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Jungian Analysts and African Diviners: An Exploration of the Archetype of the Self

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Abstract

This paper compares Jungian psychology and African indigenous healing practices through a theoretical review. It argues that while both practices express the shamanlc archetype and facilitate the universal instinct towards wholeness, the expression of this differs. In Jungian psychology the archetype of the Self is projected onto the individual and the goal is a dialogue along the ego-Self axis, the patient ultimately coming to locate the shamanlc archetype within his or her Individual psyche. The working of the Self brings together the opposites of the psyche Into individual consciousness. In Indigenous healing practices, In keeping with the African worldview, the Self is projected onto the collective body, the ancestors as an extension of the living group, and the goal of healing Is the restoration of wholeness through reintegration with the collective body. The implication is that good and evil are not brought together in the ancestors as a symbol of the Self, and evil is thus located outside the collective consciousness.

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... Dreams and mediumistic trance states are viewed within many Afri-Indigenous traditions as mediums that allow access to a particular state of phenomenological experience known as the ancestral state. Ancestral states of phenomenology are typified by the perceiver's capacity to access ancestral memories and emotions and directly sense and interact with ancestors (Bojuwoye & Edwards, 2011;Geils, 2011;Jhutyms, 2015). The concept of ancestral consciousness suggests that departed relatives and community members continue to live as spirits who actively communicate with descendants and living community members, passing down generations of memories and knowledge to guide community members or familial lineage. ...
... Despite the differences that exist at the surface structure of various Afri-Indigenous cultures, dreams and mediumistic trance states are viewed within Afri-Indigenous traditions as enhanced states of phenomenological experience that allow access to a particular quality of reality (i.e., consciousness, mind) known as the ancestral state. Ancestral consciousness is a degree of conscious experience typified by the perceiver's capacity to access ancestral memories and emotions and directly sense and interact with ancestors in a manner that has the potential to promote healing and encourage holistic health (Bojuwoye & Edwards, 2011;Geils, 2011;Jhutyms, 2015). ...
Thesis
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Framed within a perspective that originated within the African continent, this dissertation investigated how ontological perspectives influence how individuals conceptualize reality, and how these conceptualizations may influence how we behave or interact within this reality. The study discussed in this dissertation utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological approach while applying ethnographic principles. This approach was used to explore the author’s first-person experiences as he immersed himself into the practices and traditions of an ancient African culture to restore the essence of his African spirit, or African consciousness. Current literature suggests that African-centered perspectives regarding consciousness and its contents are rooted in an immaterial, Spirit-based reality and are mostly absent in Western psychology’s narrative of the human experience, which is rooted in a material, physical basis of reality. This dissertation addresses the absence of African-centered perspectives in Western psychology and how this absence may impact persons of African descent who live in America. Examined within the dissertation are those phenomenological experience wherein the perceiver interacts with deceased family members, community members, or cultural leaders. Within many African-centered perspectives, these phenomenological experiences are believed to occur within an ancestral state of consciousness that can be accessed through dreams and mediumistic trance states. The transformative processes of the author’s journey are revealed through an analysis of growing tension between pre-existing and emerging perceptions of reality and, thereby, phenomenological experience. The findings of this study highlight five categories in the transformation of the author’s consciousness: (a) Seeking Sahu; (b) Initiation in the West; (c) Altered States of Phenomenological Experience; (d) Cultivation of Spiritualistic Energy (Will); (e) Expression of the Kemetic Identity. The findings of this study appear to support previous research and suggest that ancient psychospiritual practices used to restore an individual’s connection with Spirit may enhance consciousness and phenomenological experience in a manner that promotes holistic health and healing. Implications derived from this research include a need to educate various African/Indigenous communities on the clinical utility and benefit of psychospiritual practices, as well as a need to develop a theory of psychology that attends to the psychospiritual basis of human behavior and the effects of intergenerational trauma.
... From a Western psychological perspective, ancestors, specifically deceased parents, are internalised as affectively charged dynamic, internal representations in the conscious and unconscious personality (Cohen, 2009) or are synonymous with the theoretical construct of archetypes (Cohen, 2009;Geils, 2011) . In a constellation, the ancestors are a phenomenological reality: "The representatives of the dead often bring a kind of energy into a constellation that makes us consider whether there may be more powerful forces at work than we normally consider" (Schneider, 2007, p . ...
Article
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Chapter
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Based on anthropological fieldwork conducted in the Eastern Cape, the paper explores the interconnections between dreams (amathongo, amaphupha) and medicines (amayeza, imithi, amachiza) as aspects of the Xhosa diviner's culture, knowledge and experience. Background information is provided in the introduction, inter alia, on the Xhosa patrilineal clan (isiduko), divination (imvumisa, evumiso) and religious and cultural change. The ability to dream, inter alia of the ancestors and medicines, is central to the diviner's intuition and professional stock-in-trade, which are part and parcel of a religious healing tradition. Examples of dreams involving the ancestors (iminyanya), diviners, clients and medicinal plants are presented and analysed in relation to relevant case material. The ritual significance of dreams is explored in some detail. The distinctions between diviner (igqirha lokuvumisa) and herbalist (ixhwele), and between medicines and charms (amakhubalo), receive attention in the section on medicines. The underlying purpose of traditional Xhosa religious ideology is discussed in the conclusion.
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