Christ as Symbol of the Self

The Self and the Christ

Jung wrote, “Anything a man postulates as being a greater totality than himself can become a symbol of the Self…” (Jung, 1942/1948: par. 232). He also argues that not every image is fully adequate. For him, the figure of Jesus Christ is not a symbol of totality because it lacks evil and sin. Rather, it is Christ’s suffering at the hands of the collective society that is significant for it is an image of the suffering that the ego must go through at the expense of the unconscious, in the process of individuation (Jung, 1942/1948: par. 233).

Within the process of individuation – the realization of the Self – the image of Christ suspended on the cross between two thieves aptly expresses the tension between good and evil and between consciousness and the unconscious.

It is a paradox, a statement about something indescribable and transcendental. Accordingly, the realization of the Self which would logically follow from recognition of its supremacy leads to a...