ABSTRACT
The separation between “inner” and “outer” reality is much too shortsighted, as is the separation between psyche and matter. In the Jungian understanding of the psyche, the unconscious has some levels. The notion of a transpersonal or spiritual dimension of the psyche is one of Jung’s major contributions to Western psychology. The archetype-as-such is a predisposition in the unconscious for certain types of ideas and images to emerge into consciousness in particular life situations, just as the instincts are predispositions for the emergence of certain types of behavior under certain environmental conditions. The archetype determines the form of a dream such as this, but the setting and the context of the dream are filled in by the dreamer’s own life and the culture in which he lives. In addition to their psychological importance, archetypes also constitute a spiritual principle in the psyche.
