Modern Challenges of Consciousness According to Jung, von Franz, Hillman & Woodman

Abstract

This research studies the elements needed for the transformation of modern Western consciousness as theorized by depth psychologists C. G. Jung, Marie-Louise von Franz, James Hillman, and Marion Woodman. Through a comparative analysis, this research argues that a model utilizing key components from each theorist may provide a better-suited, more stable, unified consciousness to those in the modern West. Jung’s work provides the foundational theory for the work of the other three theorists and highlights the self and spirit as well. Von Franz emphasizes the necessity of uniting psyche and matter to provide a personal connection to the cosmos. Hillman’s work on the soul gives a thorough explanation of the realm of life that is specifically of the soul and can be made conscious by uniting the archetypes of the historical and the contemporary, the senex and puer. Woodman’s work of embodiment provides the soul and archetypes a means to be lived, physically and creatively. The transformed, new consciousness would then be capable of uniting the fractures of modernity with an integrated awareness of the archetypes and self, on personal and transpersonal levels. With a renewed awareness of the

archetypal feminine—the soul and the psyche in matter—and its relationship to the archetypal masculine—the self and ethereal spirit—people may be better psychologically equipped to address issues facing the collective and become catalysts of transformation for modern Western consciousness in the 21st century.