Abstract
Memories, Dreams, Reflections was a very reluctant effort on Jung's part, and it may be for this reason that the work is so genuinely alive. Jung produced other works whose very titles may seem to dictate their usage here in preference to the "memorable fantasies"; but, for me, Memories, Dreams, Reflections holds a special place in Jung's canon. I think Jung's unwillingness to bow to what readers had come to expect from "memories," his highly personal glimpses into the polar nature of existence, and his own vision of wholeness—essentially an androgynous vision—are the factors most highly significant which led me to seize upon the following themes in his work: 1) Experience is more precisely expressed through the language of myth than the language of science because the former is synthetic and therefore more precisely akin to conscious experience than is the latter, which is analytical and factual; 2) yet within this basic duality we find the presupposition of unity through individuation as prerequisite to conscious wholeness; 3) and the mandala, in all its forms, is the symbol of centered wholeness (androgyny) logically known through recognition of its inherent quaternity.
Recommended Citation
Recoulley, Alfred L.
(1987)
"Memories, Dreams, Reflections: The Androgynous Dialectics of C.G. Jung,"
University of Dayton Review: Vol. 18:
No.
3, Article 3.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udr/vol18/iss3/3
