JUNGIAN SYMBOLIC PSYCHOLOGY
Book: JUNGIAN SYMBOLIC PSYCHOLOGY – The Voyage of Humanization of the Cosmos in
Search of Enlightenment
Wilmette: Chiron Publications, 2012, 386pp.
Autor: Carlos Amadeu Botelho Byington*
RESUME
Jungian symbolic psychology created by Carlos Byington reformulates the concept of archetype
in analytical psychology and of defense in psychoanalysis to encompass the conscious and
unconscious as well as the subjective and objective psychological dimensions inspired in Heidegger’s
conception of being.
Within the symbolic archetypal dimension, he conceives the alterity archetype (which includes
the anima and animus archetypes) and the totality archetype, which he differentiates from the
central archetype of the Self. Following Erich Neumann, Byington adds these two new archetypes
to the matriarchal and patriarchal archetypes. Describing these four archetypes as the structuring
archetypal quaternio, he conceives the ego-other archetypal positions of consciousness as the five
archetypal forms of intelligence.
Amid the five forms of archetypal intelligence described, Byington distinguishes the dialectic
intelligence of the alterity archetype (anima and animus) as the highest form of human intelligence
capable of relating polarities within a spectrum that varies from opposition to equality and is present
in democracy, in artistic and scientific creativity, and in love.
With the same archetypes described in the individuation process, Byington formulates an archetypal
theory of history based on Hegel’s philosophy and Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of the humanization
process. The historical humanization of the alterity archetype centered in compassion is described in
the myth of Christ in the West and in the myth of Buddha in the East.
The dialectic of polarities of the alterity (anima/animus) archetypes, which permeates the book,
reveals the complementarity of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology to express the formation of
the shadow as the dysfunction of the individuation process.
In the last chapter, Byington illustrates the individuation process and the humanization process
with the myth of Oedipus and the archetype of sanctity, uniting Jungian symbolic psychology with
psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, and Heidegger’s ontology.
Based on the expansion of the concept of archetype and symbol to encompass consciousness,
unconscious, and the subjective and objective dimensions of being, Jungian symbolic psychology
transforms modern psychology and psychopathology by associating analytical psychology’s concept
of the shadow and the concept of defense mechanism within ontology in psychoanalysis.
The five archetypal positions of the ego-other polarity conceived by Byington allow us to differentiate
and interrelate the central archetype (Self), the matriarchal and the patriarchal archetypes, the alterity
archetype (anima and animus), and the totality archetype in the individual and cultural Selves.
Differentiating between the patriarchal shadow, which expresses itself through authoritarianism and
ecological destruction, and the compassionate, democratic, and sustainable characteristics of the
alterity archetype, the author elaborates archetypally the central dilemma of modern humankind seen
as the main condition for our survival.
*CARLOS AMADEU BOTELHO BYINGTON is a doctor. He went to secondary school in the United States of America, qualified in
medicine and psychiatry in Rio de Janeiro and completed his post-graduate studies at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. On
returning to Brazil, in 1965, Byington expanded Jung’s archetypal concept to include Individual and Collective Consciousness. In 1983,
by studying the socio-cultural transformation process in Latin America, he formulated the Archetypal Theory of History, based on the
ideas of Hegel, Jung, Bachofen, and Erich Neumann’s Mythological Theory of Consciousness. According to Byington, all psychic
functions are archetypal structuring functions of Consciousness. He attributes a central position to envy, as important as sexuality, love,
strive for power, jealousy and fear.
Author of Byington is the author of many books and articles, two of which have been translated to English and published by Chiron:
CREATIVE ENVY – The rescue of one of civilization’s major forces, and EDUCATION FROM THE HEART: A Jungian Symbolic
Perspective.
