“Individuation does not shut one out from the world, but gathers the world to oneself.”
C.G. Jung (CW 8, par. 432)
The Jungian path is not a solitary inward journey towards wholeness. As Jung states, the individuation path is anything but solitary. How can a process with the goal of wholeness shut one out from the world? We are not separate from the world in which we dwell. We are a part of our world. The world around us informs who we are as a being-in-the-world. To live a life shut out from the world is a pathway towards neurosis. What I find most moving about Jung’s words is his statement that individuation “gathers the world to oneself.” What is this gathering? Who is doing the gathering? In reading Jung’s text we see that the Self is gathering, not the ego. The Self as the archetype of wholeness works through us to bring the world into our awareness. The gathering is happening all of the time. In fact, the archetypal Self extends beyond our concept of common time, or what the Greeks referred to as chronos. The Self opens us to the world as it presents itself to us. I see our purpose here on Earth as becoming a willing participant in this opening process. This is a challenge for the ego. Can ‘I’ step aside and allow the Self to open a window to the world? Can ‘I’ open my senses, my consciousness, to this eternal gathering? From personal experience, I can say that when I am willing to do this I feel a deeper participation in the world and am gathered into the world.
Soul Journey 