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Chapter V of Psychological Types (1921) represents one of Jung's most challenging texts. It marks Jung's second effort, following his essay The Transcendent Function, to provide a psychological explanation for mystical experiences.
To decipher its meaning, one must understand the connections between the three components of this chapter-
-the conflict of opposing cognitive functions,
-the emergence of the numinous uniting symbol,
-the psychological relativity of that symbol il
Those three interlocked subjects leads to the conclusion that Jung was addressing transcendent experiences. He posits that when both opposing functions are equally developed, the unconscious generates a numinous symbol that represents the conjunction of opposites. Jung describes this symbol using various metaphors, such as the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price, the treasure in the lotus, the birth of the Saviour, and Pandora's jewel, emphasizing its significant numinous nature.
The three segments of Chapter V form the foundation of his theory regarding mystical experiences. He asserts that the introversion of psychic energy from the sacrifice of something of great value such as projections of God or the sacrifice of one's cognitive identity (the dominant or auxiliary cognitive function) results in transcendent experiences, which he believes do not stem from a metaphysical source but rather arise from a rare yet normal psychological function in humans.
According to Jung, the transcendent experience, being a symbol that unites opposites, is always contingent upon the amount of psychic energy accumulated in the unconscious. The withdrawal of psychic energy from projections or from the decrease of a differentiated function, is a prerequisite for the birth of Pandora's jewel. That symbol of conjunction of opposites responds to the longing for rebirth that leads to the sacrifice. That longing for something new often calls for a radical change in the cognitive identity resulting in the decrease of the use of a particular cognitive function. That was what Jung went through in 1913 when he began active imagination.
Jung also associates the symbol representing the conjunction of opposites with a divine birth that remains elusive to extraverted or Epimethean men. The uniting symbol is a pure product of introversion and is lived as such. Jung links the experience to a renewal of God and a regenerated attitude toward life. Those are important clarifications. The attributes that Jung associates to this experience cannot merely be seen as a typical outcome of the integration of unconscious contents. In his descriptions, Jung addresses, in chapter 5, the fundamental nature of transcendent experience which brings a high intensity of life and joy.
What is rationally correct is too narrow a concept to grasp life in its totality and give it permanent expression. The divine birth is an event altogether outside the bounds of rationality. Psychologically, it proclaims the fact that a new symbol, a new expression of life at its most intense, is being created. Every Epimethean man, and everything Epimethean in man, prove incapable of comprehending this event. Yet, from that moment, the highest intensity of life is to be found only in this new direction. Every other direction gradually drops away, dissolved in oblivion. (Jung, 1921/1971, ¶ 319-320)
It is clear that Pandora’s jewel symbolizes a renewal of God, a new God, but this takes place in the divine sphere, i.e., in the unconscious. The intimations of the process that filter through into consciousness are not understood by the Epimethean principle, which governs the relation to the world. (Jung, 1921/1971, ¶ 300)
The renewed God signifies a regenerated attitude, a renewed possibility of life, a recovery of vitality, because, psychologically speaking, God always denotes the highest value, the maximum sum of libido, the fullest intensity of life, the optimum of psychological vitality. (Jung, 1921/1971, ¶ 301)
One important question still remains to be discussed, and that is the nature of this jewel, or symbol of renewed life, which the poet senses will bring joy and deliverance. We have already documented the “divine” nature of the jewel, and this clearly means that it contains possibilities for a new release of energy, for freeing the libido bound in the unconscious. The symbol always says: in some such form as this a new manifestation of life will become possible, a release from bondage and world-weariness. The libido that is freed from the unconscious by means of the symbol appears as a rejuvenated god, or actually as a new god; (Jung, 1921/1971, ¶ 435)
The complete article on that subject is available free from Academia.org