1. Religious belief as a product of the human mind Carl Jung
Religion necessary for personal growth with reference to: collective unconscious; individuation; archetypes; the God within.
Supportive evidence including recognition of religion as a source of comfort and promotion of positive personal and social mind sets arising from religious belief.
Challenges including lack of empirical evidence for Jungian concepts and reductionist views regarding religious belief arising from acceptance of Jung’s ideas.

2. Checking your mind maps

3. Summary of Jung’s ideas about religion
Religion was an expression of the collective unconscious - a natural process
The quest for integration/ individuation
The theory of archetypes
The god within

4. Jung –start mind map on Jung
Section 1 - background
An ex-pupil of Freud
Accepted that religion was a psychological phenomenon
However he was opposed to the idea that it was:
A neurosis caused by sexual trauma and,
a dangerous entity
that should be discarded and replaced by science

5. Jung-the relevance of schizophrenia
He worked with patients who had schizophrenia
Unlike Freud he didn’t believe this disorder was a result of repressed sexuality
He agreed it was a neurosis but had no sexual component

6. How does this relate to religion?
Patients who suffer from schizophrenia were recognised as having similar disturbances of the mind, i.e. delusions, visions etc.
They can experience generic images
Which could be perceived as religious experiences i.e. visions etc.

7. Jung’s idea of the unconscious:
Disagreed with Freud’s idea that religion was the result of sexual trauma (oedipus..)
The libido, may cause neurosis although it is much more complex than mere sexual drive
Instead the libido is a source of psychic energy; if its flow was interrupted-this would result in neuroses

8. Page 18 The collective unconscious:
Jung proposes this is oldest part of the mind
It contains a kind of “blue print” for many of our ideas, perceptions and images
Each one of us is born with an ability to conceive similar and general images, they come to us in dreams and in their concept of God
So, God becomes an expression of the unconscious, or collective unconscious of the many
That’s why many of our perceptions about God are common amongst people

9. The personal unconscious:
This is similar (in a way) to Freud’s repression as this part of our unconscious mind contains our forgotten memories
Explain how it is similar to Freud’s idea.

10. Dreams Create a list of dreams that you can remember.
Compare your list with your class
If there are any common features how would you explain them?

11. All humans share a common idea of God as it is part of the collective unconscious
According to Jung’s concept of the mind, the fantasy of Miss Miller and the likeness drawn by religions between light and the deity come from the collective unconscious
Her dream compared her desire for God with a moth’s desire for light
Miss Miller’s dream
Christians – Jesus is the light of the world
Jung observed that the parallel between God and light can be found in many religious traditions
Aztecs = light

12. Archetypes:
This is the part of the mind which actually creates primordial images, perceptions and conceptions
So-they are “image generators”
The mind contains structures based on our knowledge and experiences
From this, images are created-through archetypes
How have these ideas been misunderstood?

13. Jung identified important archetypes that many of us share:
God, the self and the persona
So God is an archetype

14. God as an archetype
Images of God are themselves archetypal, which means each one of us is born with a tendency to generate religious images of gods, angels and other religious icons
So our religious experiences come from our own experiences of the world
The Christian concept of God is a manifestation of our archetypal tendency to create an image of an all powerful, perfect being
In other words: God, is an inner psychological experience and, an expression of the collective unconscious

15. The persona: Represents our “public face” or image
It is like a mask- in the sense that we often use our persona as a front to the outside world
This front could be a good impression of how we want to be viewed, or it could be a false impression when we need to be manipulative
It is even possible to mistake our persona for our “true self”
This can make us believe we really are what we pretend to be
The Shadow

16. Animus and Anima

17. Individuation: (also referred to as integration)
Is where ALL the features of the personality need to be integrated
We need this for our psychological health
So, there needs to be a balance between the conscious mind and the unconscious
There also needs to be a balance between the different archetypes
The failure of this process causes mental disorders i.e. neurosis

18. Individuation cont..
It’s driven by the archetype of the self, where the self has the desire and need to become whole
So individuation is- knowing our true inner self, that we are exactly how and who we want to be
So:
individuation is like a religious process

19. Individuation cont..
The self actually aids individuation, as it creates images of wholeness An example would be the religious image of God
Jung would suggest that the images created by the God archetype are the same as images created by the self archetype
So through religious images, worship and behaviour-personality achieves integration (that is, all aspects of our personality)

20. If a person rejects religion they also reject the process of individuation, so they are more likely to experience neurosis.
It’s like they don’t become whole…?
Hence Jung concludes, religion is a valuable entity
Therefore, religion prevents neurosis through individuation, whereas Freud suggests, religion is a product of neurosis

21. Knowledge check
Think of fifteen key words associated with Jung’s theory
Write on the white board
Discuss an order
Write up in your notes
Create a class list

22. Watch the video clip Sea of faith documentary
Sea of Faith
List a difference between Freud and Jung
What did Jung believe the role of religion was?
What is a mandala?
Documentary 2
Part 2
Why does Jung think ‘I don’t need to believe’

23. Examine Jung’s ideas about religion. AO1 20 marks
An outlining and discussion of C G Jung’s interpretation of religious belief may include, e.g.: • reference to Jung’s work with schizophrenic patients • an exploration of Jung’s views concerning religious belief, religion’s function in harmonising the psyche • reference to Jung’s views concerning the distinction between the conscious and unconscious mind and the creation of archetypes • an exploration of the archetypes of the persona and the shadow and their links to the concepts of evil/Satan – repressed aspect of psyche • reference to religious imagery as archetypical - universal • reference to the writings of Jung concerning religious belief – “Symbols of Transformation”, “Psychology and Religion” • an exploration of the process of individuation and the role religion plays in this process – Link to Otto • the benefits of religious belief and the potential harm caused by the rejection of religion – neurosis. Religion can’t be replaced by science, need religious imagery • reference to Freud’s contrasting view of religious belief. [30]

24. Attitudes to Jung’s ideas – AO1 Evaluating Jung – AO2
Supportive evidence including recognition of religion as a source of comfort and promotion of positive personal and social mind sets arising from religious belief.
Challenges including lack of empirical evidence for Jungian concepts and reductionist views regarding religious belief arising from acceptance of Jung’s ideas.
Archetypes
Religious experience
Reductionism
Unscientific

25. Jung Test What is the collective unconscious?
How do we know about the ideas in our collective unconscious?
What are archetypes?
What are archetypal images?
What scholar influenced Jung’s ideas about a priori categories in our minds?
Why did Jung think God was an archetype?
Why did Jung think experiences the God archetype was a religious experience?
List four other archetypes.
What happens to humans in the first phased of the individuation process?
What happens in the second phase?
Why did Jung believe Mandalas were important?