The Voyage of Humanization of the Cosmos in Search of Enlightenment
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.
