In the Jungian model, the ego is the center of consciousness, working with both external signals (selected by attention) and internal ones from the psyche and the body itself. The ego acts as both a baseline for evaluating and reflecting on the world, and as an interconnector between the physical body and the psyche.*
To describe the role of consciousness (and its center, the ego), we use the concierge metaphor, where the concierge is the ego and the building is the psyche. The concierge of a building does not run the show; it does not own the building, and its overall impact on operations is fairly limited. But it does define who or what comes in and who or what goes out, and with that, it can change the whole community within the building, defining its direction and fate.
The ego is also our first line of defense, both against our complexes, which are abuses from our environment that became internalised, and against external exploitation attempts. When it flares up in defense, is often shamed, but it plays a vital role in maintaining integrity and protecting belonging within society.
*source: Aion by C. G. Jungmore: The ego
Emotions are defined as psychological states we experience in response to an event, involving a body reaction and a subsequent behavioral response.* By function, they signal elements of importance (food, potential partner, gain, danger to respond to, etc.) from the noise of the environment to the mind.** Accordingly, they play a crucial role in deciding what to act on—hence the name “e-motions” (making you move).
Emotions are innate properties that do not have labels as right or wrong; they are simply chemical charges with different physiological features. It is the limbic system (emotional brain, mammalian brain etc.) that serves as the primary actor in how our emotions are processed.
source*: Discovering psychology
source**: J. LeDoux
Emotional resilience, or emotional regulation, refers to our conscious responses to the emotions we experience.* How we respond to them has a short-term impact, changing our current emotions by evoking counteracting ones to shift the body’s physiological condition. This can be done strategically through the use of thought triggers and other mental strategies.
Emotional regulation can also have a long-term impact by changing the degree of response to similar events the next time around. Accordingly, with conscious effort, the intensity of an emotion can be altered.
In both short-term and long-term regulation, we manage our emotions not by directly changing what they are, but by managing our mental responses to them. This is a learned ability that can be developed via guided exercises.
A central mechanism of emotional regulation is considered to be cognitive reappraisal, which refers to how an emotion is framed in our mind, as the impact of a given emotion depends on the narrative around it.
source*: Journal of personality and social psychology
more: Emotional governance: What it is and how to build it – Literature review
Feelings are the conscious experiences of the many different experiences we encounter in our lives, including the experiences of emotions. They are not synonymous with emotions. Feelings include mental or visual representations of what is happening within the body, while emotions are quasi-automatic bodily responses.
Put simply, feelings are subjective experiences stemming from memories and beliefs, whereas emotions are innate physiological properties that do not have subjective labels, such as good or bad.
source: J. Denollet
We see humility as the highest degree of honesty toward oneself, the conscious knowledge and acceptance of one’s capabilities. This honesty is usually developed through the gradual discovery of our abilities and by challenging our limits in a manageable way. This process leads to the acceptance of our complexity and the randomness of the results. Accordingly, humility can also manifest as a lack of judgment toward others.
The greatest potential obstacle to developing humility is projection. Projection is a completely unconscious process; one can identify its occurrence only after the fact, and only if one already have high self-awareness. Our complexes, ego, or even our unconscious, when energetically charged, are automatically projected onto our environment (anyone or anything) without our control or awareness of the process. When this happens, the negative aspect of humility, servility, emerges. The projection of a weak unconscious will always target a group or a leader, making the person suddenly feel extremely powerful due to the “borrowed strength” coming from the crowd onto which they have projected. This often results in fanaticism or radicalism.
Working toward humility involves developing awareness of one’s own projections in order to catch them and analyze them after they occur. Analyzing projections requires honesty from the ego. As the unconscious is already immersed in the process, it is the ego that must stay hones with us. If the ego continues to distort the reality of the unconscious, it can lead to further projection and tragedy. Because even though the ego has the final say when choosing a direction, its power is negligible compared to the unconscious, and ignoring the conflict allows the unconscious to drive a person toward self-destruction.
source: C. G. Jung and M. L. von Franz various works
Historically, a magnum opus is the epic end product of a creative process; the work of a lifetime. In the philosophy of alchemy, magnum opus also represents the creation process itself while the achieved masterpiece is often referred to as the philosopher’s stone instead (AKA filius philosophorum or elixir of life), which is the symbol of perfection or enlightenment.
In Jungian psychology, alchemy is the representation of analytical psychology, and its process of purification symbolizes the human individuation process. The magnum opus in this instance is the completion of individuation: we reach a blessed state when the self is fully realized, the ego merged, and the complex and projections neutralized. This is the state of ultimate self-awareness (or enlightenment). This concept also appears in Eastern philosophies under different names, most of which suggest that the state of complete individuation can only be reached at the moment of death. We’re working toward that state during our lifetime, reaching different stages in our individuation process.
Traditional alchemy defines four stages within the alchemic purification process:
– Nigredo (blackness, massa confusa) – this stage is the prima materia (initial material), the dark ages of the soul, when the unconscious, conscious, self and ego are all undifferentiated and the nature of one’s discomfort is unknown. It’s often experienced as confusion, tension, frustration, or even rage—distress that hasn’t yet been worked through. In many cases, the discomfort isn’t even recognised, and the person simply believes “that’s just how I am.”
– Albedo (whiteness) – this is the stage where a person gains insight into their unbalanced shadow aspect, projections and ego with the help of a relevant workshops, programs, or a therapist, in the attempt to transform psyche. At this stage, people often think that a small life tweak, a pill, or a weekly counselling session is all what it takes. This is because the work moves from the top down, starting with the shallow areas, then gradually moving towards the deeper layers that are yet to come.
– Citrinitas (yellowness) – this is the awakening, healing state, our emergence from an undifferentiated unconscious when we reach great awareness and wisdom. This is when one begins to understand their own inner world, become able to distinguish external influences from their true internal signals, and understand how they’ve become who they are. This stage usually comes with finding peace with what they are.
– Rubedo (redness) – this stage symbolizes the fully manifested self and is the end result of the individuation process. With rubedo, one has reached full understanding of their true nature. This is when the shadow is transformed and integrated, and the ego merged with the self, there is no conflict between the internal signals. In a religious context, rubedo and self are synonymous with Jesus Christ.
This cycle represents both the full cycle of an individual through life and the partial cycles of mental development that repeat with every layer of the shadow. True self is not only the goal but also the source of our transformation. This is because in order to access the nigredo (the initial material in the shadow to work with) the rubedo has to be broken up. In religious contexts, this is also expressed by Jesus Christ, who said, “Ego sum alpha et omega”: I am the beginning and the end.
This self-feeding cyclical process is commonly portrayed by the ouroboros, a dragon biting its own tail. That is why it has been chosen as a symbol of GrapplingArc, referring to the cyclic renewal nature of self-development, the working our way up round by round, stage by stage.
source: C. G. Jung and various encyclopedic references, and some interpretations by Ydus
Ouroboros is a dragon biting its own tail, which is a traditional symbol of the cyclic individuation process in analytical psychology. In the alchemic process, the four stages of reaching the magnum opus are nigredo (blackness, undifferentiated self), albedo (whiteness, insight), citrinitas (yellowness, awakening), and rubedo (redness, completeness of the Self).
Rubedo is both the end result and the source of our transformation, since it is broken up to allow us access to nigredo (the initial material in the shadow to work with). This cyclical process of self-realization is what the ouroboros expresses. That is why it has been chosen as a symbol of GrapplingArc, referring to the cyclic renewal nature of self-development, the working our way up round by round, stage by stage.
source: C. G. Jung and various encyclopedic references
The self includes how we think and feel, as well as how we interpret, react to, and act in different situations. Conceptually, there are three types of selves:*
– The actual self, the core self, or the real self, which is what a person is right here, right now, without trying to be anything else.
– The ideal self is the goal of self-development, what a person really wants to be, which can be realistic and create striving, or unrealistic and create addiction.
– The ought self is what a person thinks the external world wishes them to be.
In society, we all engage in several social roles, including natural ones (such as being a sibling, parent, colleague, descendant, neighbor, etc.) and experimental ones (such as using different avatars on different social platforms). These roles are not exclusive; each has overlapping parts of our personality, but we choose which one to present in any given situation. However, since essentially any self presented other than the core self is a step away from what the person really is, it creates internal tension.
Selves are flexible and responsive to situational norms. If we act out a role repeatedly over time, we take on the characteristics of that role. The self is thus foldable and adaptable, and the core self (actual self) accordingly can change over time. Beware of falling into the “fake it till you make it” approach, as this change is automatic and does not necessarily deliver the desired result. Faking confidence often results in confidently role-playing, leading to what’s often called “impostor syndrome,” instead of building actual confidence. Exceptions include when someone is faking to gain time while actively working on building confidence at the same time.
Being in a constant state of self-flux can lead to discrepancies and disharmony. Specifically important is keeping awareness of the core self and aiming toward its actualization. If the distance between the core self and other selves increases, there is a rise in psychological tension and discomfort, often to the point of illness.**
*Source: Higgins (1987)
**Source: Festinger (1954)
A person’s self-concept can be described as the sum of their thoughts and feelings, including past, present, and possible future selves. This self-concept is derived from reflecting on and evaluating the interactions with others and the world around, as well as the person’s perceptions of their own abilities, identities, characteristics, and attributes.*
Self-concept clarity is about how much the self-concept is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable. It is said, that being at one with the core self is having self-concept clarity.**
*V. Gecas**Campbell et al., (1996)