Angels-JUNG, CARL GUSTAV

Although the physical sciences have undermined
belief in the concrete reality of heaven,
hell, angels, and devils, the psychological discoveries
of the last two centuries have given these
entities new plausibility as psychic phenomena.
Carl Jung, for instance, postulated the existence
of a collective unconscious and discussed
mythology and religion in terms of the “primordial
images,” or “archetypes,” which every
human being inherits. Born at Kesswil, Switzerland,
Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) is considered
the originator of analytical psychology. He
studied medicine at the University of Basel,
Switzerland, and took his M.D. in 1902 at the
University of Zurich. Although he was a disciple
of Sigmund Freud from 1907 to 1912, Jung’s theories
and methodology ultimately diverged.
Jung, whose thought was deeply influenced
by his own Christian background and commitment
to religious humanism, believed that religion
represented a fundamental element of the
psychotherapeutic process as well as of life,
whereas Freud insisted upon an entirely scientific
understanding of psychoanalysis. Jung had a much greater interest
in religious symbolism than had Freud, and his interest apparently
derived from the fact that in his clinical work he found the methods of
Freud and of Alfred Adler, although they worked well with patients
under thirty-five, were inadequate in dealing with the problems of
patients over that age.
His paper on symbols of the libido, which appeared in 1913,
marked Jung’s break with Freudian theory, and the psychology that
emerged focused on the division between conscious and unconscious,
and on the vision of the personal unconscious as a branch on the tree
of the collective unconscious. According to Jung, the human being
could bring unconscious contents into consciousness through a process
of individuation, or journey of the soul, called Heilsweg. Jung’s analytical
psychology emphasized the importance in this spiritual journey of
archetypal symbols, which had a universal application in human life, as
well as individual symbols, appearing in waking or dreaming life. He
specified a method called active imagination in which the figures of
the unconscious are seen as autonomous living entities of the psyche.
Using this method it is possible to approach the archaic mentality from
a position of conscious responsibility, acknowledging the unconscious
and its personifications, such as demons, spirits, and angels, and seeking
to find the appropriate way to respond to them.
After the break with Freud, Jung fell into a period of inner disorder
during which he carried out a journey of exploration into his
unconscious mind, and published very few works including Psychology
of the Unconscious, and VII Sermones ad Mortuos. Among Jung’s other
significant works are The Theory of Psychoanalysis (1916), Psychological
Types (1923), Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), Psychology and
Religion (1938), Psychology and Alchemy (1953), The Interpretation of
Nature and the Psyche (1955), Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
(1959), and Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1965).
Jung’s focus was always on the psychological aspect of religion. He
eschewed the discussion of the ontological questions that all highly
developed religions pose, such as questions about the reality of the
religious object beyond the psychological phenomenon. God is treated,
therefore, simply as “a function of the unconscious, namely, the
manifestation of a split-off sum of libido, which has activated the
God-image.”
Thus when Jung speaks of angels, it is always within the framework
of his theory of the psyche. He sees birds, for example, as symbolizing
spirits and angels. Angels also symbolize mythological births.
He associates them with “the rebirth of the phoenix” and remarks:
“Divine messengers frequently appear at these mythological births, as
can be seen from the use we still make of god-parents.” Presumably the
stork who, according to an age-old legend, brings the newborn child
from the sky, is an angelic messenger from God.
Jung also acknowledges the passage in Genesis (6:2) that relates
“the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and
they took them wives of all of which they chose.” He asserts that the
good and rational power ruling the world with wise laws is threatened
by the chaotic, primitive force of passion. The libido, as a power transcending
consciousness, is by nature demonic, being both God and the
Devil. He also says that if evil was destroyed, everything, including
God himself, would suffer a major loss. Moreover, he asserts that the
human being can draw the gods down into the murk of passion, and
that one abandons one’s humanity by raising oneself up to the Divine.
Jung further acknowledges the Jewish legend according to which
Adam, before he knew Eve, had a demon-wife named Lilith. Adam
forced her to return to him using the help of three angels. Here the
motif of the helpful bird is used again. Angels signify an upper, aerial,
spiritual triad in conflict with the lower feminine power. For Jung
angels are simply one part of an elaborate system of symbolism reflective
of the labyrinthine odyssey of the human psyche, not literal spiritual
beings existing independently of our perceiving minds.