June Singer

After thirteen printings and with nearly 100,000 copies in print since its publication twenty years ago, Boundaries Of The Soul has become recognized as THE classic introduction to Jung and the practice of Jung's psychology. The book has been described as "the clearest and most coherent exposition of Jung's total thought," by Robertson Davies, and Alan Watts has called Dr. Singer "one of the great masters of the art." Now, in a completely revised edition of Boundaries Of The Soul, Dr. Singer incorporates the latest developments in Jungian psychology over the last two decades, particularlv in the areas of masculine/feminine relationships, the use of psychotherapeutic drugs, and the evolution of Jung's concept and personality types and its application both clinically and in the world of business and industry. In addition, the case histories, so central to understanding many of Jung's concepts, have been re-examined and revised where necessary to correspond to the spirit of today's world. The updated edition of Boundaries Of The Soul should reaffirm the book's long-standing reputation as the best introduction to Jung's thought available.

The Practice of Jung's Psychology

Boundaries of the Soul

Laura Mei

The task of [inner work] is not merely to restore what is lost. In becoming lost, the "soul" (I do not know a better word for that central guiding aspect of the unconscious, the nature of which we may only have a dim awareness) has ceased to be the connecting ribbon of a road between the conscious individual and the vast unknown and unknowable. It needs not only to be restored to what it was before, but it needs to serve as a travelers' highway in which a continuous and busy intercourse between the ego and the unconscious may take place. In this active and reciprocal relationship neither the ego nor the unconscious will remain as it was in the past. The change that may be brought about in the analytic process, the dialectic between the ego and the unconscious, may come close to its true potential; if so, it will result in a transformation of the personality.

When Jung explored the implications of his discoveries about [complexes], he often was able to trace its origin to some experience in the life of the patient which made a deep and shocking impression, so painful that it could not be endured for long in consciousness. The mechanism of repression helped to insulate the wounded psyche from the source of the pain so that it could continue functioning. Sometimes a loss of feeling occurred, for repression is a kind of psychological anesthetic, but when there is great suffering an anesthetic serves a purpose. It leaves the wound untouched, but the patient is able to tolerate it.

It is an easy thing to say 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 but quite another thing to know who you truly are. How can you be yourself if you do not know that self? Therefore, the process of individuation becomes a seeking after self-knowledge. The essential nature of the individual includes not only strength but weakness. Each of us has the potentiality for creativity and, equally present, the potentiality for destructiveness. The Hindu gods, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva — Creator, Preserver, Destroyer — live in each of us; all must be reckoned with. Individuation requires the discovery of what is operating in us and determining our determinations. What are our goals and how do we come to them? Jung noted in his Introduction to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, "An ancient adept has said: If the wrong man uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way." Jung writes, "In reality, in such matters everything depends on the man and little or nothing on the method. For the method is merely the path, the direction taken by man. The way he acts is the true expression of his nature. If it ceases to be this, then the method is nothing more than an affectation, something artificially added, rootless and sapless, serving only the illegitimate goal of self deception." The ideal of the individuation process, as Jung described it, is the conscious realization and integration of all the possibilities contained within the individual. Needless to say, few people achieve individuation. As with so many ideals, it is more valuable to engage in the process than to lust after the distant goal.

Every situation in life which carries for an individual a charge of strong affect, which makes him excessively angry or anxious or even delighted, must be considered in terms of the possibility that the extra investment of energy may be coming from the unconscious in the form of a shadow projection. This is, moreover, not something one undertakes for a limited period in the course of analysis, and then, when the shadow is laid to rest, can assume that he is able to go on to the finer and more glorious aspects of analysis. The shadow is, in truth, a devilish form, and just when you think you know who he is, he changes his disguise and appears from another direction. So it is, in the Jungian analysis, that the analysand is initiated into a lifelong process, that of looking within, and being willing to reflect long and hard on what he sees there, in order to avoid being taken over by it.

The person who will be the most effective in his strivings toward social justice is the one who is most critical of himself, who takes care to differentiate his own flaws and to take responsibility for them before he goes out to correct his neighbor's. He will make his impact more effective by setting an example, than by bludgeoning his opponent into submission. The person who commits himself to a life of continuing confrontation with the unconscious within himself, will also confront the unknown in the world at large with an open mind, and what is more, with a heart of wisdom.

The first half of life is spent mainly in finding out who we are, through seeing ourselves in our interaction with others. We establish our own position vis-à-vis these others; we develop an attitude toward them; there are struggles for dominance in which our strength is tested and also that of our adversaries. If it works well, we find our place in the world — our own level, so to speak. In the visible world, one hallmark of maturation is the realization of what we can do by ourselves, what we can do with the help of others, and what we cannot do at all. Mature people have discovered themselves as differentiated personalities spending their days and nights doing what they are fitted for by their unique natures, without frittering away their energies in pointless strivings or useless regrets.

Boundaries of the Soul quotes

Join the club