The Passion of Christ, the crucifixion and then the resurrection — this biblical story has firmly entered our culture and consciousness. What deep meaning does it carry from the point of view of psychology, what does it tell about ourselves and how can it support us in difficult times? The article will be of interest to both believers and agnostics and even atheists.
Vinerea Mare
“None of the relatives was near Christ. He walked surrounded by gloomy soldiers, two criminals, probably accomplices of Barabbas, shared with Him the way to the place of execution. Each had a titulum, a plaque indicating his guilt. The one that hung on the chest of Christ was written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin, so that everyone could read it. It read: «Jesus of Nazarene, King of the Jews»…
According to a cruel rule, the doomed themselves carried the crossbars on which they were crucified. Jesus walked slowly. He was tormented by whips and weakened after a sleepless night. The authorities, on the other hand, sought to finish the matter as soon as possible — before the start of the celebrations. Therefore, the centurion detained a certain Simon, a Jew from the Cyrene community, who was walking from his field to Jerusalem, and ordered him to carry the cross of the Nazarene …
Leaving the city, we turned to the steep main hill, located not far from the walls, by the road. For its shape, it received the name Golgotha - «Skull», or «Execution Place». Crosses were to be placed on its top. The Romans always crucified the condemned along the crowded paths in order to frighten the rebellious with their appearance.
On the hill, the executed were brought a drink that dulls the senses. It was made by Jewish women to ease the pain of the crucified. But Jesus refused to drink, preparing to endure everything in full consciousness.”
This is how the famous theologian, Archpriest Alexander Men, describes the events of Good Friday, based on the text of the Gospel. Many centuries later, philosophers and theologians discuss why Jesus did this. What is the meaning of his atoning sacrifice? Why was it necessary to endure such humiliation and terrible pain? Prominent psychologists and psychiatrists have also pondered the significance of the gospel story.
Searching for God in the Soul
Individuarea
Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung also offered his own special view of the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to him, the meaning of life for each of us is in individuation.
Individuation consists in a person’s awareness of his own uniqueness, acceptance of his capabilities and limitations, explains the Jungian psychologist Guzel Makhortova. The Self becomes the regulating center of the psyche. And the concept of the Self is inextricably linked with the idea of God within each of us.
Crucifix
In Jungian analysis, crucifixion and subsequent resurrection is the decomposition of the former, old personality and social, generic matrices. Everyone who seeks to find their true purpose must go through this. We discard ideas and beliefs imposed from the outside, comprehend our essence and discover God inside.
Interestingly, Carl Gustav Jung was the son of a Reformed church pastor. And the understanding of the image of Christ, his role in the human unconscious changed throughout the life of a psychiatrist — obviously, in accordance with his own individuation.
Before experiencing the «crucifixion» of the old personality, it is important to comprehend all those structures that hinder us on the path to God in ourselves. What is important is not just a refusal, but a deep work on their comprehension and then rethinking.
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Thus, the resurrection of Christ in the Gospel story is associated by Jungianism with the inner resurrection of man, finding himself authentic. “The Self, or the center of the soul, is Jesus Christ,” says the psychologist.
“It is rightly believed that this mystery goes beyond the limits accessible to human knowledge,” writes Fr. Alexander Men. — However, there are tangible facts that are in the field of view of the historian. At the very moment when the Church, barely born, seemed to perish forever, when the building erected by Jesus lay in ruins, and His disciples lost their faith, everything suddenly changes radically. Exultant joy replaces despair and hopelessness; those who have just abandoned the Master and denied Him boldly proclaim the victory of the Son of God.”
Something similar, according to Jungian analysis, happens to a person who goes through a difficult path of knowing different aspects of his personality.
To do this, he plunges into the unconscious, meets in the Shadow of his soul with something that at first can frighten him. With gloomy, «bad», «wrong» manifestations, desires and thoughts. He accepts something, rejects something, is cleared of the unconscious influence of these parts of the psyche.
And when his habitual, old ideas about himself are destroyed and it seems that he is about to cease to exist, the Resurrection occurs. Man discovers the very essence of his «I». Finds God and Light within himself.
“Jung compared this to the discovery of the philosopher’s stone,” explains Guzel Makhortova. — Medieval alchemists believed that everything touched by the philosopher’s stone will turn into gold. Having passed through the “crucifixion” and “resurrection”, we find something that transforms us from withinelevates us above the pain of contact with this world and fills us with the light of forgiveness.
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Carl Gustav Jung «Psychology and Religion»