Jungian Integral Alchemy: Types, Taoism, and Classical Elements

Examining the visionary work of pioneering psychologist Carl Jung, known for popularizing archetypes, re-contextualizing ancient and medieval romantic idealist concepts and inspiring new age thought, and advancing the use of both positive and clinical therapies, we begin to build bridges between Jungian and Integral Theory (Ken Wilber).

Types, the most common way of conceptually organizing people, clumps people together based on important but arbitrary logic. Some people are big and others are small. Should a person be big or small? Does a person develop from one to the other? As people grow up, they get bigger at first, and then level out, and finally lose size. So, that's the vertical. However, Kahlil or Bethany could be small or big people in general, no matter how old they get, they tend to be tall, large, and heavy. So that's Types versus Levels.

For practical purposes (clinical diagnoses, friendly advice, hiring, etc), Types tend to dominate, especially in the "flatland" horizontal supremacy (radical equality) of Green Meme sensitive postmodern deconstruction pluralistic world. However, the Teal Integral thinker in us notices that no Type system can logically ignore the changing maturity, sensitivity, responsibility, values, and awareness which characterize the developmental Levels. At Teal, we find Levels itself to be the superior Type system (or Typology).

Nevertheless, with the Turquoise mind, we return to these horizontal subtleties - say that you and I were always showing up at, or expressing, the same Level, in the same ways (Lines/Quadrants). So then, what is the biggest difference between us? Sex? Race? Extraversion? Our taste, preferences, style, interests? Okay, but what are those, how and why do they form? Should I be the one I am? Is that best? What should I do with this information, knowing what Types I am? Should I be my Type harder, should I balance out with the opposite Type?

Luckily for you, it's a huge discussion we're starting here in the description, here in the video, here on the channel, and as you can see, it just goes on and on forever, so forgive me if there never is a full treatment of the enneagram, astrology, tarot, Chinese systems, every alternative pseudo-science approach, every good idea anyone ever had, etc - hopefully, the point made here is that just like with the relationship between Levels (Altitudes system) and the various developmental Lines (Think, Feel, Do, eg) of expression of them, there is a similar dynamic. Clearly, Quadrants are a Type system - people have Quadrant preference. Just as Gardner's Multiple Intelligences is just another way of expressing the Integral Psychograph, or IQ/EQ/etc numerical measures, at a certain point, nearly every Type system will overlap, will correlate with, not only with the Levels, as we said, but also with Quadrants. To a certain extent, every Type system will reflect the same message as the Tao symbol, as the Quadrants, as the medieval classical alchemical elements of various systems. This is the extent to which they align with reality - they look the same, they are universal, because they are true.

And so it isn't our interest to unpack every system that is ultimately the same thing. We are actually more interested in any system that is true that CONFLICTS with Quadrants, or Levels, or any of our models. The point is to hang out long enough to get why the Five Modules of AQALALATAS or Integral Theory are a superior expression of the nature of reality, and Integrate the knowledge which is already known into this framework for increased conceptual clarity that can be applied to any system.

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