Up: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2025-10-03 Updated: 2025-10-10 Course: Compulsion as the Great Mystery of Life with Margaret Klenck for Washington Jung > [!Orbit] [[C. G. Jung]] in *Mysterium Coniunctionis* > It (compulsion) is the thwarting of our conscious will and of our reason by an inflammable sulphuric element within us, appearing sometimes as a consuming fire and at others as life-giving warmth. The efficient and final cause of this lack of freedom lies in the unconscious, and forms that part of the personality which still has to be added to the conscious person in order to make them whole. (para. 151, 152) Taking Jung’s quote apart makes it easier to understand. He’s using the metaphor of fire to distinguish between compulsions, which can become a negative and consuming fire, and passions which are positive and offer life-giving warmth. Both compulsions and passions come from within. They might be influenced by external people such as a persuasive drug dealer or a gregarious politician, but the heat that generates compulsions belongs to you. [[Compulsions Can't and Mustn't Be Ignored]]. They serve an important purpose. They are messages from our unconscious, bringing forward a part of ourselves that we are required to integrate into our personality. They are an essential part of the [[Individuation]] journey. Jung called them *the great mystery of human life*.