Welcome back to the article series on psychological perspectives on the climate crisis. In the last article we identified four psychological separations that have created a rift in our species relationship with nature; the separation of humans and nature, of masculinity and femininity, of inner and outer, and of left and right hemispheres. In Part 2, we will delve deeper into the phenomenon and see what can be done to mend it through a Jungian lens.
It is certainly hard to gauge how much these four crucial separations have impacted the current state of the West. How much these underlying modes of thinking have become ingrained in our societies, our thoughts, our consciousness and unconsciousness. As Jung puts it “we know nothing of man” and yet we are the great danger. While some gratitude is definitely due, the dangers of these philosophical positions, and the psychological states they inspire, are real and unveiling themselves exponentially. What culminates in the disregard for our environment on a global scale may stem from a psychological imbalance, a collective trauma deeply rooted in the human psyche. A source of ego domination, individualism and consumerism, all aimed at trying to fill a hole that is always left empty.
If these five central issues can be considered the psychological underpinnings of our current crisis, what is Jung’s assessment? Jung knew that civilizations oscillate between a proclivity towards matter or spirit and that our current orientation led to suffering not just on an individual level, but as a cultural body. The causes he saw for our alienation from nature line up somewhat with Hutchins & Storm’s analysis, identifying civilization, Christianity and scientific thinking as the main contributors to our hubris. The role of analytical psychology in healing this wound could be paramount, as its central goal is individuation, which entails the integration of all the parts of the psyche, including the conscious and unconscious. If the separations previously discussed are the banes of our existence, reconciliation must happen to achieve balance. This needs to include the rediscovery of imagery and fantasies which we have shielded ourselves from, behind rationality and reason. Reconciliation of this internal conflict, Jung writes, does not mean retreating to a primordial state, but keeping our reason and enriching it “with the knowledge of man’s psychic foundations” (Jung, 1959). Jung is also perceptive when it comes to the separation of the masculine and the feminine, in fact, his notion of the anima and the animus are conducive to this separation. In Jungian terms, the perceived separation may be due to an overweight of the animus in women and neglect of the anima in men. However, as archetypes, the anima and animus transcend the personal psyche and hence are universal. This lends some credence to Hutchins & Storm’s thesis of a collective imbalance, while also posing more questions. May the character of archetypes change? Jung posits that the archetypes hold a great degree of invariance, yet it seems we have severed ties with both Nature Goddess and Sky God. If we are to believe Jung, our emancipation is not as clear-cut as it may seem, for though we have slain them, they govern us still.
The Jungian archetype of the mother may provide nuance to the separation of masculine and feminine, and the rejection of nature. As Jung proposes, each archetype possesses a duality, crudely speaking a positive and negative side. The archetype of the mother is often interrelated with nature in mythology, being benign and terrible simultaneously, as Campbell described the Hindu goddess Kali; “(She) at once creates, preserves and destroys” with “motherly reassurance” (Campbell, 1968). The erasure of nature’s spirituality does not stem from the rejection of its role as the great mother but as the terrible mother. As the harbinger of famine and disease, as the harsh winter and poor harvest, forgetting she is also the creator of the seed. Ultimately we must find the way back to respecting both sides of nature, including its dark side, as we must do in our own lives. Furthermore, Jung disparages the idea that nature has been defeated by science and points to natural catastrophes, the climate’s enduring capriciousness and global warming as evidence against this.
In a world where our scientific and technological achievements have been so great, we are still at the mercy of nature. Yet proposed solutions to our environmental problems often propose more of the very thing that brought us to this point; technological inventions, financing systems, ways of manipulating the climate, the outer part of the equation. The climate crisis may be fought by policy, unilateral agreements and global collaboration, yet the battle is unwinnable if it is not won in our collective psyches first. Thus the real challenge lies not in our physical inability, but our psychological reluctance to reconcile our relationship with nature. Mending this relationship will require a shift in consciousness, true integration, and balance of the dualities in ourselves. As we embark on a journey of reconnection, we have little to lose, and everything to gain.
The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, For none now live who remember it.
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