Individuation: The Process of a LifetimeBy Howard W. Tyas, Jr., D.Min., Jungian Analyst(No part of this paper may e reprodu!ed,"uoted, or !on#eyed to others in part or infull without the written !onsent of the author.$Whene#er % am as&ed to spea& aout dreams or Jungian analysis or anything related to analyti!al psy!hology, % find myself feeling !ompelled to say at least a few words aout the pro!ess referred to as indi#iduation, in order to put all these other things in !onte't.(or the pro!ess of indi#iduation is the #essel, the !ontainer within whi!h all other things rise and fall, e and flow ) in!luding our dreams and fantasies, our aspirations and sense of #o!ation, our #entures and wrong turnings.The pro!ess of indi#iduation is the ar!hetypal soup in whi!h all human&ind finds itself swimming.This e#ening, the entire le!ture will !enter on this !ourse that Jung on!e defined as *the pro!ess y whi!h a person e!omes an +in)di#idual,, that is, a separate indi#isile unity or +whole.-,.And % must emphasi/e that it is only an introdu!tion.Jolande Ja!oi, a Jungian analyst, has a paragraph in her oo& entitled The Way of %ndi#iduation, whi!h % ha#e found to e a "uite simple and yet poignant des!ription oth of the human !ondition, and of what is in#ol#ed in !ons!iously trying to li#e this pro!ess referred to as indi#iduation.0he writes, *1i&e a seed growing into a tree, life unfolds stage y stage.Triumphant as!ent, !ollapse, !rises, failures, and new eginnings strew the way.%t is the path trodden y the great ma2ority of man&ind, as a rule unrefle!tingly, un!ons!iously, unsuspe!tingly, following its layrinthine windings from irth to death in hope and longing.%t is hedged aout with struggle and suffering, 2oy and sorrow, guilt and error, and nowhere is there se!urity from !atastrophe.(or as soon as a man tries to es!ape e#ery ris& and prefers to e'perien!e life only in his head, in the form of ideas and fantasies, as soon as he surrenders to opinions of +how it ought toe- and, in order not to ma&e a false step, imitates others whene#er possile, he forfeits the !han!e of his own independent de#elopment.3nly if he treads the path ra#ely and flings himself into life, fearing no struggle and no e'ertion and fighting shy of no e'perien!e, will he mature his personality more fully than the man who is e#er trying to &eep to the safe side of the road.,4There is something in the human psy!he, whi!h in its own fullness of time, struggles to produ!e what Jung refers to as the *true personality.,This struggle to ring aout the irth of one-s *true personality,, is the asis for what Jung !alled the pro!ess of indi#iduation, a pro!ess that in#ol#es ridging the gap etween the treasures of the ar!hetypal world of the un!ons!ious and the e#eryday world of ego)!ons!iousness, in an attempt to a!tuali/e the uni"ue potentialities of one-s indi#idual psy!he.%t is important, % thin&, to re!ogni/e that this pro!ess is nothing new.5re!isely e!ause it is a uni#ersal human !ondition, we find e'pressions of it in all !ultures, in all times, and in myriad forms.%t !ane found artisti!ally in the seemingly simple *3'herder, pi!tures of 6en Buddhism or in the !rypti!, al!hemi!al pi!tures of the 7osarium 5hilosophorum; ar!hite!turally, in the layrinth at 8hartres 8athedral or in the tower whi!h Jung uilt in Bollingen; poeti!ally, in the spiraling 2ourney of Dante-s Di#ine 8omedy, or in Hermann Hesse-s no#el aout the life of the Buddha entitled 0iddhartha; musi!ally, in Mo/art-s opera The Magi! (lute or in Beetho#en-s opera (idelio; mythologi!ally, in the an!ient story of 9ilgamesh and :n&idu or in the 0ummerian myth of %nanna and :resh&igal; esoteri!ally, in the 9reater Trumps found in the Tarot !ards or in the pseudo)s!ientifi!, symoli! system of al!hemy; playfully, in the many all games played around the world, in!luding aseall; and spiritually, in the Jewish system of

Jung-s understanding of the impa!t and the nature of the indi#iduation pro!ess !ame from his own e'perien!e, most dramati!ally from his own psy!hologi!al !risis immediately following his rea& with (reud in .?.>, and suse"uently, from his ongoing self)analysis, his wor& with psy!hiatri! patients at the Burghol/li 5sy!hiatri! 8lini! in 6uri!h, his study of an!ient al!hemi!al and 9nosti! manus!ripts, and his tra#els aroad, whi!h in!luded trips to %ndia, Afri!a and the southwestern @nited 0tates.%t is #ery important to reali/e that Jung-s understanding of indi#iduation is rooted in his personal e'perien!e of that pro!ess.He underwent that of whi!h he spo&e, and hen!e !ould spea& with some authority of what this pro!ess in#ol#es, or at the #ery least, of his own personal e'perien!e of this uni#ersal pro!ess.Jung understood indi#iduation to e something that egan in the se!ond half of life, when indi#iduals rea!h the /enith of their li#es and suddenly find themsel#es fa!ing an un&nown #ista or some unforeseen uphea#al.0ometimes this turning point ta&es the form of a !risisA su!h as a finan!ial failure, a health prolem, a ro&en relationship, or a !hange of residen!e or profession ) something whi!h upsets the status "uo.0ometimes this e'perien!e assumes the form of a profound self)dout, a loss of meaning or 4religious !on#i!tion, a "uestioning of e#erything pre#iously held so dear.0ometimes it presents itself as a deep yearning or a !all to !hange dire!tion.And many times, it !an manifest itself in powerful dreams and fantasies. %n essen!e, one !ould say that the un!ons!ious, or more spe!ifi!ally, the 0elf (with a !apital *0,$, the !entral organi/ing ar!hetype in the human psy!he, whi!h has seemingly hidden the greatest measure of its influen!e while the ego has een usy uilding a life for itself, suddenly the 0elf returns full for!e to !laim a signifi!ant say, if not a !entral pla!e, in the o#erall s!heme of things.And for what purpose=To !all a person to e!ome *a psy!hologi!al +in)di#idual,-, *a separate, indi#isile unity or whole.,Those personal aspe!ts whi!h ha#e heretofore een disregarded ) e they interests, talents, !hara!teristi!s, e'perien!es, or issues ) now !ome forth to e a!&nowledged.That whi!h was fragmented now stri#es for unity.That whi!h was ro&en now yearns for wholeness.That whi!h was negle!ted now see&s e'pression.That whi!h was pre#iously formless in nature suddenly egins to ta&e a new shape, strangely in &eeping with what feels li&e a uni"ue and deeply ingrained indi#idual patterning.The !enter of the personality mo#es from the ego toward the 0elf, in an attempt to estalish a new !enter of the psy!he somewhere etween the two.There is something in the human psy!he, whi!h in its own fullness of time, struggles to produ!e the *true personality.,%n Jung-s understanding, we do not suddenly ma&e a !ons!ious de!ision to eman!ipate oursel#es from the herd and its well)worn paths in order to go our own way. And neither does ne!essity or moral de!ision always ha#e the power to effe!t su!h a turning.%t-s 2ust too easy to ta&e refuge in !on#ention, to !ling to what is familiar, a!!eptale, and !omfortale.No, what Jung saw as the de!iding influen!e was an irrational fa!tor, something !ommonly !alled #o!ation.%n Jung-s words, *#o!ation a!ts li&e a law of 9od from whi!h there is no es!ape.,BThe path toward indi#iduation !omes with the ego-s response to a !all from the un!ons!ious, whether that !all ta&es the form of a momentous outer de#elopment or a deep inner yearning.Whi!he#er the !ase, we feel !ompelled to gi#e up our stranglehold on the world of the familiar and at least to listen to what the world of the un!ons!ious may ha#e to say to us.

We ha#e een wal&ing around this pro!ess of indi#iduation loo&ing at it from #arious angles.5erhaps efore going further, it would e helpful to put Jung-s #iew of indi#iduation in an e#en roader !onte't.0ome 5ost)Jungian analysts ((ordham, 0amuels, Die!&mann, :dinger, Whitmont$ ha#e "uestioned whether indi#iduation is a pro!ess pertaining e'!lusi#ely to the se!ond half of life, where Jung !on!entrated his attention.%t has een argued y Jungians of the De#elopmental 0!hool that *indi#iduation>is a life)long a!ti#ity and, in its essential features, !an e oser#ed in !hildren.,CAndrew 0amuels suggests a tripartite definition.%ndi#iduation !an e seen as a natural pro!ess o!!urring throughout life.%t !an also e seen as a natural pro!ess ta&ing pla!e in the se!ond half of life.3r, it !an e seen as a pro!ess wor&ed on and rought to !ons!iousness y way of analysis.This last definition would e Jung-s uni"ue understanding and !ontriution to this field.Jolande Ja!oi, a first generation follower of Jung, attempted to enumerate the #arious aspe!ts of the indi#iduation pro!ess in an e#en more differentiated way.0he also tal&s aout indi#iduation as a natural pro!ess whi!h is the ordinary !ourse of human life, in addition to the +methodi!ally- or +analyti!ally assisted- pro!ess wor&ed out y Jung.%ndi#iduation !an ta&e the form of a pro!ess e'perien!ed as an +indi#idual way- (e.g., analysis, !reati#e writing or painting$ or as an initiation resulting from parti!ipation in a !olle!ti#e e#ent (e.g., military ser#i!e, religious rituals, #ision "uest$.%t !an e the result of a gradual de#elopment !onsisting of many little transformations, or a sudden transformation rought aout y a shattering or mysti!al e'perien!e (e.g., 0t. 5aul-s linding on the Damas!us 7oad or Ja&o Boehme-s seeing a #ision of 9od in a owl of soup$.%t !an e e'perien!ed as a !ontinuous de#elopment e'tending o#er a whole lifespan, or a !y!li! pro!ess !onstantly re!urring in un!hanged form.%t !an e a pro!ess in whi!h only the first phase is a!!omplished pre!eding mid)life, or a pro!ess in whi!h oth phases follow in se"uen!e.And finally, the path of indi#iduation !an e prematurely interrupted y outer or inner !ir!umstan!es, or it !an remain unde#eloped or atrophied in form.DAlthough Jung !on!entrated his efforts on understanding that part of the indi#iduation pro!ess that o!!urs in the se!ond half of life, he did ha#e an appre!iation of indi#iduation eing a life)long endea#or.% want to share with you a rather lengthy and dense "uotation from Jung whi!h % re!ently stumled upon.*(ear of self)sa!rifi!e lur&s deep in e#ery ego, and this fear is often only EofF the pre!ariously !ontrolled demand of the un!ons!ious for!es to urst out in full strength.No one who stri#es for selfhood (indi#iduation$ is spared this dangerous passage, for that whi!h is feared also elongs to the wholeness of the self )) the su)human, or supra)human world of psy!hi! +dominants- (ar!hetypes$ from whi!h the ego originally eman!ipated itself with enormous effort, and then only partially, for the sa&e of a more or less illusory freedom.This lieration is !ertainly a #ery ne!essary and #ery heroi! underta&ing, ut it representsnothing finalA it is merely the !reation of a subject, who, in order to find fulfillment, has still to e !onfronted y an object.This Eo2e!tF, at first sight, would appear to e the world, whi!h is swelled out with pro2e!tions for that #ery purpose.Here we see& and find our diffi!ulties, here we see& and find our Benemy, here we see& and find what is dear and pre!ious to us; and it is !omforting to &now that all e#il and all good is to e found out there, in the #isile o2e!t, where it !an e !on"uered, punished, destroyed, or en2oyed.But nature herself does not allow this paradisal state of inno!en!e to !ontinue for e#er.There are, and always ha#e een, those who !annot help ut see that the world and its e'perien!es are in the nature of a symol, and that it really refle!ts something that lies hidden in the su2e!t himself, in his own trans)su2e!ti#e reality.,G0o what is in#ol#ed in the o#erall pro!ess of indi#iduation=(ollowing this "uote of Jung-s, you !ould loo& at it this way.At the eginning of life, an infant is totally !ontained in the un!ons!ious.There isno refle!ting *%, or *me,, only an instin!tual intelligen!e.At a !ertain age, sometime within the first fi#e years of life, the ego egins to emerge, to ta&e shape, to solidify; li&e a tiny island emerging from a #ast o!ean.The !hild uses the designation *%, for the first time, instead of referring to him or herself y name.As the !hild grows and de#elops, the ego is strengthened, while the un!ons!ious re!edes, although ne#er !ompletely.%t is always present and a#ailale, espe!ially during those pi#otal moments when we find oursel#es stu!&, hampered, sidetra!&ed, or wounded, or on the #erge of ma&ing a ma2or life transition.Through adoles!en!e and into adulthood, the ego hopefully ma&es its way and its mar& upon the world, unfolding as est it !an amid the ine#itale !hallenges and seta!&s of life.And it is no easy tas&.%t often re"uires heroi! efforts.But on!e a !ertain degree of autonomy is a!hie#ed, the pro!ess does not end.The diffi!ulties we en!ounter, the enemies we ma&e, the e'perien!es we en2oy in the outer world around us are not all there is.They are real, ut they are also the uni"ue refle!tions of our inner psy!hologi!al lands!ape and de#elopment.0o mu!h energy is spent and e'hausted in !on"uering, punishing, destroying, and en2oying what we elie#e to e the true sour!e of all good and e#il ) that is, what lies out there in the #isile o2e!ts whi!h surround us, until at some point, in that indefinale period we refer to as mid)life, the un!ons!ious reappears, again in any numer of different ways, e they inner or outer, and disrupts this paradisal state of inno!en!e, !alling to us, as if to re!laim its rightful pla!e within the totality of the human psy!he and to awa&en the ego to that other world, e"ually real, that lies hidden within ea!h of us.The un!ons!ious will use any means it !an ) dreams, fantasies, the ody, interpersonal relationships ) whate#er a#enue is open to it, in order to ma&e this o#erture to the ego.What the un!ons!ious desires, itappears, is an ongoing diale!ti!al relationship with the ego.%f the person is ale to respond to this !all and to enter into this relationship satisfa!torily, then the indi#iduation pro!ess may !ontinue at its own pa!e.But more often than not, su!h an intrusion is a sho!& to the system and !at!hes one !ompletely off)guard.%f the person refuses or simply does not &now how to enter into su!h a relationship with these powerful Cfor!es in the depths of the psy!he, then the indi#iduation pro!ess rea&s down, and life suddenly e!omes tedious at est or deilitating at worst.The ego is unale or unwilling to a!!ept a de#elopment of personality.And it is as if the un!ons!ious then sets an osta!le efore the person, in effe!t saying, *Hou !an !ontinue tra#eling down this path if you li&e, ut % will ma&e it e'!eedingly diffi!ult for you.,0u!h a diffi!ulty !ould e !ompared to what is often referred to as a neurosis, what Jung des!ried as a psy!hologi!al !risis due to a state of disunity with oneself.And as annoying and painful as a neurosis !an e, it is not without its #alue.Jung on!e !ommented aout this *state of disunity, saying, *%n many !ases we ha#e to say, +Than& hea#en he !ould ma&e up his mind to e neuroti!.-Neurosis is really an attempt at self)!ure. I%t is an attempt of the self)regulating psy!hi! system to restore the alan!e, in no way different from the fun!tion of dreams ) only rather more for!eful and drasti!.,J%t is usually at su!h a time of suffering and !onfusion that a person will see& to egin a therapy or an analysis in order to learn first, how to understand what the un!ons!ious is trying to !ommuni!ate; then, how to enter into and maintain this ongoing dialogue with the un!ons!ious; and finally, hopefully, how to egin li#ing a life whi!h refle!ts the !ollaoration in this new relationship.This is su!h a road su2e!t.%t is impossile to fully !o#er this pro!ess in the time we ha#e tonight.0o % ha#e !hosen to e'amine three "uotations y Jung whi!h address the relationship etween ego and un!ons!ious whi!h lies at the !enter of the indi#iduation pro!ess.% am now tal&ing aout that analyti!ally)assisted pro!ess wor&ed out y Jung o!!urring in the se!ond half of life. The first "uote is ta&en from Jung-s essay, *A 0tudy in the 5ro!ess of %ndi#iduation,, found in Kolume ? of the 8olle!ted Wor&s.*The !ollaoration of the un!ons!ious is intelligent and purposi#e, and e#en when it a!ts in opposition to !ons!iousness its e'pression is still !ompensatory in an intelligent way, as if it were trying to restore the lost alan!e.,?Jung is saying that despite the fa!t that the un!ons!ious really is un!ons!ious, there still appears an intelligen!e and a purpose in its unsoli!ited intrusions.%t was Jung-s e'perien!e that the psy!he was y nature self)regulating.Mu!h as our odies instin!ti#ely stri#e to maintain a !ertain range of ody temperature, y generating heat when we-re !old or !ooling us off when too warm, so do our psy!hes, again instin!ti#ely, attempt to self)regulate and alan!e our psy!hologi!al state of eing.The psy!he does this in a !ompensatory manner.When a person has parti!ular diffi!ulty in adaptingto e'ternal or internal reality, the un!ons!ious will rea!t in the form of dreams, fantasies, and syn!hronisti! e'perien!es in an attempt to !ompensate the !ons!ious attitude and to restore the lost alan!e.%f there is aDfeeling of fragmentation, the 0elf, that !entral organi/ing ar!hetype in the un!ons!ious, will attempt to !ompensate y offering a sense of unity.:'amples of this !an e found in the #ery mo#ing and reassuring images of mandalas, those sometimes simple, sometimes intri!ate s"uare or !ir!ular shapes that often appear in the dreams of those who are undergoing an espe!ially diffi!ult time.3ther e'amples of su!h mandalas would e the 7ose Windows found in many !athedrals, :/e&iel-s #ision of wheels within wheels, or Tietan sand paintings.%f there are aspe!ts of the personality that ha#e too long lain fallow, the 0elf will attempt to !ompensate y presenting these aspe!ts in dream images or y !reating an attra!tion to someone, through the magi! of pro2e!tion, who does possess these aspe!ts.% rememer the first time % read this paragraph.% found it #ery disturing.5artly e!ause % !ould identify with it too !losely, and partly e!ause % didn-t li&e the inferen!e that there might !ome a point at whi!h the un!ons!ious !ould e!ome tired of sending o#ertures to a resistant #essel and in effe!t de!ide that its energy and effort would e etter spent somewhere else.That was my initial, su2e!ti#e response, and % must say that this passage !ontinues to ha#e a soering effe!t on me.

% would not want to fall into the trap of using this "uotation to e'plain e#ery une'pe!ted or unforeseen death that % happen to read or hear aout.And % don-t elie#eJung would ha#e made su!h a lan&et assertion himself.The e'perien!es of life and death are too #ast and !omple' and mysterious to e a!!ounted for in so simple an e'planation.But ha#ing said this, % must admit that there resides a &ernel of truth in Jung-s words whi!h in#ite serious !onsideration.% elie#e that Jung-s sentiments arise from a personal e'perien!e.%n more than one pla!e he tells the story of an a!"uaintan!e who 2o&ingly shared with Jung the following dream. I am climbing a high mountain, over steep snow%covered slopes. I climb higher and higher, and it is marvelous weather.!he higher I climb the better I #eel.I think I# only I could go on climbing like this #orever!"hen I reach the summit my happiness and elation are so great that I #eel I could mount right up into space.And I discover that I can actually do so) I mount upwards on empty air, and awake in sheer ecstasy.&.B?The dreamer was an edu!ated man of aout CL, who was "uite an a!!omplished mountain !limer.He !onfessed to Jung that he lo#ed to !lim without a guide e!ause the #ery danger of it held a tremendous fas!ination for him.He also added that he !limed mountains e!ause sti!&ing at home did notsuit him and in addition he was disgusted with his professional wor&.%t o!!urred to Jung that this man-s un!anny passion for the mountains must e an a#enue of es!ape from an e'isten!e that had e!ome intolerale to him.He warned the man on more than one o!!asion not to go alone, ut rather to ta&e two guides and follow their instru!tions asolutely.But the man laughed it off.Two months later, while !liming alone, he was uried y an a#alan!he, ut res!ued in the ni!& of time.Three months later, howe#er, he fell to his death, as a guide standing elow him saw him literally step out into the air while des!ending a ro!& fa!e.% thin& this e'perien!e must ha#e had a great impa!t on Jung and was largely responsile for his ma&ing the !laim that the un!ons!ious has a thousand ways of snuffing out a meaningless e'isten!e with surprising swiftness, when the demand for self)&nowledge is willed y fate ut then refused.Howe#er, it is possile, % thin&, to #iew this image of dying in a symoli! way.The un!ons!ious also has a thousand ways of sutly, or not so sutly, !onstru!ting a situation in whi!h a person suddenly finds him or herself fa!ing a predi!ament that feels li&e a death.We ha#e only to read the pages of our lo!al newspaper, wat!h the nightly news, or refle!t on our own li#es, to witness stories of people who through a strange twist of fate are *found out,, or who are dis!o#ered in an un!hara!teristi!, ut !ompromising situation, or who suddenly find themsel#es thrust into a whirlwind of !ontro#ersy y an un!ons!ious, offhand !omment.The sho!&, the emarrassment, the 2udgment, the reper!ussions, the fall ) all these !an also produ!e the feeling and effe!t of dying, when *the demand for self)&nowledge is willed yfate and is refused.,%f these are possile out!omes for refusing to a!&nowledge and relate to the un!ons!ious, then what might we e'pe!t when the s!ales are tipped in the other dire!tion and we find oursel#es o#erwhelmedy relating to the un!ons!ious=Jung ga#e an e'ample from his own e'perien!e.He had 2ust finished writing his oo& 5sy!hologi!al Types, whi!h had ta&en a tremendous toll on him physi!ally and mentally.That #ery night he had a dream in whi!h the un!ons!ious suggested that he egin writing yet another oo&.Jung-s response to the un!ons!ious was, *% !an egin writing this oo&, ut % will proaly die in doing so.,%t-s as if the un!ons!ious has no !on!eption of death, or spa!e and time, and therefore no !on!eption .Lof human limitations, e they physi!al, mental, or otherwise.Jung did not egin immediately writing the ne't oo&.%nstead, he rested for a time. Despite the wealth of wisdom the un!ons!ious !ontains, there is a sense in whi!h the un!ons!ious really is un!ons!ious, and dependent upon the ego to set limits and to pro#ide information aout a!ti#ity in the *real world.,The 0elf appears to need the ego as mu!h as the ego needs the 0elf.*8ons!ious and un!ons!ious do not ma&e a whole when one of them is suppressed and in2ured y the other.Both are aspe!ts of life.8ons!iousness should defend its reason and prote!t itself, and the !haoti! life of the un!ons!ious should e gi#en the !han!e of ha#ing its way too ) as mu!h of it as we !an stand.,.CThe relationship etween the ego and the 0elf must e a diale!ti!al relationship.The third "uote !omes from Jung-s autoiography, Memories, Dreams, 7efle!tions, written shortly efore his death.*When one follows the path of indi#iduation, when one li#es one-s own life, one must ta&e mista&es into the argain; life would not e !omplete without them.There is no guarantee ) not for a single moment ) that we will not fall into error or stumle into deadly peril.We may thin& there is a safe road.But that would e the road of death.Then nothing happens any longer ) at any rate, not the right things.Anyone who ta&es the safe road is as good as dead.,.DThis is yet another soering statement to ma&e, ut it is a ne!essary one.%t is important that a person go into the indi#iduation pro!ess with his or her eyes as open as possile.There will e mista&es made.And there is no guarantee of su!!ess.But there is a !ertain sense of well)eing gained in following one-s path of indi#iduation, where the fateful detours and wrong turnings are met with a !ertain amount of gra!e, and our suffering with a !ertain !ompassion.The Jungian analyst James Hall on!e remar&ed that *when one has wor&ed with the un!ons!ious for a long period of time, one de#elops the #iew that the 0elf is li&e a #ery wise, #ery !ompassionate friend, always !on!erned to help, ut ne#er !oer!i#e or e'!essi#ely 2udgmental, and possessed of almost infinite patien!e.,.GAnd finally, another passage from Jolande Ja!oi-s oo& The Way of %ndi#iduation, *The indi#iduation pro!ess in the Jungian sense means the !ons!ious reali/ation and integration of all the possiilities !ongenitally present in the indi#idual.%t is opposed to any &ind of !onformity and, as a therapeuti! fa!tor in analyti!al wor&, also demands the re2e!tion of those prefari!ated psy!hi! matri!es in whi!h people would li&e to li#e.%t shows that e#eryone !an ha#e his own dire!tion, his mission, and it !an ma&e meaningful the li#es of those people who suffer from the feeling that they are unale to !ome up to ..the !olle!ti#e norms and !olle!ti#e ideals.To those who are not re!ogni/ed y the !olle!ti#e, who are re2e!ted, and e#en despised, it !an restore their faith in themsel#es, gi#e them a!& their human dignity, andassure them their pla!e in the world.,.J8ons!iously engaging in the pro!ess of indi#iduation re"uires a !ertain strength and !ourage, e!ause when indi#iduals relate to the un!ons!ious while stri#ing truly to li#e their own li#es, they may #ery well find themsel#es at odds with oth their own self)assessment and with so!iety-s e'pe!tations.But &nowing that there are others li&ewise engaged in de#eloping their own *true personality, !an gi#e one a lierating and sustaining sense of !onne!tedness, not only to other people ut also to the 0our!e that feeds us all.%n the time we ha#e remaining % would li&e to use a 0ummerian story entitled *The Des!ent of %nanna, to illustrate a few aspe!ts of the indi#iduation pro!ess.% am using a translation of this myth ta&en from Diane Wol&stein and 0amuel Noah .J. 8.9. 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