Later in this book, Mr. Edward Erdinger drops a Jungian bomb on me. The Ego, being conscious, the very center of consciousness, is apriori and derives it's existence from the older unconscious, and symbolically has a heavenly origin to which it will return, a Star.

This is just one of the many elucidations Erdinger makes concerning Jungian psychotherapy, and really Kantian phenomenology and Platonic philosophy. Let's face it, Jung was heavily influenced by both these last heavy hitters in Western thought.

Throughout the rest of the book, Mr. Erdinger relates the Ego and Self (Archetype) to us through the use of Christian symbology, Greek mythology, and the dream analysis of various patients. The Ego, upon being confronted with the challenges and vagaries of Life, goes into a natural state of inflation, where it identifies itself with the Self, in order to meet the challenges of gaining a broader consciousness. This is the preparation for the great initiation: Individuation, where the Ego recollects the broken up unconscious complexes and reintegrates them into a new, now unified Whole. The Ego, having weathered the dark night of the soul after the attempted usurpation of the Self, now recognizes it's rightful place in the Psyche and thus attains it's rightful yet limited estate.

Especially useful I found was the explanation of the Sign, an abstract word, picture, etc. that points to the state of the objective, exterior world, while the Symbol, living breathing signifier of the internal, subjective world is understood to provide meaning for the individual. The perfect state of things is to know the difference between the two, to not mix their properties, and to allow deep religious truth to be communicated symbolically as opposed to signally, and vice versa, for the Sign to communicate external factual data of the way things are.

Erdiniger has done a wonderful job of conserving the psychology of Jung while even adding his own flourishes to the picture and carrying the whole thing forward. This, in my view makes him a worthy torch bearer for Jungian thought.