ego
This aspect of Sol niger can show itself when consciousness becomes unconsciously critical. Alchemically, the heat is turned up too high, and the ego's skin is burnt, blackened, or tortured with stinging criticism, producing shame and threatening bodily integrity. Hillman describes a similar process of mortification-when the ego feels trapped or
... See moreDr. Stanton Marlan • The Black Sun: The Alchemy and Art of Darkness (Carolyn and Ernest Fay Series in Analytical Psychology Book 10)
When your thoughts become your identity that is called ego. Ego is a case of mistaken identity. You believe that the illusory thoughts that come and go are your true self. Your true self is the dimension of you that does not come and go.
Dicken Bettinger • Coming Home: Uncovering the Foundations of Psychological Well-being
Our ego spends so much energy creating a fragmented identity—constantly categorizing, dividing, and keeping us trapped in dualistic thinking. Jung called this “directed thinking” (CW 7, para. 483), where the mind separates everything into binaries: self and other, good and bad, light and dark. This way of seeing the world reinforces our sense of... See more
Jennifer Leela • Carl Jung’s Path to Spiritual Awakening: A Journey Toward Wholeness
After formulating the second phase of the transcendent function, the bringing together of the opposites for the production of the third (the first being the emergence of the unconscious material), Jung adds another critical component. Though it may seem somewhat counterintuitive given the importance of the unconscious in Jung’s psychology, he
... See moreJoan Chodorow • The Transcendent Function
The Ego is that part of the psyche that believes in material existence.
Steven Pressfield • The War of Art
Process-oriented thinking gets around this problem by defining the ego as one of our possible observers. The ego is, to begin with at least, the "I" which identifies itself with the doings of the world.
Arnold Mindell • Working on Yourself Alone
The fire symbolized in Mercurius can be interpreted as the unconscious manifesting in our being through a vital impulse or élan vital that drives us toward our process of individuation, that is, toward the development of our authenticity, of the unique individual that we are. This internal force is not merely an uncontrolled energy, but an... See more
Alchemist • Carl Jung: Mercurius, the fire of transformative potential
dreams present a fresh perspective. The dream maker’s views can differ radically from our conscious mind’s opinions and values. Jung said dreams are “invariably seeking to express something that the ego does not know and does not understand.”