Everything presented above describes my creative contribution to psychological work with emotions at two levels of intelligence – emotional and spiritual.
At the level of emotional intelligence, we build an independent self with healthy ego-boundaries. At the level of spiritual intelligence, the centre of consciousness shifts from the empirical personality (the ego) to the archetype from which it originates (the archetype of the Self).
The first forms the true foundation of psychological health and success in life. It also creates the necessary conditions so that when the soul awakens and experiences from the transpersonal psyche emerge, there is a stable vessel capable of bearing the tension without collapsing under the intensity of such a confrontation. The second concerns the transformation of our ego-will (our desiring nature) through its alignment with the higher will of the Source from which we come.
In Jung’s analytical psychology, these two distinct goals of psychological development are presented as two stages of the individuation process that characterise the two halves of life, each with its own opposite aim. More specifically, the work with this Program presents complex ideas in an accessible way – a challenge Jung once described:
“Human instinct knows that all great truth is simple. The man whose instincts are atrophied therefore supposes that it is found in cheap simplifications and platitudes; or, as a result of his disappointment, he falls into the opposite error of thinking that it must be as obscure and complicated as possible.”
— C. G. Jung, CW 15: Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature, §91
Reconciling the two poles of the “complex–simple” duality without sacrificing truth requires a deep understanding of the subject matter. After 30 years of professional experience as a psychologist and psychotherapist, it has become easier for me to perceive what is essential behind the diversity of psychological phenomena and to share the essence of that experience with others. My knowledge of different psychological theories and therapeutic methods helps me illuminate a topic from various angles and perspectives.
Jung’s ideas have a special place among these theories because, through them, I was able to see the underlying principle and, in doing so, to piece together a puzzle made of thousands of pieces. This foundation is the understanding of desire/libido and emotions as a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious.
The irony is that in the analytical psychology Jung founded, the main method for engaging with unconscious content is not the analysis of emotions but the analysis of dreams and the products of creative imagination (active imagination). Genuine dream analysis, however, is complex. And we do not always remember our dreams. But we always experience emotions to some degree, and the principles for transforming them into consciousness are relatively clear.
At the level of the empirical personality (the ego), these are the skills of emotional intelligence; at the level of the soul, these are the various qualities of spiritual intelligence.
Spiritual teachers say that our entire life is a dream and that we are constantly dreaming, even with our eyes open. In the language of Jung’s analytical psychology, this “waking dream” is called projection. Working with this Program helps you explore the unconscious through the products of your “daytime dreaming” – your projections – because behind every strong emotion lies a projection.
Another strength of this Program is that it creates the conditions for transforming new knowledge into lasting habits of emotional and spiritual intelligence. Knowledge has true value only when it becomes a stable attitude of consciousness.
It does this by synchronising daily tasks of self-observation and reflection with the lunar cycles – the Program always begins on a New Moon and lasts exactly one lunar month. After completing it, your practice may begin again from the very beginning, until the knowledge gains substance.
Another factor is the possibility of practising the tasks at random through the “My Practice for Today” page. A third factor is the possibility of reflecting on stronger emotional experiences in the “Reflection Room”, which brings together different reflection prompts (analysis of emotional reactions). The latter two become available only after you have completed all tasks in the Program.
At the end of his life, Jung said that his work would be continued by those who suffer. I am not a Jungian therapist, nor do I see myself as a successor to his work. But I feel deeply connected to the ideas at the heart of the analytical psychology he created, because they – and especially the idea of duality – have helped me understand the meaning of the suffering I went through as part of му processes of spiritual transformation.
In this sense, what I share in the assignments and texts of this Program comes from a deeper place; it is born of my personal experience and tested in the practice of everyday life. This, for me, is its greatest value: words that arise from lived experience are of a different quality, and when they reach someone undergoing similar processes of spiritual transformation, they can be profoundly supportive.
