Perhaps because alchemy combines the ancient, Gnostic focus on the immaterial and transcendent soul, or spark, with the modern, scientific-like focus on the transformation of worldly matter, it serves to connect the two. Despite his professed closer kinship to alchemy.
the Gnostic Jung: Includingby c. G. Jung
Where Voegelin seeks to show the Gnostic nature of modernity, Jonas seeks to show the modern nature of Gnosticism. Jonas draws parallels between ancient Gnosticism and modern, secular existentialism to prove that Gnosticism is existentialist, not that existentialism is Gnostic. For Jonas, both philosophies stress above all the radical alienation of human beings from the world.
Where Gnosticism regards the world as demonic and hostile, existentialism considers it natural and indifferent. In short, Jonas is far less intent than Voegelin in making Gnosticism modern.
Jung identifies the Anthropos (Primal Man or Original Man), Christ, and the Son with God. The Anthropos begins as part of the unconscious godhead, emerges as an independent ego, eventually forgets his unconscious origin, must be reminded of it by the godhead, and then returns to it to form a unified.
As Jung says more clearly of Christ: This Gnostic Christ, symbolizes man’s original unity and exalts it as the saving goal of his development.
The unstable, by bringing order into chaos, by resolving disharmonies and centring upon the mid-point, thus setting a boundary to the multitude and focusing attention upon the cross, consciousness is reunited with the unconscious, the unconscious man is made one with his centre, and in this wise the goal of man’s salvation and exaltation is reached.
More accurately, the ego is in fact supplemented, not replaced, by the self. For the aim of both Gnosticism and therapy is, once again, the integration of ego consciousness with the unconscious, not the rejection of either one for the other: When, in treating a case of neurosis, we try to supplement the inadequate attitude (or adaptedness).
Adaptedness of the conscious mind by adding to it contents of the unconscious, our aim is to create a wider personality whose centre of gravity does not necessarily coincide with the ego, but which, on the contrary, as the patient’s insights increase, may even thwart his [sheer] ego-tendencies. Like a magnet, the new centre [i.e., self] attracts to itself that which is proper to it.
In short, Jung’s insights need to be considered as one of the latest and greatest manifestations of the stream of alternative spirituality which descends from the Gnostics.
Only Gnostics and contemporaries qualify, for they alone are both severed from their unconscious and aware of the fact.
