The Significance of the Father in the Destiny of the Individual (Unabridged)

In this 1909 essay, Carl Jung develops Freud’s theories on the psycho-sexual relationship of the child towards its parents.

In symbolic terms, the archetype of the father is responsible for the child’s dynamic movement. The father becomes associated with action, activity, consciousness and independence, in order to break free of the symbiotic collective of the mother-child duo, and later the collective of society. The archetype of the great father represents the realm of light and spirit. A sound balance of the mother and the father, and their representations, is thus required to maintain the continuity of life. When this balance is lost, all aspects of life turn to the negative.