ABSTRACT
In this work I have shown that, although the reason behind the constellation of an autonomous complex may be unconscious due in part to its ‘strangeness’ (Jung 1928/1948: para. 19 and note 19), the process of this constellation generates consciousness. This applies to the ego-complex as well as to autonomous complexes and, albeit in a different way, to the archetypes. I have concentrated on the role of emotion and the body in this process. Basing my research on Jung’s original work with regard to the complex, I have identified the phenomenological correlates of the constellation of an autonomous complex. This has not, to my knowledge, been attempted before. I have dealt in detail with the development of the brain in the infant in order to stress the importance of unconscious emotional patterns and implicit memories in the psychic landscape of the adult.
