Áries

Áries  O primeiro signo do zodíaco. Período de signos do sol 21 de março a 20 de abril. Deve-se lembrar, ao ler as características dos signos solares, que eles sempre serão afetados pelos efeitos do signo ascendente, pelos planetas em vários outros signos e casas e pelas relações que os planetas estabelecem entre si. Características gerais As características tradicionais de Áries são energia, coragem, entusiasmo, confiança, dinamismo, perspicácia e espírito pioneiro; mas também egoísmo, impulsividade, impaciência, insensatez e rapidez de temperamento. Em geral, existe uma atitude descomplicada em relação à vida e uma impaciência com detalhes triviais. A conquista é vital para a personalidade Arien, e os desafios enfrentados ao avançar em direção a qualquer objetivo são enfrentados com grande determinação. O fracasso em atingir um objetivo - ou em atingi-lo de maneira incompleta (talvez devido à impulsividade, que pode resultar em descuido) resultará em depressão - assim como o fracasso em encontrar satisfação sexual em uma parceria. Inquietação e tédio podem ocorrer em ambos os casos. O egoísmo pode causar problemas em quase todas as áreas da vida - 'eu primeiro' é uma frase que muitos astrólogos associam a esse signo. Em qualquer carreira, a liberdade de expressão trará os melhores resultados e a restrição - a uma rotina física ou mental repetitiva, de pedestres -, o pior. A ambição será uma forte motivação; mas uma vez alcançado, não haverá relaxamento, pois outra ambição se apresentará imediatamente. A empresa vinculada a uma boa cabeça para o sucesso dos feitiços de negócios, desde que impetuosidade e impaciência não levem a erros, egoísmo e temperamento rápido não alienam amigos e colegas. As carreiras típicas da Ariens incluem serviços armados, psiquiatria, odontologia, engenharia e indústria eletrônica. O exercício é importante para a saúde de Arien, e geralmente será adotado não apenas com entusiasmo, mas com um certo grau de compulsão - às vezes na medida em que a constituição para a qual é importante seja danificada por tensão ou ferimento devido ao excesso de entusiasmo. A cabeça (tradicionalmente governada por Áries) é especialmente vulnerável a lesões, e a tendência Arien de se apressar sem pensar pode, em geral, resultar em ferimentos leves. Geralmente, há um gosto pela comida tradicional, e não pela fantasia - e também pela comida apimentada, o que nem sempre é bom para a digestão com Arien. A criança em crescimento Ao longo da infância e adolescência, atividade, atividade, atividade será um tema necessário. As crianças de Arien certamente não têm falta de energia, e aprender a andar mais cedo ou mais tarde tenderá a ser suscetível a pequenos acidentes. Aventureiros desde tenra idade, é provável que causem certa ansiedade aos pais, pois um espírito aventureiro e uma abordagem entusiástica da vida em geral dificilmente os convencerão a ficar quietos em casa estudando - especialmente porque o tédio se instala demais. facilmente quando as aulas se tornam entediantes (como podem parecer muitas vezes). O desejo - necessidade - de liberdade ficará desconfortável com a disciplina, se isso for administrado de maneira muito rigorosa ou antipática. O egoísmo pode prejudicar o relacionamento com outras crianças, e com muita freqüência esse é especialmente o caso com os irmãos. Os problemas usuais que surgem na adolescência provavelmente serão acentuados pela teimosia e mau humor de Arien; explosões características dentro do círculo familiar certamente não serão amenizadas pelo fato de um jovem ter Áries como signo solar. Felizmente, depois que a explosão ocorre, a pressão é liberada imediatamente e o ar é limpo. O ressentimento não é uma característica Arien e, uma vez terminada a discordância atual, haverá um período de paz e sossego até que o fusível seja reacendido (o que inevitavelmente acontecerá mais cedo ou mais tarde). Educação O tédio será inevitavelmente o maior obstáculo durante os anos de escola e educação continuada. Os espíritos elevados de Arien simplesmente se recusam a ser contidos se a mente não é mantida tão ativa quanto o corpo, e isso significa que a criança e, posteriormente, o aluno devem se interessar pela matéria que está sendo estudada. Esse é um problema particular se, com muita freqüência, a criança ou o jovem homem ou mulher não tiver um forte interesse pessoal que possa ser incentivado e cultivado. Existe uma possibilidade distinta de que interesses externos, e especialmente o esporte, possam ser uma distração do estudo intelectual, e será um professor talentoso que poderá competir com as atrações da academia ou, mais desejável, com o ar livre. O futebol de rugby, o hóquei, a luta livre e o boxe, todas boas saídas para excesso de energia, serão entusiasmados. Na sala de aula ou de aula, é provável que o Arien seja considerado uma influência perturbadora; por odiar trabalhar na paz e no silêncio de um ambiente estudioso, é pouco provável que os pedidos de silêncio sejam respeitados. O desafio pode ser a tônica, tanto no estudo quanto no esporte, e dada a área em que um interesse competitivo pode ser despertado, isso manterá o Arien em ação, por medo de que algum contemporâneo o ofusque. Amizade, romance e sexo Os arianos como, de fato, geralmente exigem que seus amigos sejam tão entusiasmados quanto eles mesmos e, se possível, pelas mesmas coisas - então amizades serão frequentemente formadas com colegas de algum clube ou associação. Os amigos podem ter que lidar com expressões de egoísmo - compromissos esquecidos, por exemplo -, mas não haverá falta de generosidade, emocional ou financeira. É provável que uma primeira experiência sexual seja o resultado de um impulso repentino irresistível, em vez de qualquer coisa planejada, e a promiscuidade é mais provável do que não até que um parceiro possivelmente permanente seja encontrado - ele ou ela é mais provável do que não ser um fraco, tipo mais dependente que pode ser dominado pela personalidade Arien mais forte. Mas Áries é idealista e apaixonado, e igualmente suscetível de se apaixonar repentinamente e romanticamente - e de assumir um compromisso muito precipitado e repentino antes de (por exemplo) descobrir se o parceiro em potencial é tão entusiasmado por um sexo excitante e variado -vida como o Arien; muitas parcerias afundaram nessa rocha em particular - mas também existe o perigo do egoísmo ariano - uma falta de interesse nas preliminares e uma tendência, nos homens, à ejaculação precoce. Há um contraste entre homens e mulheres arianos: os homens arianos são atraídos pela beleza e pelo desamparo, necessitando de um parceiro pronto para admirá-lo e apoiá-lo; a mulher Arien é capaz, generosa e magistral, e pode se tornar auto-opinativa e mandona. Ambos os sexos podem se tornar violentamente ciumentos, e ocasionalmente até violento. Parceria e família permanentes Apesar de todas as suas características positivas, ambiciosas e ambiciosas, os Ariens precisam de apoio, principalmente de um parceiro permanente - de fato, os parceiros podem ocasionalmente achar que isso é tudo o que é necessário para eles, pois o egoísmo é tão provável que se mostre situação doméstica como em qualquer outra, e a atitude "eu primeiro" muito comum com Ariens pode levar à falta de consideração e, na pior das hipóteses, à negligência. A confiança no parceiro quando o apoio é necessário não é necessariamente equilibrada pela capacidade ou vontade de oferecer o apoio necessário na outra direção, especialmente se estiver em uma área da vida que não interessa especialmente ao Arien. A inquietação também pode ser um problema, e o tédio pode surgir se o parceiro não estiver disposto ou não conseguir satisfazer o entusiasmo de Arien com a mesma paixão. Isso será igualmente verdadeiro para as crianças, que deverão demonstrar entusiasmo por seus próprios interesses - estes não precisam necessariamente ser interesses que os Arien compartilham, mas isso não importará enquanto existirem. O pai ou a mãe de Arien não serão particularmente pacientes com as falhas dos filhos e pode haver uma raiva repentina, que, no entanto, explodirá rapidamente. Um orgulho será conquistado no ambiente físico da casa, mas é provável que isso assuma a forma que o Arien deseja impor. A idéia de "dar e receber" pode ter um peso excessivo na última palavra. Os arianos de ocupação, como aqueles com qualquer signo solar, naturalmente se encontram em toda e qualquer ocupação, mas alguns são mais adequados ao temperamento ariano do que outros. As posições de signo e casa de Mercúrio e Vênus serão importantes nesta área da vida de Arien - Vênus sugerindo como o Arien provavelmente se relacionará com os colegas, Marte indicando o grau de entusiasmo e vigor que serão direcionados para a vida profissional. Como em todas as outras áreas da vida, uma pessoa com o Sol em Áries precisará ser capaz de direcionar uma grande quantidade de energia para o seu trabalho; portanto, um trabalho que precise de um certo grau de energia física é mais desejável do que aquele que acorrenta um para uma mesa de escritório. Também deve haver espaço para competitividade, seja com colegas ou com rivais em outras organizações. Normalmente, pode-se pensar em algum tipo de vendedor, que deve empurrar não apenas ele próprio, mas algum produto, alguma idéia nova, em concorrência com outros - e, de preferência, quem pode sair do mundo para fazê-lo. Quanto mais forte a competição, mais exercícios terão os músculos físicos e mentais do Arien, e mais saudáveis ​​e fortes ele permanecerá. Saúde e exercício A energia abundante e a necessidade de gastá-la geralmente dominam a vida física típica dos arianos. É quando o movimento e o exercício são restritos ou se tornam impossíveis que os problemas inevitavelmente surgem. Os ariens geralmente não gostam da rotina, o que significa que um regime regular em uma academia será difícil de sustentar - malhar em máquinas pode inicialmente ser popular, mas rapidamente se torna entediante, assim como correr, a menos que haja várias rotas diferentes que possam ser alternadas, e a menos que haja um grupo de pessoas com quem se exercitar, não apenas proporcionando uma companhia agradável, mas um elemento de competição, também querido pelo coração de Arien. É claro que o esporte é uma alternativa - e esporte em que o Arien tem a oportunidade de mostrar conhecimento ou vigor pessoal; um esporte um tanto agressivo - boxe, artes marciais, luta livre - costuma ser popular. O entusiasmo de Arien significa que o exercício pode ser facilmente exagerado e a pressa de Arien pode resultar em acidentes descuidados. A área tradicional do corpo de Arien é a cabeça, que se afirma ser especialmente suscetível a acidentes e dores de cabeça que podem ser o resultado de distúrbios renais. Finanças A pessoa com o Sol em Áries geralmente é empreendedora e gosta de ganhar dinheiro, mas como em outras áreas da vida, a ânsia de vencer e a tendência a correr para situações podem prejudicar a vida financeira. 'Ganhar' não infere necessariamente jogos semiprofissionais, mas certamente haverá um desejo de ganhar dinheiro, e quaisquer oportunidades que surjam repentinamente e pareçam oferecer um lucro rápido serão quase irresistíveis - na medida em que possam ser aproveitadas antes de serem completamente pensadas. O Arien geralmente tem um bom senso comercial, que pode ajudar a manter os pés no chão, e um instinto geralmente confiável; mas a tendência de comprar impulsivamente pode se mostrar tão fatalmente na compra de ações "na moda" quanto na compra de roupas ou móveis domésticos, e pode ser igualmente lamentada no lazer (os Ariens gostam de gastar dinheiro quase tanto quanto ) O desejo de uma boa renda pode incentivar um segundo emprego ou negócio, embora, após algum tempo, a ocupação menos bem-sucedida sofra negligência, à medida que a tendência ariana ao tédio se instala. Aposentadoria mais velha não é um conceito bem-vindo à Ariens. Além do fato de que uma vida sem estrutura, sem algum tipo de trabalho, seria insuportavelmente entediante, os Ariens odeiam a idéia de que inevitavelmente perderão parte dessa força e vigor esmagadores e trabalharão para manter os dois pelo maior tempo possível. O possível perigo que surge é o de "exagerar nas coisas" - uma frase muitas vezes associada ao aumento da idade e que eles farão o possível para ignorar. No entanto, a recusa em moderar um regime de exercícios em andamento pode, por exemplo, ter resultados perigosos à medida que os ossos se tornam quebradiços e as quedas se tornam perigosas. Além do envelhecimento físico, no entanto, as mentes arianas não devem sofrer com a velhice - o espírito competitivo será mais forte do que nunca, mesmo que precise assumir formas ligeiramente diferentes. Áries como signo ascendente A competitividade e a ambição das pessoas com Áries como signo ascendente serão movidas não tanto pelo desejo de dinheiro ou posição, mas pelo desejo de manter-se a par dos rivais, e seguir adiante. Eles tenderão a ser cruéis, não tanto por falta de consideração pelos sentimentos dos outros, mas pela noção de que essa consideração pode ser vista como fraqueza e, em qualquer caso, consumiria sua própria energia. O senso de urgência forte nos signos solares Ariens pode ser avassalador naqueles com um signo ascendente Arien, e eles só se sentirão realmente satisfeitos quando tiverem superado algum obstáculo quase insuperável ou atingido algum objetivo quase inatingível. Da mesma forma, eles precisam queimar sua energia física de uma maneira positiva e satisfatória, o que geralmente significa competir com os outros.

Aries  The first sign of the zodiac. Sun-sign period 21 March–20 April. It should be remembered when reading of the characteristics of the Sun-signs that these will always be affected by the effects of the rising-sign, the planets in various other signs and houses, and the relationships the planets make to each other. General characteristics Traditional Aries characteristics are energy, courage, enthusiasm, confidence, dynamism, quick-wittedness and a pioneering spirit; but also selfishness, impulsiveness, impatience, foolhardiness and quickness of temper. There is in general an uncomplicated attitude to life, and an impatience with trivial detail. Achievement is vital to the Arien personality, and the challenges faced in moving towards any goal are met with great determination. Failure to reach a goal–or achieving it incompletely (perhaps due to impulsiveness, which can result in carelessness) will result in depression–as will a failure to find sexual satisfaction in a partnership. Restlessness and boredom can ensue in both cases. Selfishness can cause problems in almost every area of life–‘me first’ is a phrase many astrologers associate with this sign. In any career freedom of expression will bring the best results, and restriction–to a repetitive, pedestrian physical or mental routine–the worst. Ambition will be a strong motivation; but once achieved there will be no relaxation, for another ambition will immediately present itself. Enterprise linked to a good head for business spells success, provided impetuosity and impatience do not lead to mistakes, and selfishness and a quick temper do not alienate friends and colleagues. Typical careers for Ariens include the armed services, psychiatry, dentistry, engineering, the electronics industry. Exercise is important to Arien health, and will usually be embraced not merely with enthusiasm but with a degree of compulsion–sometimes to the extent that the constitution to which it is important will actually be damaged by strain or injury due to overenthusiasm. The head (traditionally ruled by Aries) is specially vulnerable to injury, and the Arien tendency to rush thoughtlessly about can in general result in minor injuries. There is usually a liking for traditional rather than ‘fancy’ food–and also for spicy food, which is not always good for the Arien digestion. The growing child Throughout childhood and teenage years, activity, activity, activity will be a necessary theme. Arien children certainly do not lack energy, and learning to walk sooner rather than later will consequently tend to be susceptible to small accidents. Adventurous from a very early age, they are likely to give parents a certain amount of anxiety, for an adventurous spirit and enthusiastic approach to life in general are unlikely to persuade them to stay quietly at home studying–especially since boredom will set in all too easily when school lessons become tedious (as they may too often seem to be). The desire–need–for freedom will sit uneasily with discipline if that is too rigorously or unsympathetically administered. Selfishness may mar relationships with other children, and too often this is especially the case with siblings. The usual problems which arise at adolescence are likely to be accentuated by Arien stubbornness and short temper; characteristic explosions within the family circle will certainly not be ameliorated by the fact that a youngster has Aries as a Sun-sign. Happily, once the explosion has taken place the pressure is immediately released and the air cleared. Resentment is not an Arien characteristic, and once the current disagreement is over, there will be a period of peace and quiet until the fuse is reignited (which will inevitably happen sooner or later). Education Boredom will inevitably be the greatest obstacle during the years of school and further education. Arien high spirits simply refuse to be contained if the mind is not kept as active as the body, and this means that the child and later the student must be kept interested in the subject which is being studied. This is a particular problem if, as too often, the child or young man or woman doesn’t have a strong personal interest which can be encouraged and cultivated. There is a distinct possibility that outside interests, and especially sport, may be a distraction from intellectual study, and it will be a talented teacher who can compete with the attractions of the gym or, more desirably, the open air. Rugby football, hockey, wrestling and boxing, all good outlets for excess energy, will be enthusiastically indulged. In the class-or lecture-room the Arien is all too likely to be regarded as a disruptive influence, for hating to work in the peace and quiet of a studious environment, requests for silence are unlikely to be respected. Challenge can be the keynote, in study as well as sport, and given an area in which a competitive interest can be aroused, this will keep the Arien at work, for fear some contemporary will outshine him or her. Friendship, romance and sex Ariens like, indeed often require, their friends to be as enthusiastic as themselves, and if possible for the same things–so friendships will often be formed with fellow-members of some club or association. Friends may have to deal with expressions of selfishness–forgotten appointments, for instance–but there will be no lack of generosity, either emotional or financial. A first sexual experience is likely to be the result of a sudden irresistible impulse rather than anything planned, and promiscuity is more likely than not until a possibly permanent partner is found–he or she more likely than not to be a weaker, more dependent type who can be dominated by the stronger Arien personality. But Aries is idealistic as well as passionate, and equally likely to fall suddenly and romantically in love–and to leap too rashly and suddenly into a commitment, before (for instance) discovering whether the prospective partner is as enthusiastic for an exciting and varied sex-life as the Arien; many a partnership has foundered on that particular rock–but there is also danger from Arien selfishness–a lack of interest in foreplay and a tendency, in men, to premature ejaculation. There is a contrast between Arien men and women: Arien men are attracted by beauty and by helplessness, needing a partner ready to admire and support him; the Arien woman is capable, generous and masterful, and can become self-opinionated and bossy. Both sexes can become violently jealous, and occasionally even violent. Permanent partnership and family Despite all their thrusting, positive, ambitious traits, Ariens need support, particularly from a permanent partner–indeed, partners may occasionally feel that this is all that is needed from them, for selfishness is as likely to show itself in a domestic situation as in any other, and the ‘me first’ attitude all too common with Ariens can lead to thoughtlessness and, at worst, neglect. Reliance on the partner when support is needed is not necessarily balanced by the ability or willingness to offer necessary support in the other direction, especially if it is in an area of life which does not specially interest the Arien. Restlessness can also be a problem, and boredom can arise if the partner is unwilling or unable to meet Arien enthusiasm with equal passion. This will be equally true of children, who will be expected to show enthusiasm for their own interests–these need not necessarily be interests which the Arien shares, but that will not matter as long as they exist. An Arien father or mother will not be particularly patient with their children’s failings, and there may be sudden anger, which however will quickly blow over. A pride will be taken in the physical surroundings of the home, but this is likely to take the shape the Arien wishes to impose. The idea of ‘give and take’ may be too heavily weighted on the latter word. Occupation Ariens, like those with any Sun-sign, of course find themselves in any and every occupation, but some are more suited to the Arien temperament than others. The sign and house positions of Mercury and Venus will be of significance in this area of Arien lives–Venus suggesting how the Arien is likely to get on with colleagues, Mars indicating the degree of enthusiasm and vigour which will be directed towards the working life. As in every other area of life, a person with the Sun in Aries will need to be able to direct a great deal of energy towards his or her work, so a job which needs a degree of physical energy is more desirable than one which chains one to an office desk. There should also be room for competitiveness, whether with colleagues or with rivals in other organizations. Typically, one might think of a salesman of some sort, who must push not only himself but some product, some new idea, in competition with others–and preferably who can get out and about in the world to do so. The stronger the competition, the more exercise the physical and mental muscles of the Arien will have, and the healthier and stronger he or she will remain. Health and exercise Abundant energy and the need to expend it usually dominate the typical Arien’s physical life. It is when movement and exercise are restricted or become impossible that problems will inevitably set in. Ariens usually thoroughly dislike routine, which means that a regular regime at a gym will be difficult to sustain–working out on machines may initially be popular, but will swiftly become boring, as will jogging unless there are several different routes which can be alternated, and unless a group of people is available with whom to exercise, not only providing pleasant company but an element of competition, also dear to the Arien heart. Sport is of course an alternative–and sport in which the Arien has an opportunity to show personal expertise or vigour; somewhat aggressive sport–boxing, martial arts, wrestling–is often popular. Arien enthusiasm means that exercise can be easily overdone, and Arien haste can result in careless accidents. The traditional Arien body area is the head, which is claimed to be especially susceptible both to accidents and to headaches which may be the result of kidney disorders. Finance The person with the Sun in Aries is usually enterprising and enjoys making money, but as in other areas of life eagerness to win and a tendency to rush into situations can bedevil the financial life. ‘Winning’ does not necessarily infer semi-professional gambling, but there will certainly be a desire to make money, and any opportunities which suddenly arise and seem to offer a quick profit will be almost irresistible–to the extent that they may be grasped before they are thoroughly thought through. The Arien usually has a good business sense, which can help keep feet on the ground, and a generally reliable instinct; but the tendency to buy impulsively can show itself just as fatally in the purchase of ‘fashionable’ shares as in the buying of clothes or household furnishings, and may be equally strongly regretted, at leisure (Ariens enjoy spending money almost as much as making it). The desire for a good income can encourage a second job or business, though after a while the less successful occupation may suffer from neglect as the Arien tendency toward boredom sets in. Growing older Retirement is not a concept which is welcome to Ariens. Apart from the fact that a life without structure, without work of some sort, would be insufferably boring, Ariens hate the idea that they must inevitably lose some of that overwhelming drive and vigour, and will work to retain both for as long as possible. The possible danger which arises is of ‘overdoing things’–a phrase all too often associated with increasing age, and one which they will do their best to ignore. However, a refusal to moderate an on-going exercise regime can, for instance, have dangerous results as bones grow brittle and falls become dangerous. Apart from physical ageing, however, Arien minds should not suffer with old age–the competitive spirit will be as strong as ever, even if it has to take a slightly different forms. Aries as rising-sign The competitiveness and ambition of those with Aries as a rising-sign will be driven not so much by the desire for money or position as by the desire to keep abreast of rivals, and draw ahead of them. They will tend to be ruthless, not so much out of lack of consideration for the feelings of others as by the notion that such consideration may be seen as weakness, and in any event would sap their own energy. The sense of urgency strong in Sun-sign Ariens can be overwhelming in those with an Arien rising-sign, and they will only feel really fulfilled when they have overcome some almost insuperable obstacle or gained some almost unattainable objective. Similarly, they need to burn their physical energy in a positive and satisfying way, which generally means in competition with others. Traditional associations • Ruling Planet–Mars • Triplicity/ Element–fire • Quadruplicity/ Quality–cardinal • Colour–red • Gemstone–diamond • Metal–iron • Flowers–honeysuckle, thistle • Trees–all thorn-bearing trees • Herbs and Spices–capers, mustard, cayenne pepper • Foodstuffs–onions, leeks, hops • Animals–sheep and rams • Countries–England, France, Germany • Cities–Naples, Florence, Krakov, Birmingham (UK), San Francisco • US States–No traditionally associated signs

The Relation of Ego to Consciousness   Jung therefore writes a great deal about ego-consciousness throughout his published works. For my purposes here, I will discuss  primarily the first chapter of the late work Aion, entitled “The Ego,” as well as some related texts and passages. These summarize  his position adequately and represent his mature thinking on the subject. At the end of this chapter I will also include some refer-  ences to Psychological Types.   Aion can be read on many different levels. It is a work of Jung’s later years and reflects his profound engagement with Western  intellectual and religious history and their future, as well his most detailed thoughts about the archetype of the self. The first four  chapters were added to the book later to provide the new reader with an introduction to his general psychological theory and to  offer an entry point into the vocabulary of analytical psychology. While these introductory pages are not detailed or particularly  technical, they do contain Jung’s most condensed discussions about the psychic structures called ego, shadow, anima, animus,  and self.   Here Jung defines the ego as follows: “It forms, as it were, the centre of the field of consciousness; and, in so far as this com-  prises the empirical personality, the ego is the subject of all personal acts of consciousness.”² Consciousness is a “field,” and what  Jung calls the “empirical personality” here is our personality as we are aware of it and experience it firsthand. The ego, as “the  subject of all personal acts of consciousness,” occupies the center of this field. The term ego refers to one’s experience of oneself  as a center of willing, desiring, reflecting, and acting. This definition of the ego as the center of consciousness is consistent  throughout all of Jung’s writings.   Jung continues this text by commenting on the function of the ego within the psyche: “The relation of a psychic content to the  ego forms the criterion of its consciousness, for no content can be conscious unless it is represented to a subject.”³ The ego is a  “subject” to whom psychic contents are “represented.” It is like a mirror. Moreover, a connection to the ego is the necessary  condition for making anything conscious—a feeling, a thought, a perception, or a fantasy. The ego is a kind of mirror in which  the psyche can see itself and can become aware. The degree to which a psychic content is taken up and reflected by the ego is the  degree to which it can be said to belong to the realm of consciousness. When a psychic content is only vaguely or marginally con-  scious, it has not yet been captured and held it in place upon the ego’s reflective surface.   In the passages that follow this definition of the ego, Jung makes a crucial distinction between conscious and unconscious fea-  tures of the psyche: consciousness is what we know, and unconsciousness is all that we do not know. In another text, written at  about the same time, he makes this a little more precise: “The unconscious is not simply the unknown, it is rather the unknown  psychic; and this we define ... as all those things in us which, if they came to consciousness, would presumably differ in no respect  from the known psychic contents.”⁴ The distinction between conscious and unconscious, so fundamental in Jung’s general the-  ory of the psyche, as it is in all of depth psychology, posits that some contents are reflected by the ego and held in consciousness,  where they can be further examined and manipulated, while other psychic contents lie outside of consciousness either tempo-  rarily or permanently. The unconscious includes all psychic contents that lie outside of consciousness, for whatever reason or  whatever duration. Actually, this is the vast bulk of the psychic world. The unconscious was the major area of investigation in  depth psychology, and Jung’s most passionate interest lay in exploring that territory. But more of that later.   Often in his writings Jung refers to the ego as a “complex,” a term that will be discussed extensively in the next chapter. In the  Aion passage, however, he simply calls it a specific content of consciousness, stating by this that consciousness is a broader cate-  gory than the ego and contains more than only the ego.   What is consciousness itself, this field in which the ego is located and where it occupies and defines the center? Most simply,  consciousness is awareness. It is the state of being awake, of observing and registering what is going on in the world around and  within. Humans are not, of course, the only conscious beings on earth. Other animals are conscious as well, since obviously they  can observe and react to their environments in carefully modulated ways. Plants’ sensitivity to their environment can also be  taken as a form of consciousness. By itself, consciousness does not set the human species apart from other forms of life. Nor is  consciousness something that sets human adults apart from infants and children. In the strictest sense, human consciousness  does not depend for its essential quality upon age or psychological development at all. A friend who observed the birth of his  daughter told me how moved he was when, after the placenta was removed and her eyes were cleaned, she opened them and  looked around the room, taking it in. Obviously this was a sign of consciousness. The eye is an indicator of the presence of con-  sciousness. Its aliveness and movement is the signal that an aware being is observing the world. Consciousness depends not only  on sight, of course, but on the other senses as well. In the womb, before the infant’s eyes are functioning to see, it registers  sounds, reacts to voices and to music, and indicates a remarkable degree of responsiveness. We do not yet know exactly when the  embryo first attains a level of awareness and reactiveness that could definitely be called conscious, but it is early and it is certainly  in the prenatal period.   The opposite of consciousness is deep dreamless sleep, the total lack of responsiveness and sentient awareness. And the perma-  nent absence of consciousness from a body is practically a definition of death, except in cases of longterm coma. Consciousness,  even if it is only the potential for future consciousness, is the “life factor”; it belongs to living bodies.   

What development does to consciousness is add specific content. In theory, human consciousness can be separated from its  contents—the thoughts, memories, identity, fantasies, emotions, images, and words that crowd its space. But in practice this is al-  most impossible. In fact, only advanced spiritual adepts seem able to make this distinction convincingly. It is truly a sage who can  separate consciousness from its contents and keep them apart, whose consciousness is not defined by identifications with se-  lected thoughts and images. For most people, consciousness without a stable object to ground it seems to be an exceedingly  ephemeral and transient thing. The substantiality of consciousness and the feeling of solidity are typically provided by stable ob-  jects and contents such as images, memories, and thoughts. Substance and continuity in consciousness are made of these. Yet, as  evidence from stroke victims attests, the contents and even the ego functions of consciousness—thinking, remembering, naming  and speaking, recognizing familiar images and persons and faces—are actually more transient and fragile than is consciousness  itself. It is possible to lose one’s memory entirely, for example, and still be conscious. Consciousness is like a room that surrounds  the psychic contents that temporarily fill it. And consciousness precedes the ego, which becomes its eventual center.   The ego, like consciousness, also transcends and outlasts the particular contents that occupy the room of consciousness at any  particular moment. The ego is a focal point within consciousness, its most central and perhaps most permanent feature. Against  the opinion of the East, Jung argues that without an ego, consciousness itself becomes questionable. But it is true that certain ego  functions can be suspended or seemingly obliterated without destroying consciousness completely, and so a sort of ego-less con-  sciousness, a type of consciousness that shows very little evidence of a willful center, an “I,” is a human possibility at least for  short periods of time.   For Jung, the ego forms the critical center of consciousness and in fact determines to a large extent which contents remain  within the realm of consciousness and which ones drop away into the unconscious. The ego is responsible for retaining contents  in consciousness, and it can also eliminate contents from consciousness by ceasing to reflect them. To use Freud’s term, which  Jung found useful, the ego can “repress” contents it does not like or finds intolerably painful or incompatible with other contents.  It can also retrieve contents from storage in the unconscious (i.e., from the memory bank) so long as (a) they are not blocked by  defense mechanisms, such as repression, which keep intolerable conflicts out of reach, and (b) they have a strong enough asso-  ciative connection to the ego—they are “learned” strongly enough.   The ego is not fundamentally constituted and defined by the acquired contents of consciousness such as momentary or even  chronic identifications. It is like a mirror or magnet that holds contents in a focal point of awareness. But it also wills and acts. As  the vital center of consciousness, it precedes the acquisition of language, personal identity, and even awareness of a personal  name. Later acquisitions of the ego, such as recognition of one’s own face and name, are contents that cluster closely around this  center of consciousness, and they have the effect of defining the ego and enlarging its range of executive command and self-  awareness. Fundamentally, the ego is a virtual center of awareness that exists at least from birth, the eye that sees and has always  seen the world from this vantage point, from this body, from this individual point of view. In itself it is nothing, that is, not a  thing. It is therefore highly elusive and impossible to pin down. One can even deny that it exists at all. And yet it is always  present. It is not the product of nurture, growth, or development. It is innate. While it can be shown to develop and gain strength  from this point onward through “collisions” with reality (see below), its core is “given.” It comes with the infant.   As Jung describes the psyche, there is a network of associations among the various contents of consciousness. All of them are  linked directly or indirectly to the central agency, the ego. The ego is the center of consciousness not only geographically but also  dynamically. It is the energy center that moves the contents of consciousness around and arranges them in orders of priority. The  ego is the locus of decisionmaking and free will. When I say, “I am going to the post office,” my ego has made a decision and  mobilizes the physical and emotional energy necessary to do the job. The ego directs me to the post office and gets me there. It is  the executive who sets the priorities: “Go to the post office, don’t get distracted by your wish to go for a stroll in the park.” While  the ego can be regarded as the center of selfishness (ego-ism), it is also the center of altruism. In and of itself, the ego, as Jung  understood and described it, is morally neutral, not a “bad thing” as one hears it referred to in common parlance (“oh, he’s got  such an ego!”) but a necessary part of human psychological life. The ego is what sets humans apart from other creatures of nature  who also possess consciousness; it also sets the individual human being apart from other human beings. It is the individualizing  agent in human consciousness.   The ego focuses human consciousness and gives our conscious behavior its purposefulness and direction. Because we have an  ego, we possess the freedom to make choices that may defy our instincts for self-preservation, propagation, and creativity. The  ego contains our capacity to master large amounts of material within consciousness and to manipulate them. It is a powerful  associative magnet and an organizational agent. Because humans have such a force at the center of consciousness, they are able  to integrate and direct large quantities of data. A strong ego is one that can obtain and move around in a deliberate way large  amounts of conscious content. A weak ego cannot do very much of this kind of work and more easily succumbs to impulses and  emotional reactions. A weak ego is easily distracted, and as a result consciousness lacks focus and consistent motivation.   It is possible for humans to remain conscious while suspending much of normal ego functioning. By will we can direct our-  selves to be passive and inactive and simply to observe the world within or without, like a camera. Normally, though, it is not pos-  sible to maintain a volitionally restrained observational consciousness for a great length of time, because the ego and the wider  

psyche usually become quickly engaged by what is being observed. When we watch a movie, for example, we may begin by sim-  ply observing and taking in the people and scenery. But we soon begin to identify with one character or another, and our emo-  tions become activated. The ego readies itself to act, and if one has difficulty distinguishing between movie images and reality  (another ego function) one may be tempted to engage in physical behavior. The body then becomes mobilized, and the ego aims  at and intends a particular course of action. Indeed, movies are structured so that viewers will take sides emotionally and support  whatever a particular character is doing or feeling. Engaged in this way, the ego becomes activated as a center of wishing, hoping,  and perhaps even intending. It is conceivable that one would make a major life decision while watching a movie as a conse-  quence of the feelings and thoughts generated in consciousness by these images. People have been known to leave a movie the-  ater and become violent or lustful as a direct result of the impact of the movie. The ego has become enlisted by emotion, identi-  fication, and desire, and uses its directive function and energy to act.   As becomes evident, the ego’s freedom is limited. It is easily influenced by both internal psychic and external environmental  stimuli. The ego may respond to a threatening stimulus by taking up arms and defending itself; or it may be activated and stimu-  lated by an interior urge to create, or to love, or to seek revenge. It may also respond to an ego impulse—that is, narcissistically. It  may in this way be seized by a need for revenge, for example.   Waking consciousness is focused, then, by the ego’s registering of internal and environmental stimuli and phenomena and  putting the body into motion. The origins of the ego, to say it again, extend back before earliest childhood and infancy. Even a  very young infant notices shapes in its environment, some of which seem pleasurable, and it reaches out for them. These very  early signals of an organism’s intentionality are evidence for the primordial roots of the ego, one’s “I-ness.”   Reflecting on the nature and essence of this “I” leads to profound psychological questions. What is the ego fundamentally?  What am I? Jung would simply say that the ego is the center of consciousness.   The “I” feels, perhaps naively, that it has existed forever. Even notions of earlier lifetimes sometimes take on a feeling of truth  and reality. It is an open question whether the “I” changes essentially in the course of a lifetime. Is not the “I” that cried for  mother at two the same one that cries for a lost love at forty-five or over a lost spouse at eighty? While many features of the ego  clearly do develop and change, particularly with regard to cognition, self-knowledge, psychosocial identity, competence, etc., one  also senses an important continuity at the heart of the ego. Many people have been moved to find the “child within.” This is noth-  ing less than the recognition that the person I was as a child is the same person I am as an adult. Probably the essential core of  the ego does not change over a lifetime. This could also possibly account for the strong intuition and conviction of many people  that this core of the ego does not disappear with one’s physical death but either goes to a place of eternal rest (heaven, nirvana) or  is reborn in another life on the physical plane (reincarnation).   A child first says “I” at about two. Until then it refers to itself in the third person or by name: “Timmie want” or “Sarah go.”  When a child is able to say “I” and to think self-referentially, placing itself consciously at the center of a personal world and giving  that position a specific first-person pronoun, it has made a great leap forward in consciousness. But this is by no means the birth  of the primordial ego. Long before this, consciousness and behavior have been organized around a virtual center. The ego clearly  exists before one can refer to it consciously and reflectively, and the process of coming to know it is gradual and continues  throughout a lifetime. Growing into self-consciousness is a process that passes through many stages from infancy to adulthood.  One of these Jung describes in some detail in Memories, Dreams, Reflections, when he speaks of walking out of a cloud at about the  age of thirteen and realizing for the first time: “Now I am myself.”⁵   By virtue of this capacity to achieve a high level of self-knowledge and self-awareness-that is, a self-reflective ego—human con-  sciousness differs from animal consciousness, at least so far as we presently know. This difference is attributable not only to  human verbal capacity, which gives us the ability to talk about the “I” that we know we are and thereby to enrich its complexity,  but to the sheer self-mirroring function present in human consciousness. This function is prelinguistic and postlinguistic. It is  knowing that one is (and later, that one will die). By virtue of having an ego—this built-in mirror within consciousness—we can  know that we are and what we are. Other animal species also clearly want to live and to control their environments, and they show  evidence of emotion and consciousness as well as intentionality, reality testing, self-control, and much else that we associate with  an ego function. But animals do not have, or have much less of, this self-mirroring function within consciousness. They have less  of an ego. Do they know that they are, that they will individually die, that they are separate individuals? It is doubtful. The poet  Rilke held that animals do not face death the way humans do, and that gives them the advantage of living more fully in the  present moment. Animals are not self-conscious in the same way that humans are, and without language they cannot express  whatever self-consciousness they do have with any degree of sophistication nor differentiate themselves from others with the  kind of linguistic tools humans possess.⁶   After a certain point in development, the human ego and human consciousness become largely defined and shaped by the cul-  tural world in which a person grows up and becomes educated. This is a layer, or wrapping, of ego structure that surrounds the  central ego. As a child grows into a culture and learns its forms and habits through family interactions and educational experi-  ences in school, this ego wrapping becomes thicker and thicker. Jung refers to these two features of the ego as “Personality No. 1”