The first correspondent doubts that the example mentioned in the previous lecture—Nietzsche—represents actual cryptomnesia. 236 In response to this question, I would state that I did not use Nietzsche’s example as proof.
The second correspondent enquires whether human consciousness is identical to the sum of knowledge about psychic processes? In response, I would maintain that knowledge is self-evidently consciousness. Everything associated with the I is, of course, conscious. 237
***
In the last lecture, we considered the Seeress’s vision of several spheres. Let me give you a summary. The outer circle is the sun-sphere, which she describes thus: “This ring has 12 parts, and in it I see the main impressions of what occurred to me at the time.” 238 This circle simultaneously denotes the year and symbolizes the entire world. Now imagine the so-called life-sphere lying closely superimposed thereupon; it is divided into thirteen and three-quarter parts, according to the lunar cycle. From it emanate the radiuses, which are actually not radiuses, because the lines go tangentially to the innermost circle. 239
The three inner circles are, starting from the center: 1. the solar center—the innermost small circle radiates like a sun; 2. the moon circle; 3. the seven-starred star circle. “Seven” is not necessarily an arithmetical term, but rather it represents a quality. Then comes the circle of the souls of animals, or the dream-ring. Evidently, she assumes that a certain identity exists between the nature of the dream and the nature of the animal soul.
Kerner reports the words of the Seeress: “Under this ring I feel five other such rings, and above it an empty one.” 240 The circles are thus layered, as it were. Regarding the sun-sphere, she says:
The real, bright day and the people lie for me outside of the great ring, and I see more or fewer of them in the various sections. I prefer to represent these people as checkmarks. I feel the spirit of all people with whom I associated, but I do not feel or know anything of their body, their name, etc. Likewise (she said to me), I cannot think of you as a man or as a body, of you least of all. I always feel you as a blue flame going around and around the outer ring . . . , together with your wife in the same ring. But she is in human form, and more to the outside. . . . 241
Characteristically, she has no corporeal conception of man, but an ideational one. She disavows the corporeality of man and, in accordance with her overall attitude, ascribes reality solely to what lies within. In so doing, she depotentiates the outer world, and the inner world thus assumes reality.
This outer ring with the blue flame circling around it is like a wall to me, through which nothing can reach me. I myself am in the ring. When I imagine myself outside of this ring I feel terrible and get scared. When I imagine myself to be free within the circle, however, I get kind of homesick. 242
She identifies the outer orbit with Justinus Kerner. His blue flame is moving there. These two act like a wall. Kerner serves her as protection against the outer world, as a mediator as it were. She feels as if she were confined within the ring. It is like a magic circle that has been drawn around her: outside lies the world of anxiety and fear, within the positive life. This circle coincides with the reality peculiar to her that surrounds her. She dissociates her consciousness from the outer world.
Thereafter, she speaks about the small orbits at the center, enumerating these from the outer rim inwards:
I felt well in the first ring at the center (I feel as if seven stars stood above it). From there I talked to the world, in which I had once been. . . . 243
She does not say: “In which I am.” Evidently, she considers this to be the world in which she has been rather than the one where she is now. Although she lives in this world, to her it appears as some ghostlike world, a kind of recollection or illusion, whereas her inner world represents reality. Leaving aside interpretation for the moment, let us simply listen to her words. To her, there appears to exist a world outside in which she once lived, that is, a prenatal world, a paradisiacal world, a celestial world, from which she was born and was thereafter impelled to leave—much like an expulsion from paradise. So here, too, the story of the Fall of Man, or the fall of the angels, is repeated.
In the second ring I was cold and shivering; it must be a cold world. I never talked there. I just kind of swam hither and thither over it, and a few times I looked into it. I do no longer know what I saw there, I am afraid whenever I think of it. It is terribly cold and bad there. This ring has the light of the moon. 244
This second orbit is treated like a vague recollection—she merely “swam hither and thither over it.” Similar ideas occur in ancient mythology and in the teachings of the ancients about the becoming of the soul. We will discuss these in greater detail later. Just as the souls of the dead ascend from the earth to the moon, into the receptaculum animorum, 245 so they descend again through the moon-ring at birth.
When the Seeress stands in the outermost orbit, she effectively stands in the land of the dead, and looks beyond the severing cold ring of the moon into the sun, that is, the innermost sphere:
The third ring is as bright as the sun, but its center is even brighter. I saw an impenetrable depth in it, and the deeper it was, the brighter it became. I never went there, I was only allowed to look into it. I would like to call it the sun of grace. . . . There, in the utmost clarity of the innermost ring, I saw my guide, and from there I also received the prescriptions, although I no longer know, how. 246
Here the concept of a female conductress or guide appears for the first time. With somnambulistic persons and psychics, we always encounter such guiding figures. They act as guardian angels, or “protecting spirits,” attending to the well-being and woes of others. In the case of female somnambulists, they are very often male figures, and vice versa. There are very famous cases, such as Mrs. Piper, who had not just one such figure but a whole group of “controls,” a veritable small-sized general staff, which was in constant attendance. 247
Evidently, the mid-point is the ultimate depth, that is, the radiant fullness of light. Within its radius stands the guiding principle, which in the case of the Seeress finds expression in the spirit of her grandmother. Psychologically speaking, within our interior there stands a guide. We all carry unconscious guidance within us. Even if we think we have been in control, we experience time and again that sometimes it is not we who decide, but rather something inside us that decides the outcome. All peoples of the earth believe that there exists another being that directs us and determines our conscious decisions.
This being is also the guide of the Seeress. Guidance proceeds from the centerpoint. This point, however, is not situated within the center of consciousness, but within the solar plexus. 248 It has been called thus since antiquity, following the discovery that in a state of ecstasy we are able to see this light through “sympathy,” that is, through the sympathetic nervous system. There are peoples—and in Greece there was even a sect—who practice omphaloscopy, that is, the contemplation of the navel, in order to experience this inner vision. 249
The Seeress furnished a second drawing of the life-sphere, in which it stands alone. As we shall see, this second illustration casts new light on the other spheres. It is filled with foreign writing; this is the language of the ghost country. So in this case we encounter the phenomenon of glossolalia, 250 that is, the occurrence of a foreign language entirely unrelated to any known language. Such occurrence is a frequently observed phenomenon with introverted individuals who have retreated far into the background.
The inner life-sphere has certain features, upon which the Seeress comments as follows:
In the center of this circle there is something that posits numbers and words, and this is the spirit. Just as this world lies within the sun circle, there lies a completely different and higher one in this life sphere (soul), and this why everybody has a premonition of a higher world. . . . From there, the spirit looks into the center of the sun circle. 251
We must be mindful of the fact that these spheres are lying one upon the other. The life-sphere is thus situated underneath the sun-sphere, and its midpoint is thus no longer identical with that of the sun-sphere. What is called the sun at the top of the sun-sphere is known as the spirit in the life-sphere. We may find this completely crazy at first. I have found out over the years, however, that such questions have preoccupied the human mind for centuries. The Seeress continues: “The center of the life sphere is the seat of the spirit, and this is its right and true place.” 252
This center, to which truth is attributed, exists in other systems, too. One remarkable parallel, albeit not the only one, is the Dharmakaya, 253 the so-called divine body of truth, in Mahayana Buddhism. 254
Regarding the second sphere, the Seeress gives the following account:
The second circle represents already the beginning obfuscation of the spirit with regard to what is good, but in a way that it is still able to return to the better of its own accord.
The third circle represents a diminished level of what is good, but still in a transitory stage, so that it is still free to return completely to the inner circle. The third circle is also the last one of the spirit. 255
There is obviously a gradation, in that this central point, which denotes the spirit, loses gravitas and intensity through emanation. The spirit starts to degenerate in the second sphere, and once it reaches the third sphere, its intensity is even less. The same applies to the sun-sphere. The sun loses intensity through radiation into outer space. It constitutes a sort of emanation system.
In the third sphere, Mrs. Hauffe sees the numbers, upon which her entire calculation was based, the numbers 10 and 17. 256 I mention this merely to illustrate that number mysticism, which is always related to inner systems, begins here. Extended systems also exist that begin with such number mysticism. In other systems, such as the Chinese one, 10 is the number of the earth; 17 remains undocumented (10 + 7), but for the Seeress it is the spiritual number. The life-sphere is a lower ring. Consequently, the spirit is to her a phenomenon that lies beneath the sun-sphere. Thus, it does not represent the highest level.
For the moment, I shall not dwell upon this symbolism any further. Instead, I would rather resume my discussion of the symptomatology of the Seeress by considering other strange phenomena. She frequently experienced instances of clairvoyance, specifically clairvoyant perceptions and clairvoyant dreams. Here are a few examples:
One night she dreamt that she saw her uncle’s eldest daughter go out of the house with a small coffin on her head: seven days afterwards died her own child, aged one year, of whose illness, at the time, we had not the least idea. She had related the dream to me and others on awaking. 257
Furthermore:
Another night she dreamt that she was crossing some water, holding in her hand a piece of decaying flesh, and that, meeting Mrs. N–, the latter had anxiously inquired what she was going to do with it (she related this dream to us, which we were unable to interpret); seven days afterwards Mrs. N– was delivered of a dead child, whose body was already in a state of corruption. 258
And finally:
On the night of the 28th January 1828, Mrs. H– dreamt that, being on a desert island, she saw her dead child enveloped with a heavenly light, with a wreath of flowers on its head, and a wand, with buds on it, in its hand. This disappeared; and she next saw me assisting a man who was bleeding; and this was succeeded by a third vision of herself, suffering severe spasms, whilst a voice told her that I was sent for. This dream she related to me on the morning of the 29th. On the 30th, I was sent for to a man who had been stabbed in the breast; and on the same night, the third vision was explained by my being sent for to her. The interpretation of the child’s appearance we did not learn. 259
These clairvoyant, prophetic dreams are related to her visions of ghosts. Of the appearance of these specters, she says:
I see many with whom I come into no approximation, and others who come to me, with whom I converse, and who remain near me for months; I see them at various times by day and night, whether I am alone or in company. I am perfectly awake at the time, and am not sensible of any circumstance or sensation that calls them up. I see them alike whether I am strong or weak, plethoric or in a state of inanition, glad or sorrowful, amused, or otherwise; and I cannot dismiss them. Not that they are always with me, but they come at their own pleasure like mortal visiters [sic], and equally whether I am in a spiritual or corporeal state at the time. When I am in my calmest and most healthy sleep, they awaken me—I know not how, but I feel that I am awakened by them—and that I should have slept on had they not come to my bedside. I observe frequently that, when a ghost visits me by night, those who sleep in the same room with me are, by their dreams, made aware of its presence; they speak afterwards of the apparition they saw in their dream, although I have not breathed a syllable on the subject to them. Whilst the ghosts are with me, I see and hear everything around me as usual, and can think of other subjects; and though I can avert my eyes from them, it is difficult for me to do it—I feel in a sort of magnetic rapport with them. . . . If any object comes between me and them, they are hidden from me. I cannot see them with closed eyes, nor when I turn my face from them; but I am so sensible of their presence, that I could designate the exact spot they are standing upon. . . . Other persons who do not see them are frequently sensible of the effects of their proximity when they are with me; they have a disposition to faintness, and feel a constriction and oppression of the nerves. . . . The appearance of the ghosts is the same as when they were alive, but colourless. . . . Their gait is like the gait of the living, only that the better spirits seem to float, and the evil ones tread heavier; so that their footsteps may sometimes be heard, not by me alone, but by those who are with me. They have various ways of attracting attention by other sounds besides speech. . . . These sounds consist in sighing, knocking, noises as of the throwing of sand or gravel, rustling of paper, rolling of a ball, shuffling as in slippers, &c. &c. 260
Such sounds are typical of spook stories, no matter in which country. I would like to read you another passage [Jung cannot find the bookmark—to be read next time].
Allow me to conclude today’s lecture with some final remarks on this case: An intensive withdrawal from outer reality stimulates the background and the inner world, giving rise to three groups of phenomena: 1. extrasensory perceptions, such as clairvoyance, the perception of qualities through crystals, or perception through the epigastric region; 2. the apparition of ghosts; 3. the peculiar vision of the “sun-sphere” or mandala; “mandala” is the Indian term for “circle.”
All so-called supernatural perceptions are mainly “clairvoyant” phenomena. Clairvoyance expresses itself through the senses and the spirit, and they in turn express themselves in terms of space and time.
We are at first inclined to regard the existence of such matters, which simply defy the laws of nature, as pure nonsense. But too much irrefutable factual experience has been obtained about them for them to be ignored. This should not amount to positing a metaphysical claim. We should merely exercise patience with such phenomena until we gradually discern what exactly is involved. Hardly a week passes in my practice in which a patient does not enter with such a dream or experience. Evidently, this field is filled with the most incredible possibilities of deception. Behind lurks a dark superstition, and yet our entire scientific world has emerged from precisely such a dark superstition, from a world of magic.
236. The question is from Harry R. Goldschmid from Zurich (letter of 29 November 1933; ETH Archives).
237. Barbara Hannah notes that “There is another question asking if the ego is identical with what we know? To answer this question would lead us too far, it will be answered to some extent as the lectures proceed.”
238. This was not translated in the (incomplete) English edition, which also does not contain many of the following quotes. In these instances the translations are our own, and the page references are to the reprint of the German original (ed. 2012, p. 114).
239. Ibid., p. 120.
240. Ibid., p. 114.
241. Ibid., pp. 114–115.
242. Ibid., p. 115.
243. Ibid., p. 116. The translation gives this in reported speech: “In the outer orbit, over which seven stars seemed to shine, she was at ease and happy; she spoke into the world from it . . .” (pp. 130–131).
244. Ibid.
245. Latin, the receptacle of souls.
246. Ibid., pp. 116–117.
247. On Mrs. Piper, see Lecture 7 and note 224. Jung mentioned this group of five of her psychic “controls,” called “Imperator,” in his commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower (1929, § 60). Cf. Hyslop, 1905, pp. 113 ff.
248. In anatomy, the plexus solaris, or solar plexus, is a complex of radiating nerves situated near the celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery, and renal arteries. It governs various inner organs as well as the contraction and slackening of smooth muscles. In the Hindu chakra system it is known as the Manipura chakra or the ten-petaled lotus.
249. Omphaloscopy, the contemplation of the navel, was practiced as a form of meditation to experience God as light by the Hesychasts, named after Johannes Hesychastes (454–559). Hesychasm (from the Greek hesychia, stillness, rest, quiet, silence) is an eremitic tradition of prayer in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
250. Speaking in tongues.
251. Seeress, pp. 120–121.
252. Ibid., p. 121.
253. Dharmakaya, also known as the “Truth Body,” is a central concept in Mahayana Buddhism, according to which the originally enlightened Buddha transformed the five poisons of the spirit (ignorance, hatred, envy, pride, and greed) into the five underlying aspects of wisdom.
254. Mahayana Buddhism (“Great Vehicle”) is one of two major schools of Buddhism, together with Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. This is distinct from Theravada Buddhism on account of its “great” motivation, which strives for liberation not merely for itself, but for all suffering creatures.
255. Seeress, p. 121.
256. Ibid.
257. Ibid., pp. 82–83.
258. Ibid., p. 83. Barbara Hannah notes that the “water in the dream stood for the amniotic fluid” (1959 [1934], p. 38).
259. Seeress, pp. 83–84.
260. Ibid., pp. 155–158.