ABSTRACT
As has been seen, C. G. Jung collected together a large number of numinous images of the self observed first in myth and legend, then in his own active imagination, and he also found them being produced by his patients. A symbolic image, when functioning positively, is thus synthetic in the sense of being a container of mental contents that appear inimical – that is its transcendent function. The experience of symbols, when closely related to the self, often carries with it a sense of mystery. The sense of mystery, and awe too, may not be transcendent; both may be evoked when a human being starts to investigate himself. In a schizoid child, self-representation is precarious, even fragmented, and so he creates links with which to hold his fragmented self together. Individuation was originally conceived by Jung as a process of self-realization that took place in later life.
