Up: [[Jungian Glossary]] Created: 2025-11-27 Integration, for Jungians, means bringing more of the unconscious into conscious awareness for the purpose of individuating which, in turn, means becoming undivided, or whole. That’s a one sentence wrap up of integration as the core process of [[individuation]] The actual work with this process is far more difficult and it is never ending. Our sense of self (small s) comes from our ego which is the central [[complex]] of consciousness. We appropriately spend our first forty years developing our ego through the tangibilities of career, home, relationships, as we move forward into life. But in life’s second half, we are moving towards death and we need the ego to let go its dominant position in psyche and enter into service of [[the Self]] (capital S), which is the archetype of wholeness often referred to as soul. So the first requirement of integration is accepting that there is more to us than our conscious personality, our [[ego]], and being willing to not only meet the rest of us, but to depose the ego as the centre of our personality and personal universe. > [!Orbit] [[C. G. Jung]] in *The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga* > Individuation is becoming the thing which is not the Ego, and that is very strange. (p. 39) No one is ever completely individuated. It’s a journey without a destination. The true value of individuation lies in what happens along the way, what Jung refers to as the opus. > [!Orbit] [[C. G. Jung]] in *Letters* > The opus consists of three parts: insight, endurance, and action. Psychology is needed only in the first part, but in the second and third parts moral strength plays the predominant role. Moral strength is necessary because the unconscious contains all of the abandoned, repressed or forgotten parts of yourself. The umbrella term for these unlived parts is [[Shadow]] and although what’s unlived can just as easily be positive as negative, working with shadow is **always** a challenge because the contents of shadow are in opposition to our ego ideal. A critical point of Jungian integration is that it’s not about finding a compromise position between two opposing forces, smoothing off the edges and calling that balance. Integration involves acknowledging and accepting shadow elements and then holding what is called a [[Tension of Opposites]] until the [[Transcendent Function]] kicks in. Jungian Ken James suggests that we think of the transcendent function as a gift from the Self, a bridge in the psyche between the unconscious and consciousness, with the unconscious transferring images to consciousness (ego) so that we can work with them. The various ways to facilitate integration of opposites is the theme of much of this vault. Some typical approaches include: [[dreams]], [[Active Imagination]], [[Visual Arts]], [[Life Writing]], and [[Analysis]]. The tension of opposites is never solved, but it’s transcended to a more comprehensive vision that becomes a new attitude for the individual. When we are integrated, we are living out of our true Self, living from soul. We will be recognizable by two keywords — contentment and alignment. Contentment meaning calm acceptance of the paradoxes within oneself and the world. Alignment shows as that beautiful unity between what we do in the world and who we are. This is the archetype of the wise old man or the wise old woman, more often called the [[Crone]]. I’ll give last word to a non-Jungian, sculptor Anne Truitt. > [!orbit] [[Anne Truitt]] in *Turn* > The way in which water seeks its own level, levels itself off in an adjustment that is an authentic expression of its very nature, is analogous to a way in which we can live our lives if we are willing to persevere consistently in attentive loyalty to our individuality. By keeping on being what we most intimately are, we can continually redefine ourselves so that we become what we have not before been able to be. If we live this way, we surprise ourselves.