The Religious Function of the Unconscious in Human Development

Abstract

The aim of this article was to analyze the role of the religious function in psychological development and in the establishment of a sense of meaning in life from the perspective of analytical psychology. Taking into account Jung’s distinction between confession (a system of beliefs) and religion (religious experience), the importance of symbols produced through the activity of the religious function of the unconscious for psychological development was discussed. According to Edward Edinger, religious symbols, whether collective or produced by the unconscious, enable the ego to establish a connection with the archetypal ground of the psyche, a process that is essential for psychological health. For Erich Neumann, religious symbols also allow individuals to withdraw archetypal projections from their parents, thereby enabling the natural transition toward maturity in human development. Thus, according to Jung, the loss of religious symbols prevents a deeper psychological separation between the individual and their biological family. At the individual level, the loss of symbolic contact with the archetypal ground of the psyche may lead to a loss of meaning in life, ego inflation, or dependence on an inadequate substitute for this lost relationship. The concepts of analytical psychology and the clinical example presented in this paper were used to demonstrate how symbols produced by the unconscious may facilitate the continuation of psychological development, thereby enabling the establishment of a sense of meaning in life.