Blog Post 4

Myth 4: Three Stages leading to Jungian Individuation; Three States of Being

Water Garden IV

This painting represents the path toward psychological/spiritual individuation leading toward illumination. It shows the three levels of consciousness, the unconscious on the bottom with the life energy suppressed through trauma, coming into the conscious, in the second level, guided by the Japanese lantern to the Spirit World.


The playful goldfish illustrate the vitality of the personality, in the unconscious, repressed, but beginning to emerge into consciousness, into the second level, through dreamwork, through spiritual inner work, and through imagination. It is represented by the dream-like, floating lotus. " The lotus is born under the mud, growing through the water to achieve the surface, and therefore the air and the light of sun. This growth is identified with man's life, born on Earth but desiring the elevation to the air.." wikipedia. The tree on the left side signifies the traumatized self, ego, and the tree on the right stands for the freed, healed, self, ego. The bone growing out of the tree on the right, harking back to the Bone Forest, a place where inner battle takes place in my Hero myths, represents the death of the old traumatized self, ego, which needs to be healed, die and a new illuminated ego needs to be reborn, the green, vital tree. This process is necessary on the way to becoming whole, (in Jungian terms individuated) or illuminated, enlightened..