What is it?

-

What is it?


What is it, in the end, that induces a man to go his own way and to rise out of unconscious identity with the mass as out of a swathing mist? Not necessity, for necessity comes to many, and they all take refuge in convention. Not moral decision, for nine times out of ten we decide for convention likewise. What is it, then, that inexorably tips the scales in favour of the extra-ordinary?
It is what is commonly called vocation: an irrational factor that destines a man to emancipate himself from the herd and from its well-worn paths. True personality is always a vocation and puts its trust in it as in God, despite its being, as the ordinary man would say, only a personal feeling. But vocation acts like a law of God from which there is no escape. The fact that many a man who goes his own way ends in ruin means nothing to one who has a vocation. He must obey his own law, as if it were a daemon whispering to him of new and wonderful paths. Anyone with a vocation hears the voice of the inner man: he is called. That is why the legends say that he possesses a private daemon who counsels him and whose mandates he must obey.

C.G. Jung C.W.17 pp 175-176

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Full 2022-23 Introduction to Jungian Principles and Practice course dates   MODULE 1 - INDIVIDUATION April 7 May 12 April 14 May 19 April 21 May 26 April 28 June 2 ** NO COURSE MAY 5 MODULE 2 - TRANSFERENCE-PROJECTION-COMPLEXES                      July 7 August 11                      July 14 August 18                      July 21 August 25                     July28 September 1 ** NO COURSE AUGUST 4 MODULE 3 - DREAMS                    October 6 November 10                    October 13 November 17                    October 20 November 24                    October 27 December 1 ** NO COURSE NOVEMBER 3 MODULE 4 – ACTIVE IMAGINATION                     January 5 February 9
Read more

New Cabin - It's been far too long....

-
Image
  Dear readers - It's been far too long. Are you still out there? I will understand if you are not, and then I will simply write into the void, because the void always listens - whether we want her to or not. That is something it is always worth bearing in mind. An awfully long time ago - more than half my lifetime ago - there was a meme doing the rounds. Yes, even back then, before the advent of mobile phone technology and before the advent of the internet, or Facebook, or Twitter, we still had memes; it was just that they were passed from mouth to mouth in the old-fashioned way, just like a biological virus. So, anyway, back in those days there was a meme doing the rounds that said "Be careful what you wish for - it might just happen..." It turns out, the origin of that phrase is Aesop's Fables and a little tale called "The Old Man and Death"  The Old Man and Death - Fables of Aesop This very brief teaching story tells of a world-weary man, bent double wit
Read more

The Sage King and The Rainmaker

-
Image
The Sage King and The Rainmaker I consulted the I Ching yesterday morning - there's nothing unusual in that, I have consulted the I Ching on and off when needed or just when something inclined me to for the past 45 years or more; and more or less since the beginning of the current crisis, I have done so on an almost daily basis. Now, I must admit, I first discovered the I Ching in the Seventies through popular culture, however, I soon discovered that Jung had written an introduction to the first translation to be widely produced in Europe and that he continued to consult and study it throughout his life. "having performed his duties and isolated himself from the world . ..." So, I consulted the I Ching yesterday and obtained Hexagram 17 Following with the sixth line changing - and there, in the translation that was chosen yesterday, I read: "The sage-king, having performed his duties and isolated himself from the world..." - The 'sage-kin
Read more