“masses are always breeding-grounds of psychic epidemics”[1]
“psychic epidemics …. destroy the individual.”[2]
“As a rule, when the collective unconscious becomes really constellated in larger social groups, the result is a public craze, a mental epidemic that may lead to revolution or war or something of the sort. These movements are exceedingly contagious – almost overwhelmingly contagious because, when the collective unconscious is activated, you are no longer the same person. You are not only in the movement – you are it…. It gets under your skin…..Then you lose your soul,…”[3]
In his 86 years of life Carl Jung witnessed the two world wars, the madness of Hitlerian Germany, and the tensions of the Cold War. He dealt with many patients who suffered from the contagion of the psychic epidemics that flourished in these tumultuous times,[4] and his essays and letters provide us with some practical ways we can protect ourselves, and our souls, from being contaminated by the many evils in our contemporary reality. What are some of Jung’s suggestions? To address this question, we will begin, as Jung would, with an inward approach, considering those internal actions we can take.
Looking Within and Aligning with Inner Wisdom
Jung valued the uniqueness of each person,[5] so we should do likewise, i.e. we should each stay rooted in life,[6] cherish our personal background and heritage and be mindful of previous life experiences and the lessons they may hold for us going forward. When he worked with a new patient, this “anamnesis” or “life review” was the first thing Jung did.[7] So we can do likewise, by identifying the key events in the past that brought us to this point, and how these might influence our thinking, expectations, values, ability to trust others, etc.
By drawing on our unique set of values and habits, we can engage in religio, Jung’s term for the practice of “careful observation and taking account of the numinous.”[8] Numinous was Jung’s term for something larger than ourselves, and this can take many forms, e.g. a gorgeous sunset that leaves us breathless, birthing a child, experiencing a Bach chorale,[9] making a mandala. We want to note whatever it is that can take us out of the humdrum of daily routine and put us in touch with the Self (our inner divine or higher wisdom).
This life review may remind us of patterns we have developed. Do we have a habit, for example, of castigating and condemning those we regard as “enemies”? Might we foster the habit of shifting from such malevolence to holding benevolent thoughts for the well-being of others, much as happens in the Buddhist practice of metta? Do we sense there might be an “inner friend”[10] inside that we could get to know? Jung knew that our psyche lives outside time and space,[11] so our inner characters can clue us into what’s coming and how best to respond to it. If we have developed the habit of regular conversations with our psyche, we can build trust in the Self, which habit Jesus described as “laying up treasures in Heaven”[12].
As the son of a minister, Jung had an ambivalent attitude about organized religions,[13] but that did not mean he saw no value in prayer. He suggested to his patients that, at times when they (and he) were “stuck,” they turn for guidance to the Self.[14] Some people might call this “prayer;” Jung called it
“directing our libido inwards…. in the explicit expectation that God will… take over the activity of the conscious mind.”[15]
Jung reminds us here that we always have free will and can choose how and when to direct our psychic energy (aka “libido”)[16] and we can glean powerful energies and advice when we surrender our ego will to our higher will.
In the same way we have choices as to what we focus on. We have to live in the world, but we can choose not to be of the world. That is, we hear appalling news, but we need not dwell on it: we can consciously make the choice that St. Paul urged his followers in Philippi to make:
“… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”[17]
The original Greek of this passage gives us a richer sense of Paul’s meaning: he was asking his Philippian followers to put their focus on what was true, uplifting, just and well-balanced, pure, whole-making, encouraging and considerate.[18]
While Jung was very conscious of the unique situations of his patients and their engagement with their inner life, he was uniformly consistent in his advice to everyone about how they engaged with the world.
Acting in the Outer World
Jung would not have us “lose our souls” by becoming “only a speck of consciousness floating on a sea of life”[19] because we fell into following the crowd (something that Extraverts especially are prone to doing). Jung had no use for crowds, bigness, masses of people, because he knew how susceptible people are to psychic contagion in such settings,[20] much as we were when the covid virus began to spread. We quarantined to inhibit contagion.
We must understand that now–in 2025ff–we are living during another epidemic–this time taking a psychic form–and so it behooves us to avoid mass gatherings where the individual becomes much more vulnerable to catching the “psychic infection.”[21] Even within our own homes, if we use social media, we are vulnerable to “group think” that can lead us down the rabbit hole of delusion and dangerous fantasies.[22]
With his keen intuition about the future, Jung could anticipate 87 years ago what we are experiencing now, when he urges us to recognize the potential dangers from “politicians and journalists who unwittingly let loose psychic epidemics on the world.”[23] Some of our public figures do this “unwittingly” but some lie brazenly these days.[24] So we must be prudent and astute in our choices of media to follow, and this is especially important if you engage in any form of social media. In this task, we have a wonderful resource in Ad Fontes Media, a company dedicated to the constant evaluation of the major media forms in our world.[25] Their chart identifies graphically which newspapers, magazines and other forms of media are trustworthy and which distort and produce extremist views.
Another recommendation Jung makes has both an inward and an outward aspect. He would have us hold the tension of opposites[26] (e.g. good and evil) as we observe the liars, thieves and scoundrels in our midst. These men and women are showing us aspects of the shadow. We can spot the miscreants “out there,” but Jung calls us to recognize how the shadow also lives within us.
Jung was a realist. He knew how hard it is to face the reality that the liar, thief and flagrant criminal are also parts of our own unconscious. While Jung knew that holding this tension is simultaneously the most difficult task, it is also the most powerful way we have to deal with the evils in our midst.[27] By willingly enduring this tension, we do our bit to stave off the “final clash of opposites in an atomic war.”[28]
To this list of Jung’s suggestions, we add another ten in our upcoming Fall course,
“Jung’s Tools and Supports for Thriving in Tumultuous Times,” which brings together an exciting team of teachers to offer participants a host of methods and tools that are proven practical ways to thrive. Our newsletter for this month has details of content, dates, etc.
Bibliography
Fox, Matthew (2024), Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ. Bloomington IN: iUniverse.
Hannah, Barbara (1976), Jung: His Life and Work: A Biographical Memoir. New York: G.P. Putnam.
Jung, C.G. (1961), “Freud and Psychoanalysis,” Collected Works, 4. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
________ (1956), “Symbols of Transformation,” Collected Works, 5. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
________ (1966), “Two Essays on Analytical Psychology,” Collected Works 7. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
_________(1960), “The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche,” Collected Works 8. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
_________ (1959), “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious,” Collected Works, 9i. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
_________ (1970), “Civilization in Transition,” CW 10. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
_________ (1969), “Psychology and Religion: West and East,” CW 11. Princeton University Press.
________ (1967), “Alchemical Stuides,” CW 13. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
________ (1954), “The Development of Personality,” CW 17. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
________ (1976), “The Symbolic Life,” Collected Works 18. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
________ (1973), Letters, ed. Gerhard Adler & Aniela Jaffé. 2 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kessler, Glenn (2021), “Trump’s false or misleading claims,” The Washington Post (January 21, 2021); https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/;2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years
Sands, Frederick (1977), “Men, Women and God,” C.G. Jung Speaking, ed. William McGuire and R.F.C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
von Franz, Marie-Louise (1964), “The Process of Individuation,” Man and His Symbols. New York: Dell Publishing.
[1] Collected Works 9i, ¶227. Hereafter Collected Works will be abbreviated CW.
[2] CW 10 ¶721.
[3] CW 18 ¶93.
[4] CW 11 ¶447.
[5] Jung never treated any of his patients the same way. Hannah (1976), 202.
[6] CW 18 ¶1495.
[7] CW 4 ¶528.
[8] CW 11 ¶982.
[9] For both Jung and me Bach’s music is one way we feel connected to God; CW 10 ¶158. Cf. Jung’s noting to Frederick Sands how “Bach talks to God. I am gripped by Bach.” Sands (1977). 249/
[10] This was what “Mista’peo” meant in the language of the Naskapi Indians of Labrador; they relied on this inner figure for guidance on where and what to hunt each day; von Franz (1964), 162.
[11] ” Letter to Anonymous,” 19 November 1955: Letters, II, 279
[12] Matt. 6: 19-20.
[13] He called organized religions “creeds,” and deplored their dogmatism, cosmic vanity (in thinking theirs was the only right way to worship) and how their rituals tended to serve as a defense against the experience of God. CW 11, ¶9.
[14] CW 7, ¶209.
[15] Collected Works, 5, ¶260..
[16] For Jung’s lengthy disquisition on this, see CW 8 ¶s1-130.
[17] Phil. 4:8.
[18] Semna, “noble” can also mean “majestic/uplifting,” and dikaia, “right” can also mean “just, fair, well-balanced.” Agna can mean “pure,” but also “upright, holy, sacred.” Prosphile can mean “lovely,” but also “what is pleasing or agreeable,” and euphema can mean “admirable,” but also “positive speaking.” Arete means “excellent,” but also “virtuous,” and epainos means “praiseworthy,” and also “what is commendable.” The verb logizethe, can mean “think” but also “consider,” which is close to Jung’s idea of taking time to reflect. Liddell & Scott (1978), 736, 202, 7, 699, 335, 278 & 476. respectively.
[19] CW 18 ¶93.
[20] CW 18 ¶1386.
[21] CW 10 ¶519.
[22] Ibid. ¶490.
[23] CW 13 ¶54.
[24] E.g. Trump made false or misleading claims 30,573 times during his first term as president; Kessler (2021).
[25] The URL for Ad Fontes Media is: https://app.ad.fontesmedia.com>chart>interactive
[26] Hannah (1976), 129.
[27] CW 18 ¶s1398-1402.
[28] This is what Jung told his students –who worried during the Cold War about the peril of World War III–about how they could help the world to avoid the cataclysm. Jung was a firm believer in the value of the individual, and the importance of each individual’s actions. Hannah (1976), 129.
