ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the significance of the views given expression in Alberto Caeiro's poems both in their own right and as they relate to Fernando Pessoa. It shows how the poems attributed to Caeiro help us to understand Jung's concept of individuation. Caeiro and Jung see the world differently because they belong to different psychological types. Pessoa, like Jung, was fascinated by all forms of mystical experience. Caeiro, his heteronym, has no patience with Pessoa's interest in things spiritual and mystical. Jung's theory that the unconscious compensates consciousness helps to explain how the poet, Pessoa, and his poetic persona, Caeiro, can hold such radically different views. Pessoa was just as interested in exploring his unconscious tendencies as Jung, but because he was an introverted thinking type, he had a very different experience of his unconscious. Significant innovation and lasting change are almost always brought about by an individual, and individuation is about discovering our individual identity.
