Image of the Self from Carl Jung’s Man & His Symbols
I am in a mood for a self-indulgent post. I just wanted to share my joy of inspiration. Someone was inspired by me today to create a haiku (http://martsart.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/water/) and this really made me happy.
I looked into the Online Etymology Dictionary:
c.1300, “immediate influence of God or a god,” especially that under which the holy books were written, from Old French inspiracion “inhaling, breathing in; inspiration,” from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative inspiratio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin inspirare “inspire, inflame, blow into,” from in- “in” (see in- (2)) + spirare “to breathe” (see spirit). Literal sense “act of inhaling” attested in English from 1560s. Meaning “one who inspires others” is attested by 1867.
Ever since I started this blog, I have been feeling more and more inspired. This can be explained astrologically: the transiting Jupiter is approaching my Sun among other things. When I moved to Zurich, the Swiss city of bankers, two years ago, I hit a very dry spell inspiration-wise. I was almost completely stuck in and devoured by the material plane. It was as if the spirit had left me. There is a movie for children called the Golden Compass, in which the characters have their own dæmons, which basically are their souls in the form of animals. Dæmons and their humans are not of the same gender, which to me is a neat allusion to Carl Jung’s theory of anima and animus – the male and female soul respectively. Anima and animus literally animate our inner spirit by sending us on a spiritual quest and guiding us through the world of the unconscious forms. In the film Golden Compass the separation from one’s dæmon caused severe pain and trauma. The evil Magisterium constructed a special guillotine which separates people from their dæmon. A person whose dæmon has been separated loses creativity, intelligence, will and any traces of a divine spark, thus becoming empty and lifeless, in short: uninspired. It is a very Gnostic concept: robbing humans of the Divine Spark and separating them from the Divine Light. This is how I felt for quite a while but I am pleased to say that not any more. My Socratean dæmon has come back to me after years of exile.
Who or what is that Socratean dæmon? We hear it via the inner voice. The dæmon is a powerful archetypal call of something larger than us. Jung wrote that it had an autonomous force and was able to make demands on a person ‘possessed’ by it. It is supposed to be a powerful creative process that individuals get caught up in and which is beyond their conscious control. As a natural force it cannot be stopped by ego consciousness. The main role of the dæmon is to make the individual whole again by forcing him or her to integrate the split fragments of the psyche and to find connection with a larger, divine Self archetype. The dæmon releases all the buried unconscious energy and that’s why it should be handled with caution because of its destructive force.
I am grateful to experience this feeling of renovation of spirit.
“Le Triomphe de l’Art”, 1894, by Léon Bonnat
symbolreader 
I am so pleased that you find yourself re-integrated. I had felt very lost and deadened for a good while and I believe that the actual intention to start blogging helped nurture my inner flame. I worried that I would run out of ideas, but I have seemed to release an infinite source of inspiration. Jupiter is transiting my IC, currently squaring my nodes and on route to my whimsically curious Gemini moon. With the sun/moon in the dissemination phase, I require a vehicle to spread the “word”. What you describe reminds me of the shamanic process of soul retrieval. What I adore about spiritual inclusion is the access to parallel expressions of truth.
I absolutely adore this post! please bring more of this genre.
blessings, linda
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Thank you! So you may have the Moon conjunct my Sun, that would explain the feeling of closeness despite the distance. Yes, shamanism is an accurate analogy. I have been retrieving my soul indeed.
All my best,
Monika
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My moon is near the end of Gemini so if you were born between June 14-16, its conjunct.
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8 June, so no conjunction. The affinity remains, though.
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the affinity does remain . Mine is Nov 6th.Do you have any Scorpio? You are an 8, which is associated with Pluto.
You are definitely very deep in your presentation so I figure it shows up somewhere 🙂
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Oh, I’ve got some Scorpionic energies, for better and for worse. Thank you for the compliments. Depth is always my aim
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Thank you for including the breakdown of “inspiration” something I had never thought to look into previously- very beautiful. Have you ever read James Hillman? I think you would like his book called “The Soul’s Code” in which he describes an “acorn theory” linked to the “Daimon” concept, similar to what you are speaking of here. Just thinking about that book, which I got from the library, makes me think I should buy myself a copy. It’s linked somewhat with the idea of a “genius” we have that we are “destined” to grow into- it’s like an opposite theory from traditional developmental theories, starting from the perspective of the genius/daimon we are meant to grow into and then looking backward at the events leading up to that, instead of starting at the birth and going forward, if this makes any sense the way I’m describing it. With regards to “genius” it is interesting to me that the female equivalent of this in Greek was called “juno.”
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Juno… That is really incredible. I have not read that particular book of Hillman but it sounds very interesting. I always read a lot of Jung and not much of Jungians, so it is time to expand my horizons.
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So now my action inspired you in return, Thanks for your thoughts and openess about your proces of refinding your drives and creativity, Interesting ideas and anology on the deamons, however for me its still difficult to see this concept as somenthing positive (deamons: devils, madness, evil ghosrs).
SY, Mart.
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No, no, think of Socrates. It is a thing of light and inspiration.
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I love Carl Jung, such a wise man. Thank you for an interesting post.
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Thank you. I’m happy that you liked it.
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Hi Symbol Reader, thank you for dropping by, I think many of us are starting to reconnect to that ‘inner voice’ once more…… Love Carl Jung and wishing you a creative rest of the week .. ~Sue
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