In exploring the manifestations of human spiritual experience both in the imaginative activities of the individual and in the formation of mythologies and of religious symbolism in various cultures, C. G. Jung laid the groundwork for a psychology of the spirit. The excerpts here illuminate the concept of the unconscious, the central pillar of his work, and display ample evidence of the spontaneous spiritual and religious activities of the human mind. This compact volume will serve as an ideal introduction to Jung's basic concepts.

Part I of this book, "On the Nature and Functioning of the Psyche," contains material from four works: "Symbols of Transformation," "On the Nature of the Psyche," "The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious," and "Psychological Types." Also included in Part I are "Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious" and "Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype." Part II, "On Pathology and Therapy," includes "On the Nature of Dreams," "On the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia," and selections from "Psychology of the Transference." In Part III appear "Introduction to the Religious and Psychological Problems of Alchemy" and two sections of "Psychology and Religion." Part IV, called "On Human Development," consists of the essay "Marriage as a Psychological Relationship."

The archetypes of human experience which derive from the deepest unconscious mind and reveal themselves in the universal symbols of art and religion as well as in the individual symbolic creations of particular people are, for C. G. Jung, the key to the cure of souls, the cornerstone of his therapeutic work. This volume explains the function and origin of these symbols. Here the reader will find not only a general orientation to Jung's point of view but extensive studies of the symbolic process and its integrating function in human psychology as it is reflected in the characteristic spiritual productions of Europe and Asia. Violet de Laszlo has selected for inclusion in Psyche and Symbol five selections from Aion: "The Ego," "The Shadow," "The Syzygy: Anima and Animus," "The Self," and "Christ, A Symbol of the Self." The book continues with "The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairy Tales," "The Psychology of the Child Archetype," and "Transformation Symbolism in the Mass." Also included are the foreword to the Cary Banes translation of the I Ching, two chapters from Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, "Psychological Commentary on The Tibetan Book of the Dead," and "Commentary on The Secret of the Golden Flower."