The Structure of the Psyche

A Jungian Model

Carl Gustav Jung • Analytical Psychology

CONSCIOUSNESS UNCONSCIOUSNESS OUTER WORLD Physical Reality • Society 10% Conscious Cultural Layer (permeable) CONSCIOUSNESS UNCONSCIOUSNESS OUTER WORLD Physical Reality • Society PERSONAL UNCONSCIOUS Complexes • Repressed Memories PERSONA Conscious Self EGO Unconscious Defenses 10% Conscious COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS Universal Patterns • Shared by All Humanity Cultural Layer (permeable) SHADOW Denied Parts Personal Archetypal ARCHETYPES ANIMA ANIMUS HERO MOTHER FATHER WISE TRICKSTER CHILD SELF SELF (Totality) 90% Unconscious INDIVIDUATION Journey

🔑 Critical Understanding

The ego straddles consciousness and unconsciousness. While ego is our "center of consciousness," it possesses significant unconscious aspects—defenses, blind spots, and hidden motivations that operate below awareness. Shadow work reveals what ego doesn't know about itself. The individuation journey moves from ego-centered living to Self-centered wholeness.

Characteristic Phrases

EGO 🪞
"What about ME?"
Self-referential identity structure. Straddles consciousness/unconsciousness—aware of some aspects, blind to ego defenses, hidden needs, and protective mechanisms operating below awareness.

Jung: "The mirror of consciousness - what we see when we look at ourselves. The ego is the center of consciousness, but not the center of the personality."
PERSONA 🎭
"What will they think?"
Social mask and adaptive roles. Partly conscious performance, partly automatic adaptation. Interface between inner self and outer world.

Jung: "The mask we wear in society. From the Latin 'persona' - the mask worn by actors. Essential for social life, but dangerous if we identify with it completely."
SHADOW 🌑
"I would NEVER..."
Denied and projected qualities. Personal layer (individual repressed content) and archetypal layer (universal human darkness). What you insist you'd never do reveals your shadow.

Jung: "The dark side of the personality - everything we refuse to acknowledge about ourselves. To become whole, we must integrate our darkness."
ANIMA 🌙
"I feel..."
Feminine aspect in men. Direct emotional access, relational capacity, creative intuition. Must be integrated internally, not just projected onto women.

Jung: "Luna - the moon, the soul-image in man. She is his connection to feeling, relationship, and the unconscious. Every man carries the eternal feminine within."
ANIMUS ☀️
"I think..."
Masculine aspect in women. Clear thinking, assertive action, principled conviction. Develops inner authority and autonomous decision-making.

Jung: "Sol - the sun, the spirit-image in woman. He is her logos, her capacity for conscious discrimination and creative assertion. Every woman carries the eternal masculine within."
PERSONAL UNCONSCIOUS 🗝️
"Why do I ALWAYS...?"
Repetitive patterns, emotional complexes, repressed memories. Personal history and experiences that operate below conscious awareness.

Jung: "The key to unlocking our complexes - those feeling-toned contents that have become autonomous. Here lie our forgotten memories and unresolved conflicts."
COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS 🌊
"We are never alone..."
The primordial ocean of shared human experience. Universal patterns, instincts, and archetypal images inherited by all humanity. Deeper than personal history.

Jung: "The ancient depths shared by all - a sea in which we all swim. Here dwell the archetypes, the gods, the primordial images that have shaped human consciousness since time immemorial."
ARCHETYPES 🔱
Universal Patterns
Hero 🐉: "I will overcome"
Mother 🕊️: "Let me take care of you"
Father 👑: "Here's how it should be"
Wise 🦉: "There is deeper meaning"
Trickster 🦊: "Nothing is sacred"
Child 🌟: "I wonder..."

Jung: "Sacred forms of the collective unconscious - mythological patterns shared by all humanity. They are the gods within us, the primordial images that shape human experience across cultures."
SELF 🪷
"I am."
Pure being. Both the central archetype and the totality of the psyche. True center that ego must learn to serve. Wholeness beyond words—often experienced as silence, presence, peace.

Jung: "The mandala - symbol of wholeness and the goal of individuation. The Self is both the center and the circumference, containing all opposites. It is what you were meant to become."

💡 Practice

When you notice internal dialogue, ask: "Which part is speaking?" Recognize whether you're identified with that part (possessed) or observing it (conscious). Individuation is learning to relate to all parts without being unconsciously driven by any single one.