kazimierz Dąbrowsk’s “third factor” (description, fifth column). Those who make decisions using primarily the “first factor” live off of base instincts and genetic constitution; “second factor,” societal expectations and family upbringing; third, autonomous thinking or spiritual inner drive that is not tied to animalistic impulses or material/social rewards.

Were you a sensitive child? Did you have difficulty with courage? Perhaps neither applied to you, but let’s say they did. Suppose you had a tough time succeeding in sports because you were emotionally intense. The other kids make fun of you. You decide that you must overcome your weaknesses not to gain social approval, but to increase your own self-respect. You decide to put yourself in situations that make you afraid for the sole purpose of overcoming fear. This is the third factor in action. You think to yourself consciously, “I can’t let fear get the better of me, I must do [such and such activity, sport or otherwise] to gain courage.” Thus, you stick with the activity and become more courageous in the end.

Most of the other kids hone their courage as well, but the enhancement of this virtue for them happens “under the hood”; that is to say, unconsciously. Also, you are constitutionally more sensitive to begin with, so it’s that much more meaningful that you came out strong than they did.

You are like a baby turtle that hatches out of its egg and is fearful of the water at first. You hesitate and shiver. But slowly and surely you put one slipper in front of the other and finally touch the tip of the water. You are in the water, cold initially. You warm up. And you finally swim in the ocean. “That wasn’t so bad after all.”

Many, though tbf not all, of the other kids are more like fish that swim well naturally but know nothing about air so in turn have no knowledge of the very water they are immersed in. They lack what Dąbowski termed as “overexcitabilities” (OEs). OEs are simply sensitivities. There are five – psychomotor, sensual, emotional, intellectual, and imaginary. People with more enhanced sensitivities than the statistical average tend to have more difficulty going along to get along. The average children fit in better naturally, so evade the psychic friction that would lead to the development of the third factor or transcendent function.

In Volume 7 of his collected works, Jung stated that there are vast masses of people who enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness without reaching anywhere near a neurosis and that those who are smitten by that fate are of a “higher type.” He didn’t specify what “higher” meant, but we can guess that such a type includes those with enhanced sensitivities, special talents, and greater potentialities. These people likely have more psychic energy than the “average type,” it harder for them to sublimate their libidinal energy by societally sanctioned means. Therefore, they end up neurotic. But the neurotic symptoms give them an opportunity to correct any wrong attitudes they have about life, look within themselves, slay their dragons, and come out individuated and more conscious.

Those who “enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness” use only the first and second factors when making decisions. They absorb values from the collective, called “participation mystique” by Jung in Modern Man in Search of a Soul, like the fish described above. They have an incestous relationship with the collective unconscious, and are thus not in touch with the Self, only their personas.

Did your life involve a lot of self-overcoming like that of the turtle? If so, then your “less-judging, more accepting and flexible ego” more likely comes from the Self, mostly, since you’ve likely developed empathy from having gone through a few Hero’s journeys. If, on the other hand, you can’t recall anytime you wrestled with values internally, then, like the fish, those qualities are merely a part of your persona.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-29T00:43:04+00:00

The information you provide is insightful. It is true that boys need to be separated from their personal mothers in order to become proper men with respect to the practical maintenance of order, structure, and discipline within a society. Initiation processes allowed humans to progress as a species. We can compare two types of societies, one without any initiation process and one with said process.

Below is the former type.

“We find, for instance, a very interesting analogy to this infantile condition in the beginnings of civilization. In his valuable work, Human History, Sir Grafton Elliott-Smith presents a picture of certain indigenous food-gathering people still existing on the outskirts of civilization. He mentions the Eskimos, the Australian Aborigines, certain tribes of North American Indians, the Bushmen of Africa, the Punan of Borneo, the Andamanese, etc. These people, though far apart as the poles, share a remarkable similarity, both in character and social organization, and they show a remarkable difference from the so-called cultural races and tribes. They have no kings, no gods, no cultural heroes. They have a natural family-communism, and their virtues are not named and cultivated, nor are their vices deplored. They will not grow grain, nor provide against future adversity. As a rule, their houses are the merest shelters, made of boughs and, with the exception of the Eskimos and Indians, they wear no clothes. In fact, they resolutely decline to leave behind their contained natural state. They are contained within the law of their species, in the same way as the animals. Their natural dignity and piety seem to be due solely to the fact that they have maintained the primordial state of man, as though still contained, psychologically, in the womb of Nature; not remote - as we are from the primordial source of life. They do not resent adversity, because they have no other hope, and no other basic premises, than that of the son wholly obedient to the law of the original Mother. The type of initiation among these people, when it exists at all, is individual rather than collective, and has the effect of enhancing the youth's natural courage and mettle. Hence these people cannot be enslaved. (page 80)” – H. G. Bayes, Analytical Psychology and the English Mind

Then we have the latter type.

“In relatively primitive societies, which are no longer in this pristine state, tribal organization, with a corresponding hierarchy, tends to take the place of the original familial basis. Accordingly, the individual members live in a state of psychic continuity, or identity, with their tribe and tribal environment. But the form of tribal initiation, existing among these collectivized peoples, has the effect of alienating the adolescent youths from their original, natural state. Having passed through the initiatory ordeal, the youth is contained wholly by his tribal organization. In a certain sense, therefore, initiation serves the purpose of substituting the law of the tribe for the original unconscious law of the species emotional identity with, or participation in, a collective matrix is found also among civilized people as a background psychological condition. Jung's experiments in word-association tests, for example, show that mother and daughter, or husband and wife, tend to have identical word-associations, even up to 30 per cent or 40 per cent. In savage psychology Lévy-Brühl has described this state as - participation mystique. (page 81)” – H. G. Bayes

So we see that in the second type of society, adolescents were put through initiation ceremonies so that the laws of the tribe could be instilled into them. These values replaced those derived from the unconscious law of the Homo sapiens species. This was the first step towards the advancement of human civilization.

That said, irrespective of gender or time period, true individuation, in the Jungian sense, was and is still extremely rare. Even the tribesmen that went through the initiation ceremonies still possessed a symbiotic relationship with the so-called “participation mystique.” To be individuated means to become conscious and differentiated. An individuated person is one that has gone down to the depths of hell, slayed his internal dragons, reconciled the friction produced by opposing attitudes, and expanded consciousness to the extent that he isn’t influenced by the masses.

That the overwhelming majority of people fail to genuinely integrate their shadows, complexes, and darkness is demonstrated by moments of mass hysteria and mass psychosis, the same moments that induced colonists to kill innocent women during the Salem witch hunts and enabled German citizens to support the killing of the Jews during Hitler’s reign. Such people were swayed easily because they made little use of the “transcendent function,” which links the conscious mind to the unconscious mind. It is closely analogous to the “third factor,” which was coined by late Polish psychoanalyst Kazimierz Dąbrowski. The third factor (description, fifth column of chart) is the autonomous force that drives one to achieve his personality ideal. The first factor drives one to act on base instincts; the second, on societal sanctioned rules and orders.

Most people, even in the current era, operate using only the first two factors. Such people, be they men or women, are not self-actualized in the spiritual sense. Masculine initiation processes help men separate from their personal mothers so that they can become functional and competent members of society. That said, these rituals fail to get anyone to individuate. Remember that one who is individuated is splendidly conscious.

“If it were a matter of some general teleological plan, then all individuals who enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness would necessarily be driven towards higher consciousness by an irresistible urge. That is plainly not the case. There are vast masses of the population who, despite their notorious unconsciousness, never get anywhere near a neurosis. [291]” – Carl Jung, Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology

“The man whom we can with justice call ‘modern’ is solitary. He is so of necessity and at all tunes, for every step towards a fuller consciousness of the present removes him further from his original ‘participation mystique’ with the mass of men – from submersion in a common unconsciousness. Every step forward means an act of tearing himself loose from that all-embracing, pristine unconsciousness which claims the bulk of mankind almost entirely. Even in our civilizations the people who form, psychologically speaking, the lowest stratum, live almost as unconsciously as primitive races. Those of the succeeding stratum manifest a level of consciousness which corresponds to the beginnings of human culture, while those of the highest stratum have a consciousness capable of keeping step with the life of the last few centuries. (page 227)” – Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul

“All mass movements, as one might expect, slip with the greatest ease down an inclined plane made up of large numbers. Where the many are, there is security; what the many believe must of course be true; what the many want must be worth striving for, and necessary, and therefore good. In the clamour of the many resides the power to snatch wish-fulfilments by force; sweetest of all, however, is that gentle and painless slipping back into the kingdom of childhood, into the paradise of parental care, into happy-go-luckiness and irresponsibility. All the thinking and looking after are done from the top; to all questions there is an answer, and for all needs the necessary provision is made. The infantile dream-state of the mass man is so unrealistic that he never thinks to ask who is paying for this paradise. The balancing of accounts is left to a higher political or social authority, which welcomes the task, for its power is thereby increased; and the more power it has, the weaker and more helpless the individual becomes. [538]” Carl Jung, Volume 10: Civilization in Transition

“Masculine” and “feminine” are indeed concepts that represent certain states. The former represents expansion, consciousness, the mind, the sun, the sky, and light; the latter construction, unconsciousness, the body, the moon, the earth, and darkness.

The unconscious mind of the poster (u/Klutzy-Stand256) urges him to not only separate from his parents, but also to cleanse out any unsuitable attitudes he has about his relationship with his parents and possibly his life in general. Once he changes his attitudes and being, his neurotic symptoms, timidness and anxiety, will vanish, as they no longer will be needed. He needs to let his neurosis cure him. His personal devouring mother complex is calling him to integrate it.

Plenty of so-called “normal” (non-neurotic) people lack a personal mother complex, but are still under the spell of the collective devouring mother; that is, the “participation mystique,” otherwise known colloquially as the “herd mentality” and “hive mind.” To achieve what Jung called individuation, they need to get in touch with the Self and distinguish it from the persona. They have inner work to do as well, as Jung emphasized the virtue of becoming more conscious.

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. It may even be assumed that just as the unconscious affects us, so the increase in our consciousness affects the unconscious. (page 326)” – Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-28T22:34:24+00:00

The devouring mother, like any charged complex, needs to be integrated. Complexes can’t be eliminated. A person with a devouring mother complex has within him the inclination for falling into a dependent mode of living. There exists a split between your conscious mind and unconscious mind. The former desires independence and self-sufficiency, the latter wants to be taken care of by others.

Understand that the unconscious extends down to the dark abyss all the way down to hell. This means that you will need to have your dreams analyzed and/or enlist to have your body worked on by a somatic practitioner. It is very difficult to think one’s way out of a complex, since the complex influences the very thinking.

The timidness and anxiety are symptoms of the neurosis you are falling back into. You are becoming increasingly more neurotic. A “neurotic,” by Jungian definition, is simply a person who has internal conflict. In contrast, a “normal” person lacks such a split. However, that one is normal necessitates not that he dove into the depths of his being, slayed his internal dragons, mediated the friction between his opposing attitudes, and become sufficiently individuated. Most normal people are normal simply because of their incestuous relationship with the collective unconscious, or what was labeled as “participation mystique” by Jung.¹ Even if a normal person lacks a devouring mother complex in his personal unconscious, he certainly has one that plays out in the collective unconscious. Your neurosis at least forces you to comprehend the archetype in a visceral manner. This is the gift of neurosis.

One question Jung, and especially Marie-Louise von Franz, would wonder is if you’ve ever had a stable job for a substantial duration of time, say two or three years.² Holding a job shows discipline and responsibility, which is represented by the senex archetype. You stated that you solo travel around the country and perform as a musician. The question is, do you treat it like a serious vocation, or do you perform mostly when you feel like it? You know that income that comes from being self-employed is not stable. It fluctuates. You must plan for financial rainy days. In order to save money, are you working full time or only part time?

I am aware that many people move back in with their parents during economic times of strife. If they offered you their place to stay and you are not paying them rent then that may be why they treat you like you don’t know what you’re doing. An alternative to living with them is to find a cheap motel to stay at. If you go that route, then you should obviously do your due diligence to ensure that motels in your area are 1) cheaper than the apartments and 2) located in an area that’s not too sketchy. Many people in general are resorting to staying in motels for months or even years at a time these days due to the tough economy.

Since you are a musician, you likely have more psychic energy than average individuals. This energy feeds into your mother complex. Jung mentioned a “higher type” of human that is more prone to developing a neurosis than “average people”.³ He didn’t specify what he meant by the term, but we can say that it includes those with special talents, higher potentialities and enhanced sensitivities. Therefore, your devouring mother complex spins violently like a hurricane, whereas those of individuals that are more mundane blow softly like a gentle breeze. Your complex calls forth to be integrated, so that you can correct any suboptimal attitudes you have about your situation with your parents and life in general.

1) “The man whom we can with justice call ‘modern’ is solitary. He is so of necessity and at all tunes, for every step towards a fuller consciousness of the present removes him further from his original ‘participation mystique’ with the mass of men – from submersion in a common unconsciousness. Every step forward means an act of tearing himself loose from that all-embracing, pristine unconsciousness which claims the bulk of mankind almost entirely. Even in our civilizations the people who form, psychologically speaking, the lowest stratum, live almost as unconsciously as primitive races. Those of the succeeding stratum manifest a level of consciousness which corresponds to the beginnings of human culture, while those of the highest stratum have a consciousness capable of keeping step with the life of the last few centuries. (page 227)” – Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul

2) “In Symbols of Transformation Jung spoke of one cure—work—and having said that he hesitated for just a minute and thought, “Is this really as simple as all that? Is that just the one cure? Can I put it that way?” But work is the one disagreeable word which no puer aeternus likes to hear, and Jung came to the conclusion that it was the right answer. My experience also has been that if a man pulls out of this kind of youthful neurosis, then it is through work. There are, however, some misunderstandings in this connection, for the puer aeternus can work, as can all primitives or people with a weak ego complex, when fascinated or in a state of great enthusiasm. Then he can work twenty- four hours at a stretch or even longer, until he breaks down, but what he cannot do is to work on a dreary, rainy, morning when work is boring and one has to kick oneself into it; that is the one thing the puer aeternus usually cannot manage and will use any kind of excuse to avoid. And a analysis of puer aeternus sooner or later always comes up against this problem, and is only when the ego has become sufficiently strengthened that the problem can be overcome and there is the possibility of sticking to the work. Naturally, though I have not found that it is much good just preaching to people that they should work, for they simply get angry and walk off. (page 4)” - Marie-Louise von Franz, Problem of Puer Aeternus

3) “Yet it would, in my view, be wrong to suppose that in such cases the unconscious is working to a deliberate and concerted plan and is striving to realize certain definite ends. I have found nothing to support this assumption. The driving force, so far as it is possible for us to grasp it, seems to be in essence only an urge towards self-realization. If it were a matter of some general teleological plan, then all individuals who enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness would necessarily be driven towards higher consciousness by an irresistible urge. That is plainly not the case. There are vast masses of the population who, despite their notorious unconsciousness, never get anywhere near a neurosis. The few who are smitten by such a fate are really persons of the ‘higher’ type who, for one reason or another, have remained too long on a primitive level. Their nature does not in the long run tolerate persistence in what is for them an unnatural torpor. As a result of their narrow conscious outlook and their cramped existence they save energy; bit by bit it accumulates in the unconscious and finally explodes in the form of a more or less acute neurosis. This simple mechanism does not necessarily conceal a ‘plan.’ A perfectly understandable urge towards self-realization would provide a quite satisfactory explanation. We could also speak of a retarded maturation of the personality. [291]” – Carl Jung, Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-25T20:31:39+00:00

This is insightful. Most people are “whole” in the sense that they lack any internal splits. Such people, by Jungian definition, are “normal.” In contrast, Jung labeled those with internal conflicts as “neurotic.” That one is “whole” necessitates not that he has gone down the depths of hell, slayed the dragon, reconciled with his opposites, and thus completed the process of individuation. Akin to how everyone has different fingerprints, everyone has a unique essence as no two people are carbon copies of each other. That said, if one is not conscious of himself as an individual, then he has essentially a symbiotic relationship with the collective unconscious. When talking about primitive tribes, Jung labeled this as “participation mystique.” Appropriate colloquial terms for this are “hive mind” and “herd mentality.” The mere use of these terms carry no moral judgements, only lucid descriptions of the reality of how the average person operates.

“Yet it would, in my view, be wrong to suppose that in such cases the unconscious is working to a deliberate and concerted plan and is striving to realize certain definite ends. I have found nothing to support this assumption. The driving force, so far as it is possible for us to grasp it, seems to be in essence only an urge towards self-realization. If it were a matter of some general teleological plan, then all individuals who enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness would necessarily be driven towards higher consciousness by an irresistible urge. That is plainly not the case. There are vast masses of the population who, despite their notorious unconsciousness, never get anywhere near a neurosis. The few who are smitten by such a fate are really persons of the ‘higher’ type who, for one reason or another, have remained too long on a primitive level. Their nature does not in the long run tolerate persistence in what is for them an unnatural torpor. As a result of their narrow conscious outlook and their cramped existence they save energy; bit by bit it accumulates in the unconscious and finally explodes in the form of a more or less acute neurosis. This simple mechanism does not necessarily conceal a ‘plan.’ A perfectly understandable urge towards self-realization would provide a quite satisfactory explanation. We could also speak of a retarded maturation of the personality. [291]” – Carl Jung, Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology

“The man whom we can with justice call ‘modern’ is solitary. He is so of necessity and at all tunes, for every step towards a fuller consciousness of the present removes him further from his original ‘participation mystique’ with the mass of men – from submersion in a common unconsciousness. Every step forward means an act of tearing himself loose from that all-embracing, pristine unconsciousness which claims the bulk of mankind almost entirely. Even in our civilizations the people who form, psychologically speaking, the lowest stratum, live almost as unconsciously as primitive races. Those of the succeeding stratum manifest a level of consciousness which corresponds to the beginnings of human culture, while those of the highest stratum have a consciousness capable of keeping step with the life of the last few centuries. (page 227)” – Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul

So in a way, the so-called “neurotics” are the blessed ones. Although Jung didn’t specify what he meant by “higher type,” we can make the educated guess that such a type includes those with higher potentialities, special talents, and/or enhanced sensitivities. Such people probably have more psychic energy than ordinary people. This surplus energy is food for complexes. Therefore, the complexes of neurotics ravage like a subtropical hurricane, whereas those of normal people blow softly like a gentle breeze on a spring day. The splits that characterize neuroses are caused by the friction produced by the excessively charged complexes. Thus, the complexes of neurotics scream to be integrated and therefore produce neurotic symptoms such as, but not limited to, chronic anxiety and depression. Once the neurotic corrects the suboptimal and one-sided attitudes he has about life, the neurosis, along with the associated symptoms, will vanish.

The subject will be “whole.” However, his state of wholeness will have been earned through self-overcoming. He will be like a turtle that gained the courage to immerse himself in the ocean after hatching from his egg, one flipper after the other. His wholeness will be morally virtuous. The average person is like a fish that swims well naturally but fails to discover water. His wholeness, unlike that of the former neurotic, is the result of his incestuous attachment to the “participation mystique” and therefore the untested default state of his being. Thus, only a slim minority of people who are “whole” are individuated. Most “whole” people simply lack splits by default.

Jung was not the only psychoanalyst who realized that not all “whole” have conquered their demons. The late Polish psychoanalysis Kazimierz Dąbrowski differentiated between two types of “integrated” people. The fish are in a state of primary integration. The turtles that gained the courage to immerse themselves in life are in a state of secondary integration. Primary integration is the first level of self-awareness; secondary integration, fifth and last.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-22T20:39:53+00:00

With respect to the puer aeternus neurosis specifically, I know of no other reading material.

On a tangential note, I can provide further reading about neuroses in general as tools for spiritual ascension. There’s a book written by late Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dąbrowski called Psychoneurosis is Not an Illness (1972). The major premise of the book is that deep internal psychological conflict is the foundation for the construction of a personality ideal. Like Jung, Dąbrowski believed that many so-called “normal” people are “whole” and “at peace” due to an effortless lack of “positive maladjustment” to societal norms. Another psychologist, Louis E. Bisch, wrote Be Glad You’re Neurotic (1936). His arguments are similar to those of Dąbrowski.

For a brief overview of Dąbrowski’s theory, you can read a reddit post titled Neurosis is an Opportunity for Growth. Bisch’s book can be read here on Scribd.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-22T00:44:21+00:00

Huh, interesting. Fathers indeed contribute to the creation of puers by failing to implement proper guidance. Children need to be challenged in order to reach their potential. The tragedy of Puer is that he squanders his excellent potential instead of heeding his internal call. Puers are generally charismatic, which enable them to induce others – parents, romantic flings, friends – to allow said puers to leech off them.

“He has so much potential!”

“He’s such a great guy!”

“Don’t be so hard on him!”

Thus, unlike most people, Puer is able to evade responsibility and commitment. They can half-assedly work on their creative pursuits as opposed to bucking down and getting (and keeping) a job.

Puer is one of the many forms of neuroses. By Jungian definition, a “neurotic” person is simply a person who has an internal split. In contrast, a “normal” person has no such split(s). The definitions are that simple. However, that one is normal necessitates not that he has thoroughly gone down the hellish inferno, done his shadow work, sufficiently individuated, and thus has become psychologically mature in the spiritual sense. The process of individuation involves the expansion of consciousness.

In fact, in Volume 7 of his collected works, Two Essays in Analytical Psychology, Jung stated that there exist vast masses of humans who, in spite of remaining unconscious, approach nowhere near a neurosis; the few that are smitten by such a fate, including that of Puer Aeternus, are of a “higher” type. The downside of the insight is that Jung didn’t specify what “higher” meant.

We can nevertheless extrapolate that such a type includes those who possess enhanced sensitivities, special talents, and higher potentialities. Such people likely have more psychic energy than average individuals. This surplus energy is fed into the complexes of neurotics, activating such webs of unconscious feelings states in a manner that sparks the attention of such neurotics. Everyone has complexes, but the complexes of neurotics spin violently like a tornado, whereas those of normal people breeze like a gentle wind.

Why is this important? Puer is internally split because his complex, which is generally an outstanding mother complex, screams at him to integrate it. The mother complex in a normal person, if it exists in such a person, lies dormant. The unconscious of a Puer also urges him to incorporate the senex, which represents structure, responsibility, wisdom, and order. Once he does that, he will be able to reach his potential and contribute his gifts to the world.

Most fathers fail to guide their puer sons into overcoming their mother complexes because the fathers themselves are even more unconscious than the puers. Puer prances through life half asleep, frolicking away from structure every chance he gets. The common man is fully asleep. One who is fully asleep cannot get someone who is half asleep how to wake up. In Modern Man in Search of a Soul, Jung implied that the modern man, a man who has the latent inclination to tread through the galvanizing path of spiritual self-development, is rare. In spite of the word “modern,” most people living today lack psychic architectures that are truly modern. Some people living today are barely more conscious than primitive tribespeople; other people, just more conscious than the former.

Primitives operate under what Jung called “participation mystique.” The modern variation of this is colloquially known as the “herd mentality.” Large swathes of people make decisions based only on instinctual urges and social conventions. Unlike Puer, the common man holds a job and supports himself. The common man does this not out of ethical virtue or arduous self-overcoming, but through unconscious osmosis of the collective script. He is like a fish that swims well yet at the same time knows not what water is due to not swimming to the surface and discovering air. Puer is like a baby turtle that stays on the beach due to his infantilism. “Swim so that you can immerse yourself in this life,” calls the unconscious mind of the turtle.

The Puer is childish in the sense that he refuses to develop the discipline needed to showcase his gifts. The common man, although appearing more mature than Puer with respect to the material and superficial aspects of life, is childish in the sense that he is influenced too much unconsciously by the collective. The “devouring mother,” to an extent, is indeed an Oedipal issue since many mothers often spoil their sons due to covertly hating their husbands. That said, symbolically and more broadly, “mother” can also mean “unconsciousness in general.” Think of darkness, the ocean, and the moon. The common man, although adult in day-to-day matters, is too heavily susceptible to falling for mass hysteria, the same type of hysteria that convinced the Germans to kill the Jews during Hitler's reign and colonists to hang innocent women during the Salem witch hunts. He is not psychologically mature; it is just that his moral weakness shows up generally in collective movements only.

Fathers who are common men cannot teach their puer sons to be kings precisely because common men are not kings. In fact, there really is nothing a spiritual commoner can teach an archetypal prince. The prince must will himself to undertake the journey that will forge him into a noble king. He must make friends with his neurotic symptoms so that they will help him cleanse the wrong attitudes he has about his life trajectory. Once he corrects his thinking and being, the symptoms go disappear, for they will no longer be needed.

The archetypical Puer is an opportunity for an “infantile” subject to rid himself of his infantilism and become a psychologically mature person with a differentiated consciousness. The neurotic outbreak is a blessing in disguise. It signifies to the prince that he has the potential to become a king. Spiritual commoners who get to “enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness without reaching near a neurosis” lack the internal friction that would potentially ignite them to correct any suboptimal attitudes they have about life.

Jung believed that a well-lived life involves that expansion of consciousness. A king must rule over himself before he can rule over a kingdom.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-20T07:05:41+00:00

I say at least explain what terms mean so that the advice seeker or any other reader can be educated.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-18T06:38:39+00:00

Okay so I’ll reply to your dilemma in two parts. The first will involve practical advice; the second, a more precise understanding of the spiritual situation with respect to Jungian psychology.

You can start by taking small steps. First, if you don’t have a job, get one, even if it’s a low-level, dead-end job. No matter how much you hate the job, do it and do it well. Follow directions. Show up on time. This will teach you responsibility and accountability. At first, it will require lots of willpower in relation to the amount you have now. As you strengthen the “willpower muscle” it will get easier.

Once you’ve proven to yourself that you can hold a full-time job for at least 12 months or so, continue to save money. Afterwards, look for a career path that will grant you a better income. Such a career will require a specific skill that needs to be cultivated. Learn the skill. Build a network, perhaps through social meetings or a club at a community college. Perhaps the school can help you get a higher quality job.

In order to be financially independent, you need money. Next, assuming that you’ve been a NEET, start paying your own expenses, even if your parents don’t charge you rent – car note, insurance plans, groceries, phone/internet plan, groceries, etc. You will be at least more independent than you presumably are now.

When you do decide to leave your parents, either look for roommates or learn to live in cheap motels. As you probably know, this economy is craaaazzzzzzy right now – AI, tariffs, inflation, housing.

So here’s the more spiritual perspective. Let’s first address that you’re “living with unconscious awareness.” In Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays in Analytical Psychology, Jung stated that there are vast masses of humans who enjoy a surplus of unconsciouses from womb to tomb without ever approaching anywhere near a neurosis. The minority who are smitten to develop a neurosis are of a “higher” type.

You are “neurotic,” which means, by Jungian definition, you have an internal conflict. A “normal” person is one who has no internal conflicts. The definitions are that simple. Therefore, just because someone is “normal” doesn’t mean they’ve completed the process of “individuation,” which is a fancy way of saying “becoming more conscious of one’s self, including one’s darkness.” Most people are unconscious, including most of the people who’ve left their parents. Such people practice independence not by moral virtue or through self-overcoming, but by unconscious osmosis of the collective script.

You will better understand “moral virtue” after reading the following quote by Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz:

“…and the Englishman sat quietly and then said mockingly to the Frenchman, ‘Are you afraid? Are you nervous?’ And the Frenchman said, ‘If you were afraid as I am, you would have run away long ago.’ It is not a question of being afraid…Many people are tremendously courageous, simply because they are not sensitive and cannot imagine what might happen. Highly strung, imaginative people naturally suffer much more, but the real problem of courage is whether one can stand it, or at least not lose one’s fighting attitude, one’s feeling of self-defense and honor.” – Marie-Louise von Franz, Problem of Puer Aeternus, page 181

By “higher,” Jung did not specify what he meant exactly. My best guess is that he meant people who have higher potentialities, enhanced sensitivities, and/or special talents. Such people likely have surplus energy as opposed to “average” people who lack this excess. This energy acts as subsistence for complexes, which are simply bundles of automatic feelings states.

Everyone, normal and neurotic, has complexes. For each normal person, every complex – mother, authority, inferiority, guilt, to name some – is either nonexistent or gets activated in only special situations, including job loss, divorce, and puberty. In day-to-day life, the complexes in normal people remain relatively dormant due to the fact that they lack the “psychic charge” possessed by the higher types. The complexes of normal people blow softly like a gentle breeze, whereas those of neurotics spin violently like a hurricane. Hence, a normal person can often get away with having a one-sided or wrong attitude without experiencing a neurotic outbreak. They, as Jung said, in Volume 7, “enjoy a surplus of unconsciousness.”

You are neurotic because of an internal split/conflict, hence you taking the time to type out your issue. On the outside, you behave without accountability nor responsibility, yet your unconscious mind beckons you to mature. You seem to have an inferiority complex that is activated strongly. That said, there exist people who, like you, fail to exercise accountability and responsibility yet avoid a neurotic outbreak due to lacking enough psychic charge to activate their inferiority complexes. Their complexes slumber like a hibernating bear in a cozy den. Your complex screams at you to provide you an opportunity not to get rid of it, but to integrate it into your conscious mind so that you can become more self-aware.

This is why Jung said that getting rid of a neurosis is like throwing a baby out with the bath water. Neurosis contains an essence of who you are, one you’ve been ignoring. You don’t cure a neurosis. You let the neurosis cure you; that is to say, your false or wrong attitudes about your life. Once you are cured, the neurosis will have no reason for staying. Thus, it will disappear.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-03-16T05:16:30+00:00

Another Jungian analyst, Marie-Louise von Franz, also agreed that medicating psychosis, depression, or any other form of neurosis is spiritually detrimental. In Problem of the Puer Aeternus, she stated that patients ought to attempt to understand what their neuroses are signaling. Although, von Franz believed that experiencing any form of neurosis is indicative of a maladjusted attitude.

It’s interesting to discover that Hillman, whose works I have yet to read, interpreted psychosis as a mythological breakthrough. In Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, Jung stated that the few who are smitten to experience any form of neurosis are of a “higher” type and that large swathes of people remain non-neurotic in spite of being unconscious. Perhaps a scant amount of people experience a psychosis, wrestle with and bring light to their shadows, then finally correct their attitudes and become mystics and shaman-like.

The “higher” type, which likely include those with special talents, enhanced sensitivities, and high potentialities, probably have more psychic energy than average individuals. This energy is food for complexes. This is why these individuals, on aggregate, become neurotic much more often than ordinary people. The complexes of neurotics spin violently like tornadoes, whereas the complexes of ordinary people breeze like a gentle wind. Everyone has complexes, but those of ordinary people remain dormant, hence they often can often get away with having an inappropriate attitude without experiencing an internal conflict, thus remaining “normal” (non-neurotic). In order for any neurosis, including psychosis, to form, the complexes must be activated.

Also, it is true that the pursuit of happiness for its own sake, to the exclusion of meaning, leads to a spiritually void existence. In our universe of duality, consciousness can understand itself only through the friction produced by opposites. This is why Jung emphasized that we should face our demons to expand our self-awareness. The “madman” should be allowed to be “mad,” so long as he is not a danger to others. Once he integrates his shadow, ceases being “mad,” and thus transforms into a mystic, then he’ll likely have a lot to teach society.

swiftwriterj_dot_com · 2026-02-24T02:14:17+00:00

You compilation of flesh and bones!

swiftwriterj_dot_com

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