1.“The unconscious can be reached and expressed only by symbols, and for this reason the process of individuation can never do without the symbol.”
Carl Gustav Jung, Collected Works Volume 13, “Alchemical Studies,” section 44
2.“What takes place between light and darkness, what unites the opposites, has a share in both sides and can be judged just as well from the left as from the right, without our becoming any the wiser: indeed, we can only open up the opposition again. Here only the symbol helps, for, in accordance with its paradoxical nature, it represents the “tertium” that in logic does not exist, but which in reality is the living truth. So we should not begrudge Paracelsus and the alchemists their secret language: deeper insight into the problems of psychic development soon teaches us how much better it is to reserve judgment instead of prematurely announcing to all and sundry what’s what. Of course we all have an understandable desire for crystal clarity, but we are apt to forget that in psychic matters we are dealing with processes of experience, that is, with transformations which should never be given hard and fast names if their living movement is not to petrify into something static. The protean mythologem and the shimmering symbol express the processes of the psyche far more trenchantly and, in the end, far more clearly than the clearest concept; for the symbol not only conveys a visualization of the process but—and this is perhaps just as important—it also brings a re-experiencing of it, of that twilight which we can learn to understand only through inoffensive empathy, but which too much clarity only dispels.”
Carl Gustav Jung, Collected Works Volume 13, “Alchemical Studies,” section 199
C.G.Jung Institute, Zurich, photo taken by me last month
symbolreader 
Reblogged this on lampmagician.
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“The protean mythologem and the shimmering symbol express the processes of the psyche far more trenchantly and, in the end, far more clearly than the clearest concept; the symbol not only conveys a visualization of the process but—and this is perhaps just as important—it also brings a re-experiencing of it.” Wow. So insightful. Thanks for sharing this!
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Thank you very much for a valuable response.
Monika
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I love your blog, Monika. Always so thought provoking…
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It is fortuitous that you live in Jungland. Happy Birthday to a multifaceted genius! Thanks for honoring him today.
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Thanks, Linda! Venus retrograde threw my mind into a spin and I was not able to craft anything longer. Still, I never forget his birthday.
Best ❤
Monika
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It is quality, not size, that matters, hehe!
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Lol Venus retrograde.. Is that all! But yes lol start spinning! Sorry I sort of dipped out myself last month as Jupiter hit 22d
.Jupiter retro was a kick in the pants lol
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Thanks for this post Monika; it makes me think mostly about Jung’s concept of “self”, which for me is how he began his “collective unconscious”, which were the symbols themselves. The “self”, however, so fragile and vulnerable, subsists on “the “tertium” that in logic does not exist, but which in reality is the living truth.”
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Such a great video, Maria! Really an extraordinary summary of the concept. Thank you for sharing.
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Reblogged this on Jude’s Threshold.
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Thankyou i love your page so much.. I have a twelth house natal Leo moon jupiter.. Carl lol would have been impressed. Your alchemy posts Greek Egyptian links I adore. Thanks
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Thank you! 🙂
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Getting caught up this weekend 😉
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🙂 Ha, you really are busy! For now I am totally at a loose end – vacationing and catching up on reading quite frantically.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Always a pleasure! BTW – just drafted my fourth and final post on Prometheus Unbound. Will post it tomorrow 🙂
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