The Self and Individuation: Jung’s Path to Wholeness

Ego and Self

The ego is the center of consciousness, the part of us that says I. Jung insisted that it is not the master of the psyche. Beyond and around it lies a larger totality, which he called the Self (das Selbst). He described the Self as both the center and the whole circumference of the psyche, much as the ego is the center of consciousness alone.

The Self is also, for Jung, an organizing principle: it steers development, produces compensating dreams and pushes the personality toward balance. The analyst Edward Edinger later described the relationship between ego and Self as an axis, and saw the health of this ego-Self axis as central to psychological well-being.

Because the Self is larger than consciousness, it is known only through symbols: the circle and the square, the mandala, the divine child, a precious stone, the hidden treasure, and in Western religious tradition the figure of Christ, to which Jung devoted a chapter of Aion (1951).

Mandalas and symbols of the Self

Jung discovered the importance of the circle in his own experience. In 1918 and 1919 he drew a small circular image almost every morning and noticed that the drawings changed with his inner state. Only later, through Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the Chinese text The Secret of the Golden Flower (1929), did he find a tradition that described the same center.

Mandala is Sanskrit for circle. Jung observed that patients often drew circular, symmetrical images spontaneously in times of disorientation, and understood these as attempts of the psyche to restore order. He collected and discussed many of them in “Concerning Mandala Symbolism” (1950).

What is individuation?

Jung defined individuation as becoming a single, unified being and, at the same time, becoming one’s own self. It means integrating what has been left unconscious, so that a person is no longer driven only by roles, complexes and projections.

He was clear that individuation is not individualism. It does not cut a person off from others; it tends to make relationships deeper and responsibility greater, because a person who knows their own shadow is less likely to load it onto others.

In the essay “The Stages of Life” (1930) Jung linked individuation especially to the second half of life. The first half is devoted to building an ego, a career, a family and a place in society. Around midlife the focus often turns inward, toward meaning, and what was neglected demands attention. Jung saw many midlife crises as the beginning of this turn.

Typical stages of individuation

Individuation is not a straight line, and Jung never presented it as a fixed program. Jungian writers nevertheless describe a typical sequence of encounters:

Seeing through the persona

Recognizing that one is more than one’s social role. See the persona.

Meeting the shadow

Accepting the rejected side of the personality as one’s own. See the shadow.

Meeting the anima or animus

Relating to the inner figure of the other sex, which leads further into the unconscious. See anima and animus.

The mana personality

Encounter with figures of great power or wisdom, such as the wise old man or the great mother, with the danger of identifying with them.

Realizing the Self

Experiencing a center larger than the ego, often through symbols of wholeness and the union of opposites.

The engine of this process, in Jung’s theory, is the transcendent function: when conscious and unconscious positions clash, the psyche can produce a symbol that unites them in a new attitude. He described it in an essay written in 1916 and published in 1957, “The Transcendent Function”.

Inflation and other pitfalls

Jung warned repeatedly against inflation: the ego’s identification with an archetype, which can show up as grandiosity, a sense of special mission or spiritual superiority. Its opposite is deflation, being swamped by the unconscious and losing confidence.

For that reason he emphasized ordinary life, relationships and ethical responsibility as the ground of individuation. Becoming whole, in his view, includes becoming more human, not less.

Frequently asked questions