“There are too many different kinds of psychologies. An American university publishes a volume every year on the psychologies of 1934, 1935, and so on. There is a complete chaos in psychology, and therefore do not take psychological theories so terribly seriously. Psychology is not a religious faith; it is only a point of view, and if we approach this humanly, we could understand each other as human beings… The world is so vast, and there is no single theory that can explain everything.”
C.G. Jung, Analytical Psychology: Its Theory and Practice, pp. 143-144
There is no single theory that explains everything. This applies with the greatest force to psychological theories. Therefore, it is important to view them as roadmaps that describe different parts of the terrain and are periodically updated and changed. Each has its field of practical applicability and theoretical validity, and in this sense, they complement each other to cover the complexity of the whole.
The special place of Jung’s analytical psychology among them is that it answers the needs and spiritual quests of modern man—answers he can no longer receive in the old way through religious faith. Jung was often accused of being a mystic. In a BBC interview, when asked if he believed in God, he replied: “I don’t need to believe. I know.” And during his Tavistock lectures, someone from the audience asked him: “How do you fit mysticism into your scheme?” His answer was:
“You should first define what you mean by mysticism. Suppose you mean people who have mystical experiences. Mystics are people who have a particularly vivid knowledge of the processes in the collective unconscious. Mystical experience is experience of the archetypes.”
C.G. Jung, Analytical Psychology: Its Theory and Practice, p. 113
*Note: The quotes are translated from the Bulgarian edition of the book.
