Graduate Research Library: A Library Guide to Jung's Collected Works: Psyche

Reference publications: Psyche

"Psyche" In A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis by Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F.
Call Number: BF173.J85 S275 1986
Publication Date: 1986
Psyche: "Used by Jung interchangeably with the German word Seele which has no single English equivalent, as the translator of the Collected Works noted (CW 12, para. 9n). By his basic definition of the psyche as the 'totality of all psychic processes, conscious as well as unconscious' (CW 6, para. 797), Jung intended to delineate the area of interest for analytical psychology. This would be something different from philosophy, biology, theology and a psychology limited to the study of either instinct or behaviour. The somewhat tautological nature of the definition emphasises a particular problem with psychological exploration: the overlap of subjective and objective interest. Jung makes frequent references to the 'personal equation', the impact that the personality and context of the observer make on his observations. In addition to the linking of conscious and unconscious processes, Jung specifically included within 'psyche' the overlap and tension between the personal and collective elements in man (see unconscious)." [Read more]
"Psyche" In The Brill Dictionary of Religion by Edmund Hermsen; Kocku Von Stuckrad (Ed.)
Publication Date: 2005
"The designation psyché (Gk., ‘breath’ ‘life breath’; cf. Lat. anima) is first found in the opening lines of the Iliad. According to Homer (eighth century BCE), the psyche appears only after a person’s death: thus, psyché denotes the soul of someone who has died, not that of a living being. The life processes of the body are managed by the thymós (in Lat., animus), the principle of the vitality of the body and at the same time of its consciousness. In antiquity, the psyché is personified as a winged female being; in Apuleius’s Metamorphoses (c. 170 CE), she is the beloved of Amor. The English word ‘soul’ is of unclear derivation. It is akin to the word ‘sea,’ whence souls were supposed to originate, and whither they were to return. Today, in European languages, ‘psyche’ denotes the totality of the conscious and unconscious—especially emotional—events, but mainly a person’s spiritual and intellectual (cognitive) functions, located in the brain: processing of information through → >perception and storage, by way of → memory and recall, → dream, fantasy, motivation, and behavior. From a perspective of religious history, conceptions of ‘spirit’ or → soul stand for a (metaphysical) spiritual life-principle that distinguishes living beings from inorganic matter. In religions, therefore, the psyche—in various configurations—can be thought of as the immortal transitional element between the material and the spiritual, the earthly and the divine. From its concept as well as from its content, something unspecific, transitory, and unstable is inherent in the psyche. This aspect makes it seem describable only in pictures, metaphors, allegories, symbols, and so on. While ‘psyche’ is one of the key words of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and is found in numerous complex words as the syllable ‘psych-,’ this presence scarcely renders the concept more apprehensible scientifically. As early as 1866, precisely the discipline of psychology was characterized as ‘psychology without a soul’ (F. A. Lange), on the basis of the nineteenth-century decision in favor of an empirical, experimental, and thereby measurable practice. Indeed, it is not only psychology that divides the soul into consciousness, unconscious, ego, self, person, and identity. Due to this development, the psyche has lost its importance as central principle of individual self-organization; and what is more, its historicity and ‘culturality’ have met with the same fate. Human beings are subject to changes that can be grasped in terms of (religious) history. In corresponding fashion, those changes are yet to be differentiated culturally. A (religious) history of the soul that would attend to humanity’s cultural multiplicity is still pending." [Read more]
"Psyche" In Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts by Sharp, D. (Ed.).
Call Number: BF109.J8S53 1991
Publication Date: 1991
Available as a free download from the publisher

Psyche: "The totality of all psychological processes, both conscious and unconscious."
"The psyche is far from being a homogenous unit–on the contrary, it is a boiling cauldron of contradictory impulses, inhibitions, and affects, and for many people the conflict between them is so insupportable that they even wish for the deliverance preached by theologians.[“Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype,” CW 9i, para. 190.]
The way in which the psyche manifests is a complicated interplay of many factors, including an individual’s age, sex, hereditary disposition, psychological type and attitude, and degree of conscious control over the instincts." (Sharp, 1991). [Read more]

"Psyche" In Encyclopedia of psychology and religion (3rd ed.) by M. J. Drake Spaeth
Publication Date: 2020
Psyche: "Psyche, the ancient Greek word meaning “soul” or “spirit,” is also the name of the Greek goddess of the Soul, one of whose symbols is the butterfly. The term was employed by Sigmund Freud to describe the unity of unconscious and conscious, the tripartite structure of the mind divided into Id (i.e., the repository of unconscious drives and wishes that determine our conscious behaviors); Super-Ego (i.e., the repository of supercon-scious extreme moralistic elements that compensate for the opposite extremes of the id); and the Ego (i.e., the conscious referee between the dichotomous ongoing conflict between id and superego). It was also adopted by Freud’s student Carl Jung to encompass the mind and its evolving, developing relationship with the world over the course of life, manifest in the individuation of the Self from the more limited ego (Jung, 1978).” [Read more]
"Objective Psyche" In Encyclopedia of psychology and religion (3rd ed.) by Michael Conforti
Publication Date: 2020
Objective Psyche: "In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced to his knees by the Catholic Church, and with his hands on the Bible, demanded to retract his comments that the earth was not the center of the universe. Drawing on his years of scientific inquiry, he found that it was the earth which rotated around the sun and not the other way around. His was a heliocentric view of the universe, not a geocentric approach. Perhaps using science to refute religious dogma was not the best approach in the 1600s, but Galileo’s search for truth knew no limits. Those near him during the inquisition heard him whisper under his breath the words, eppure si muove (and yet it moves), as he completed his testimony to the Papal See. Eppure si muove speaks to the issue of relative and fixed space and movement. The Church needed to see the earth as center of the universe to justify its position of moral and spiritual supremacy. However, his utterance that “the earth moves” urges us to re-consider the relationship between relative and objective meaning. This theme remains crucial to our understanding not only of the world, but also the human psyche and in many ways has influenced the practice of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Jung’s discovery of the Objective Psyche closely parallels Galileo’s findings, in that the ego, like the earth, was not to be viewed as the center of the personality. For Jung, the objective psyche allows us to determine the distinction between a relative and subjectively derived meaning from what is objective and invariant. While in relation to the ego, the matrix for this objective psyche exists independently of the conscious mind, and its contents are not acquired through personal experience. Like a compass pointing due north or a bird’s innate capacity for building intricate nests and traveling thousands of miles during its migratory journeys, there is an internal wisdom and directionality within the psyche- a psychic “due north.” [Read more]

"The creative psyche: Jung’s major contributions." In The Cambridge companion to Jung by P. Young-Eisendrath & T. Dawson (Eds.)
Call Number: BF109.J8C36 2008
ISBN: 9781139001847
Publication Date: 2008
Summary: "For Jung, the psyche was a many-splendored thing: fluid, multi-dimensional, alive, and capable of creative development. Having been Assistant Director of a psychiatric hospital, Jung was no stranger to disease, psychosis, and inertia. But he possessed a love for the orderly chaos of the psyche and a trust in its integrity, which both informed his conception of it, and shaped his psychoanalytic vision. This chapter explores Jung's major discoveries, the bedrock upon which his psychological vision rests and the ideas which continue to inform contemporary thought and practice: the prospective, emergent nature of psychological process; the subjective, individual path to objective awareness; and the creative use of imagination and unconscious material. Although Jung is infamous for having drawn on esoteric sources such as alchemy, actually he was prescient in terms of his post-modern view of the psyche. Disturbed by the trend in which the scientific knowledge of matter was outstripping knowledge of the psyche, Jung noted that just as chemistry and astronomy had split off from their origins in alchemy and astrology, modern science was distancing itself from the study and understanding of the psychological universe. He foresaw the enormity of the discrepancy we face now: while cracking the genetic code and creating biological life we remain virtually ignorant about psychological life and our consequent ethical imperatives. Jung was drawn to symbol systems like astrology and alchemy because they were oriented toward a synthetic understanding of matter and psyche."
"The Psyche" In Cross-Currents of Jungian thought by Donald Dyer
Call Number: REF BF109.D94 1991
ISBN: 9781570629563
Publication Date: 2001
"This subject category contains works that deal specifically with the structure and dynamics of the psyche, rather than those that cover analytical psychology more broadly. Jung defines psyche as the totality of all psychic processes conscious as well as unconscious; and he defines soul as a clearly demarcated functional complex that can be described best as a "personality". Following the five works by Jung, the material of the twenty-two works written by others is presented chronologically. Half of these were published after 1975." [Read more]
"Psyche/Soul" in A guided tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung by Robert H. Hopcke
Call Number: REF BF173 .J85 H66
ISBN: 9781570624056
Publication Date: 1999
"Jung’s concern was rarely to set forth in his writings overarching philosophical definitions of his concepts but instead first and foremost to provide practical expositions of certain aspects of human experience. Nowhere is this more true than when the concept to be elucidated is the very focus and foundation of the discipline of psychology, psyche itself. Thus, in the Collected, Works, one does not find a theoretical discussion of what psyche is or is not but descriptions of those parts of human experience which Jung found to merit the term psyche.
Through his own self-explorations, through his research into the symbolism of human life, and through his clinical work as a psychiatrist, Jung expanded and corrected academic psychology's understanding of psyche, which even today is simplistically translated as “mind.” Jung’s experience with psychic phenomena, especially irrational, unconscious psychic phenomena, led him to take issue with the equation of psyche with mind, an equation he objected to on the grounds that it tends to identify the whole of the psyche with one's consciousness and one’s rational powers. The psyche, as understood and elaborated by Jung, is much better seen as the totality of nonphysical life, both rational and irrational, both personal and collective, both conscious and unconscious. This view [...] makes room for those aspects of psyche which go beyond thought or mind, such as sensation, feeling, intuition, and instinct." (Hopcke, p. 36). [Read more]

Psyche [index term]. In General Index to the Collected Works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 20).
Publication Date: 1979
An exceptionally comprehensive index by paragraph numbers. Certain subjects are treated in separate sub-indexes within the General Index. These include alchemy, animals, the Bible, colors, Freud, Jung, and numbers.

Jung on the Psyche

Jung's essays on the Psyche from the Collected Works:

The relations between the ego and the unconscious (pp. 121–241)
Jung, C. G. (1966). The relations between the ego and the unconscious (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 7. Two essays on analytical psychology (2nd ed., pp. 121–241). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1928) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850891.121
The structure of the psyche (pp. 139-158)
Jung, C. G. (1969). The structure of the psyche (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 139-158). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1931) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.139
Basic postulates of analytical psychology (pp. 338-357)
Jung, C. G. (1969). Basic postulates of analytical psychology (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 338-357). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1934) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.338
On the nature of the psyche (pp. 159-234)
Jung, C. G. (1969). On the nature of the psyche (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 159-234). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.159

Books available from the library:

Amor and Psyche by Erich Neumann; Ralph Manheim (Trans.)
Call Number: PA6209.M5 N4 1971
Publication Date: 1971
"The renowned tale of Amor and Psyche, from Apuleius's second-century Latin novel The Golden Ass, is one of the most charming fragments of classical literature. Neumann chose it as the exemplar of an unusual study of feminine psychology. Unfolding the spiritual and mythical background of the pagan narrative, he shows how the contest between the mortal maid Psyche and the great goddess Aphrodite over the god Amor—Aphrodite's son, Psyche's husband—yields surprising and valuable insights into the psychic life of women."
Love and the Soul by James Gollnick
ISBN: 9780889208049
Publication Date: 2006
"This book provides serious students of psychology, religion and mythology with a detailed account and analysis of what has been accomplished in the psychological interpretation of the Eros and Psyche myth to date. The Eros and Psyche myth has, over the course of the twentieth century, received nearly as much attention from depth psychologists as has the Oedipus story. In their attempt to better understand this popular story, scholars have proposed various interpretations, which have generally followed either Freudian or Jungian theories about the nature of the psyche and its development. Love and the Soul emphasizes how psychological theory determines the direction of interpretation much more than does the literary context of the myth itself. It also examines the strengths and weaknesses of these psychological interpretations (five Freudian and six Jungian) of the Eros and Psyche myth in order to lay the groundwork for an interpretation which (1) avoids the rigidity of both Freudian and Jungian dogma and (2) restores the myth to its rightful literary and religious context — something which has been ignored by most psychological interpretations."
Psychology as the discipline of interiority by Jennifer M. Sandoval & John C. Knapp (Eds.)
Publication Date: 2017
"Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority is the first collection of essays dedicated to the study and application of Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority--a new 'wave' within Analytical Psychology which pushes off from the work of C. G. Jung and James Hillman. The book reflects upon the notion of psychology developed by German psychoanalyst Wolfgang Giegerich, whose Hegelian turn sheds light on the notion of soul, or psyche, and its inner logic and 'thought', forming a radical new basis from which to ground a modern psychology with soul. The book's theme - 'the psychological difference' - is applied to topics including analytical theory, clinical practice, and contemporary issues, ranging from C. G. Jung's Mysterium, to case studies, to the nuclear bomb and the Shoah. Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority expounds upon the complexity, depth, and innovativeness of Giegerich's thought, reflecting the various ways in which international scholars have creatively explored a speculative psychology founded upon the notion of soul. The contributors here include clinical psychologists, Jungian analysts, and international scholars. With a new chapter by Wolfgang Giegerich and a foreword by David Miller, Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority will be essential reading for depth and clinical psychologists, Jungian psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and academics and students of post-Jungian studies. It is also relevant reading for all those interested in the history of philosophical thought and what it means to think in the highly sophisticated and technological world of the twenty-first century."
The Religious Function of the Psyche by Lionel Corbett
Call Number: BL53 .C65 1996
ISBN: 0415144019
Publication Date: 1996-11-05
"Traditional concepts of God are no longer tenable for many people who nevertheless experience a strong sense of the sacred in their lives. The Religious Function of the Psyche offers a psychological model for the understanding of such experience, using the language and interpretive methods of depth psychology, particularly those of C.G. Jung and psychoanalytic self psychology. The problems of evil and suffering, and the notion of human development as an incarnation of spirit are dealt with by means of a religious approach to the psyche that can be brought easily into psychotherapeutic practice and applied by the individual in everyday life. The book offers an alternative approach to spirituality as well as providing an introduction to Jung and religion."
Transforming Psyche by Barbara Weir Huber
Publication Date: 1999
"In Transforming Psyche Huber shows that the myth of Psyche and Eros can be interpreted to illuminate the experiences of twentieth-century women. In contrast to the portrayal of Psyche as indecisive and amorphous, Huber emphasizes those aspects of the tale that describe Psyche's connectedness - to her sisters, her own sexuality, her earth-bound experience and, ultimately, to the birthing of her child. Using the works of such writers as Emily Carr, Margaret Laurence, Gertrude Stein, and Virginia Woolf, Huber demonstrates that feminist theory and women's autobiography mirror the insights uncovered in her retelling of the Psyche story."

Journal articles available from the library:

Colman, W. (2017). Soul in the world: Symbolic culture as the medium for psyche. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 62(1), 32–49.

Abstract: Whilst the loss of a sense of living connection with the material world is mainly associated with the scientific revolution in seventeenth century Europe, it can be traced back to Plato's introduction of a hierarchy between soul and body. Jung's attempted solution to this—esse in anima— is ingenious but maintains the Cartesian split by which the aliveness of the world is reduced to a projection of psychic forces (the archetypes). An alternative approach is proposed, rooted in the Aristotelean emphasis on practical activity that sees the soul as a function of our way of being in the world. Human cognition is extended and distributed by our social and material engagement with the world, especially via collective representations whose symbolic character is constitutive of the reality of the world in which we live. Despite the dominance of ‘scientific Cartesian’ representations in the modern Western world, there remain numerous instances of participation mystique that cannot be captured by the Cartesian notion of projection. These indicate an opening to ways of being in the world that may lead us out of the impasse of the Cartesian matrix.

Corbett, L., & Whitney, L. (2016). Jung and non-duality: Some clinical and theoretical implications of the self as totality of the psyche. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 8(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/19409052.2015.1092460

Abstract: Some of Jung's writing reveals a non-dual sensibility, especially when he describes the Self as the totality of the psyche, and in his stress on the unus mundus and synchronicity. But overall he tends to favor a dualistic approach to the psyche; he never relinquishes the importance of the ego, he believes that the Self needs the ego to become conscious of itself, and he does not focus on pure consciousness beyond its images. This paper compares Jung's notion of the Self with descriptions of consciousness in various non-dual religious traditions. We suggest that because the Self is the ultimate subject, it can never be an object of consciousness. We suggest some of the implications of non-dual philosophy for psychotherapy.

Franz, M. L. von. (1975). Psyche and matter in alchemy and modern science. Quadrant, 8(1), 33–49.

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Lockhart, R. A. (1980). Psyche in hiding. Quadrant, 13(1), 76–105.

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Preston, E. M. (1987). Psyche revisited: A contemporary view of feminine consciousness in the myth of Eros and Psyche. Anima, 13((3), (2), 87–96.

Abstract: The myth of Eros and Psyche is found in its earliest extant form in the Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, a novel written in Latin in the Second Century A.D. by Lucius Apuleius. Through the ages the myth has been the subject of many interpretations from a philosophical or religious point of view. The development of depth psychology in modern times and the application of psycho-analytical principles to literature have resulted in interpretations from a psychological point of view. Erich Neumann in Amor and Psyche examined the myth in the light of the theory of C. G. Jung, seeing in it a model for the development of the feminine psyche.: "."

Wolff, T. (1995). Structural forms of the feminine psyche. Psychological Perspectives: A Semiannual Journal of Jungian Thought, 31(1), 77–90.

Abstract: The modern woman may find it valuable for her self-knowledge and self-realization to understand not only her type of attitude (introverted or extraverted) and its predominant, basic psychological function (thinking, feeling, sensation, or intuition), but also the structural form of the psyche that corresponds most closely to her personality. This structural form need not necessarily correspond to her external way of life, nor does it imply anything about her character or her human and cultural level. The external way of life may be chosen for reasons that are not purely conceptual (influences of time and environment, social circumstances, specific abilities). More often than not, the structural form of the feminine psyche will fit into the external way of life only with difficulty, resulting in insecurity and conflict.

Zabriskie, B. (2000). The psyche as a process. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 10((3), 389–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/10481881009348554

Abstract: Replies to 9 questions posed by J. L. Fosshage and J. M. Davies (see record 2000-08298-003 ) about the current theories and practice of Jungian analytic psychology and comments on the case vignette of the analysis of an adult male patient, Andrew, presented in the Fosshage and Davies article. Zabriskie considers Jung's conception of the psyche, perceived by Jung as a dynamic interactive system and a multiplicity within a unity, as his most significant contribution to the clinical practice of analysis and discusses the psyche as it applies to Jung's contribution to depth psychology. Jung's ideas, including those surrounding the psyche, and the author's use of them in analysis are discussed in the following areas: the concept of the self, the centrality of dream analysis and the concept of archetypes, psychoanalytic concepts and their compatibility with Jungian practice, the concepts of transference–countertransference, the analyst's role in the treatment experience, therapeutic change, and the relationship between Jungian analysis and psychoanalysis.