The conscious and the unconscious

An important part of Carl Jung’s philosophy is the separation of (and connection between) the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. Both are parts of the self, and this implies that there is a part of the self we have no awareness of. However, that does not make it inaccessible. The unconscious informs the conscious mind in important ways, and it is possible to bring aspects of the unconscious into one’s awareness through reflection.

Notably, Jung proposes not only an individual unconscious but also a universal subconscious. These are psychological phenomena that are common to all humans, irrespective of culture. The universal subconscious contains archetypes, which are expressed through symbolism, myth, and art.

The process of integrating aspects of the unconscious (both individual and universal) into consciousness is called individuation, a form of ongoing self-growth.

Divination

There are many forms of divination, but they fall into two broad categories: future-telling and more general truth-revealing. The former is what people usually think of when they think about psychics, tarot, astrology, tea leaves, and so on, but this is not always accurate to actual practice. Many people engage in what I would call mysticism, seeking fundamental truths through things like ritual and meditation. These are often spiritual practices.

To me, Jungianism hovers around the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and spirituality. This provides a unique perspective on things like tarot. In this view tarot cards don’t straightforwardly predict future events. Instead, they prompt reflection on the part of the person receiving the reading. This “works” because tarot cards are symbolic and could even be said to have a kind of mythology surrounding them. Symbolism and myth are ways in which we can connect with that unconscious part of ourselves and with humanity as a whole.

It seems like tarot cards have become more popular in recent decades, especially among amateur readers. I also perceive a growing number of people with more Jungian interpretations. Rather than believing tarot cards have mystical power, such folks find tarot to be interesting and thought-provoking. Granted, these are anecdotal observations on my part.

A classic example of this use of Jungian interpretation is in dream analysis. Again, some people believe that dreams can predict the future or provide knowledge of events, while others see dreams as basically meaningless. The Jungian interpretation is somewhere in the middle, focusing on dreams as manifestations of the unconscious. I think this could work for other forms of divination too, like astrology. It’s a window into understanding yourself through myth.

My take

I’m skeptical about whether any particular archetypes exist in the collective unconscious. I think it’s too hard in most cases to separate culture from inherent human nature. There are a few reasons why I think this way.

• Having similar myths across cultures doesn’t necessarily imply those myths are fundamental to humanity since it could be coincidence or shared cultural heritage.
• When looking for similarities, it is easy to fall into confirmation bias and ignore important differences.
• From a neurology and psychology perspective, I don’t think there is strong evidence either way.

Still, I think the Jungian interpretation of tarot is useful. An important caveat is that readings should not be taken as authoritative. It’s just one way among many to prompt introspection.