Jung seems greatly bemused by my contemplations, and starts smiling, only to break out into a big laugh. [31] Jung, The Symbolic Life, CW 18, para. People like Trump who suffer from hysteria invariably fall prey to what Jung refers to as “prestige psychology,” evidenced by his typical need “to flaunt his merits and insist on them, of his insatiable thirst for recognition, admiration, adulation.”[30] I remember how in his writings Jung points out that people who suffer from hysteria, due to their unwillingness to own their own failings, compulsively wind up hurting other people. It is as if he is giving me a transmission, pointing me in the right direction. I immediately think how I would be quite happy to be on the board of examiners. A pioneer in the field of spiritual emergence, Paul Levy is a wounded healer in private practice, assisting others who are also awakening to the dreamlike nature of reality. He is the founder of the “Awakening in the Dream Community” in Portland, Oregon. In The Philosophical Tree, he wrote: ... Donald Trump rode a particular wave of attitudes into the Presidency, a response to a political climate that had grown too stale, conformist, and yes, politically correct. Jung comments, “The situation is about the same as if a small boy of six had been given a bag of dynamite for a birthday present.”[33] Yeah, I find myself thinking, but the bag of dynamite in our case is nuclear. “Delusional ideas,” I find myself thinking, are the one thing that our current administration is not lacking. He continues, “The true leaders of mankind are always those who are capable of self-reflection.”[37] In self-reflection we recognize ourselves in the mirror of the world. I am grateful to Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and … [40] Jung, Civilization in Transition, CW 10, para. For the moment, all seems right with the world. Jung would not have been surprised by what followed. I am more than satisfied; I’m in a practically ecstatic state, literally overflowing with gratitude. As if wanting to complete his thoughts on an inflated consciousness, Jung says, with complete certainty, that it “is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. In describing Trump, Jung uses phrases such as a man acting out “the power fantasies of an adolescent” who behaves in public “like a man living in his own biography.”[15] I am beginning to understand that Jung is able to so precisely describe Trump because our president, as if sent by central casting, is simply the latest embodiment, in an exaggerated form, of a deeper archetypal pathology—existing in the collective unconscious itself—that has played itself out throughout history. As if amplifying my thoughts, Jung exclaims, “Yet, whoever reflects upon himself is bound to strike upon the frontiers of the unconscious, which contains what above all else he needs to know.”[38] I love Jung’s idea that the unconscious, instead of simply being a repository of what we repress, contains what we need to know. To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select 'I agree', or select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices. I find myself wondering, what if I were to do active imagination with Jung himself? HuffPost is part of Verizon Media. From his statements, I realize that Jung is of the opinion that Trump is suffering from hysteria, which is something I hadn’t considered, yet it makes perfect sense upon reflection. Neither can old formulas which once had a value be brought into force again. Jung is pointing out that inflation—which we should remind ourselves is a characteristic of an unbalanced mind—invariably leads to catastrophe. Jung continues, “If ever there was a time when self-reflection was the absolutely necessary and only right thing, it is now, in our present catastrophic epoch.”[36] Self-reflection, a privilege born of and intrinsic to human freedom, is a genuinely spiritual act - essentially the act of becoming conscious. [22] Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12, para. As these words resound in my mind, I begin to wonder, “Are these Jung’s words, or my own?”. I am deeply affected by Jung’s wisdom. Please visit Paul’s website www.awakeninthedream.com. Kim Jong Un has praised his "special" relationship with US President Donald Trump, with one of North Korea's most respected diplomats telling state media the two leaders maintain "trust in … I then remember that the deeper meaning of the word “guru” is one who inspires; in this sense, I am happy to call Jung my guru - he is a source of continual inspiration in my life. ... Lewandowski and David Bossie’s campaign memoir Let Trump Be Trump, that the current president is a student of Carl Jung. Deeply recognizing the peril of our current situation, Jung becomes somber and in a barely audible tone, mutters under his breath, “our blindness is extremely dangerous.”. 462. In his writings Jung refers to this state of inflation as being a conceit that borders on madness. [37] Jung, Civilization in Transition, CW 10, para. As if completing his psychological analysis on our president’s genius for deceiving himself, Jung explains, “Believing one’s own lies when the wish is father to the lie is a well-known hysterical symptom and a distinct sign of inferiority.”[28] This makes sense to me, as Trump’s braggadocio certainly seems, from the psychological point of view, as if it is a compensation for deep feelings of inferiority. I can only imagine. I remember that in Jung’s view what distinguishes our age from all others is that we are being forced to recognize and come to terms with the active world-shaping powers of the psyche. I notice that I am a bit taken aback by Jung’s continual telepathic powers—how does he know my mind so well?—until I remember that he is an imaginal figure not separate from my mind. [2] Jung, Civilization in Transition, CW 10, para. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. The great doctor of the soul and modern day alchemist C. G. Jung was so far ahead of his time that, more than half a century after his death,[1] he is still barely appreciated. [3] The madness that is playing out in today’s world is, in Jung’s words, “forcing us to pay attention to the psyche and our abysmal unconsciousness of it. This leader is typically someone who, in Jung’s words, has “the least resistance, the least sense of responsibility and … the greatest will to power.”[6] Jung comments that this leader “will let loose everything that is ready to burst forth.”[7] As if offering a prophetic warning, Jung says with complete certainty, “a mass always produces a ‘Leader,’ who infallibly becomes the victim of his own inflated ego-consciousness, as numerous examples in history show.”[8] I think many of us intuit that Trump’s reign is not going to end well – the question becomes: how can we mitigate the damage? As if validating my thought, Jung says, “Inflation magnifies the blind spot of the eye.”[19] His comment makes me think of how our species certainly seems to be suffering from a form of psychic blindness, as if we are wearing blinders and have become myopic in our viewpoint, lacking clear vision. You can contact Paul at paul@awakeninthedream.com; he looks forward to your reflections. The eternal truths cannot be transmitted mechanically; in every epoch they must be born anew from the human psyche.”[34] I immediately think of Jung’s consistent message that it is only through change in an individual’s consciousness—the individual being, in Jung’s words, “the carrier of life”—that real transformation happens in the world at large. 442). I’m also having grave difficulties believing that Donald Trump has ever read Carl Jung’s autobiography. 471. To suffer from inflation is to have one’s ego blown up beyond its proper human limits, to be filled with hubris, to become full of oneself, a legend in one’s own mind. 747. [38] Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, CW 7, p. 4. [10] Jung, Civilization in Transition, CW 10, para. Upon imagining this, I immediately sense the presence of Jung.