Man and His Symbols

The circle, Jaffé explains, is a symbol for wholeness—of the Self or the psyche, or of life itself. In both the creation myth of Brahma and the story of Buddha’s birth, the figures orient themselves to the universe from a lotus flower. Brahma orients himself to the four directions, Buddha to ten. Jaffé explains that humans are oriented in a similar way by way of the “four functions of consciousness […] thought, feeling, intuition, and sensation” (197). These must be integrated for a person’s psyche to become whole. In Zen Buddhism, this is known as enlightenment. This orientation is often symbolized in the form of a four or eight-rayed circle or mandala which aids in meditation and other religious practices. Mandalas are also found in the windows of Christian cathedrals and imagery of Jesus. Jaffé insists that circle symbology dates to the Neolithic period (before the invention of the wheel) and can be found engraved on rocks.

Jaffé explains that mandalas also appear in architecture, both in modern and ancient times. For instance, she contends that the story of the building of Rome describes it as being circular, although she notes that this point is contended by modern historians. She goes on to say that many other cities are planned out in a mandala shape, whether it be the entire city or just portions of it. One such city is Washington, D.C. Jaffé asserts that building a city in the shape of a mandala was not done for beauty or budget purposes, but rather “it was a transformation of the city into an ordered cosmos, a sacred place bound by its center to the other world. And this transformation accorded with the vital feelings and needs of religious man” (200). Like all other forms of art, the symbolistic wholeness of a mandala-shaped city represents our unconscious hopes for ourselves.  Additionally, these structural forms act as a means through which people living in the city can move closer to wholeness.

The symbol of the Christian cross, Jaffé explains, is humanity’s way of projecting their desire to elevate themselves towards Heaven and overcome the earthly desires and flaws of the body. This desire was further made tangible by the tall architecture of the Gothic period. Jaffé refers to this as the “upward movement” (202). She states that after this time, humanity turned back toward earth, logic, and science. Art reflected this shift through realism. Jaffé argues that the final shift away from religion and towards nature caused a split in the psyches of humans which is yet to be mended. In fact, the further humanity delves into science, the wider this divide grows.

Next, Jaffé explains the difference between the imaginative and sensory art styles. Imaginative art was more fantastical and dreamlike, whereas sensory art attempted to reproduce a scene or experience as realistically as possible. She notes that circles appear frequently in imaginative art, in the form of balls, geometric shapes, suns, or bubbles. Paul Nash is one artist she describes as utilizing balls as symbols for concepts such as eternity.

Jaffé points out that visual art containing jagged symbols or partial circles is also common and represents a splitting of the psyche, the separation between humans and nature, or the relationship of good and evil. In other cases, it may even represent a political or social split in the real world, such as the Iron Curtain that divided the East and West during the Cold War.

Jaffé ends the section by recalling a theory that Jung put forth regarding a recent spate of UFO sightings: Jung proposed that the sightings are a result of a mass projection by humanity, due to its deep inner need to “heal the split in our apocalyptic age by means of the symbol of the circle” (206).

In this section, Jaffé discusses modern art (which arose in the early 1900s) as it is known to the average person; specifically, she discusses imaginative modern art, both abstract and realistic. She begins by asserting that artists are the voice of the era in which they are born into. While art is personal on some level, it also reflects the psychology of the time. In this way, “consciously or unconsciously, the artist gives form to the nature and values of his time” (206). Jaffé insists that artists often recognize the limits this poses to their creativity.

Modern art, Jaffé argues, is evolving into a collective feat rather than an individual one. She notes that modern art can move even those who dislike it. Modern artists are expressing a vision of humanity and of spirituality. She recalls a statement by Kandinsky in which he claims that the concrete and abstract components of art, which once were united and complimentary, are now separate. This is because of a push towards extremeness from both sides. Modern art is either extremely realistic or extremely abstract (i.e., Duchamp’s bottle rack on a pedestal, Malevich’s square painting). As Jaffé explains, the polarity between abstraction and realism arose out of a splitting of the conscious and unconscious during the Renaissance when religion and knowledge began to separate.

Jaffé describes the origins of the concrete in modern art with Duchamp’s bottle rack. Known as objet trouvé (ready-made), this concept influenced many future artists. Art made from natural materials (and junk) gained in popularity in the works of artists like Picasso and Ernst. Jaffé explains that the idea of deriving beauty from filth was not novel for the modern art era. In fact, it was reminiscent of the principles of alchemy and the hermetic Christians. She quotes Kandinsky: “Everything that is dead quivers. Not only the things of poetry, stars, moon, wood, flowers, but even a white trouser button glittering out of a puddle in the street […] Everything has a secret soul, which is silent more often than it speaks” (211).

Jaffé explains that artists began projecting the darker aspects of themselves into the material objects of the modern world. Like the attribution of spirit to stone, people were now attributing spirit to all material objects. The “secret soul” of these objects was rarely exposed and seen by few, and it was the artist’s job to express this. Jaffé remarks how this reflection of the absurd and simplistic was heavily inspired by the philosophy of Nietzsche and his argument as to the senselessness of existence and the death of God. She notes that Jung observed a decline in the appearance of a Christian God in the dreams of his patients over the decades, implying a similar decline in the collective unconscious of humanity. She notes, however, that other artists, such as Marc Chagall, argued the opposite and were inclined to believe that people are still deeply connected to the divine.

Jaffé explores the question of how the state of the relationship between the unconscious and conscious mind in modern times manifests in modern art. She notes that surrealist paintings (often inspired by dreams) attempt to reunite the two sides of the mind, and in doing so open new avenues for the unconscious to communicate. Surrealism, she explains, utilizes oppositional imagery and tries to relate or unite it these opposites. Jaffé explains that the concept of chance plays a major role in modern art as well, with many pieces created in a seemingly random fashion wherein the artist leaves elements of design up to chance. She asserts that while an artist may be satisfied with this explanation, a psychologist is not, and will always seek a hidden pattern within the creation.

In the era of the discovery of nuclear physics, Jaffé explains, there is a deepening realization that reality and matter are not what people thought they were, and this realization creates doubt in the natural world. There is a strong comparison to be made between this shift in physics and the shift in the psyche taking place simultaneously. Both seem to provide more mystery than answers. Modern art reflects this shift towards to the unimaginable via abstract imagery. Conversely, the attitudes during Jaffé’s time also suggests a search for truth—for the objective reality. Jaffé describes this concept as that which is changeless and explains that Kandinsky and other pioneer artists of the modern era turned art into a form of mysticism. She notes that artists such as Paul Klee spoke of a primal aspect to modern art, and Jackson Pollock described his experiences with painting as being in a sort of trance.

Jaffé contrasts abstract and realist art, noting that the bridge which previously connected the known and unknown in art no longer exists; instead, the unknown is all that is presented. She points out the similarities between abstract art and the building blocks of matter. In this way, abstract art exists as an oxymoron; it is formless, yet represents the very form of existence. Thus, art seems to have come full circle and is returning once again to nature. However, Jaffé argues, this return to nature is also causing “metaphysical anxiety” (223) which permeates the modern world. This anxiety may either be the result of existential dread, the death of religion, or the feeling of an approaching end of the world.

Jaffé concludes by explaining the artist’s drive to reunite divided opposites. These dualities include nature and spirit, unconscious and conscious, and the individual Self and the collective. She explains that artists such as Paul Klee attempt to rectify a sense of harmony between these concepts through their work, combining good and evil, beautiful, and wretched, abstract, and real. Jaffé notes that art and religion are once again coming together as well, particularly through Christianity. She admits that the reunion of these opposites holds unknown consequences which could be beneficial or catastrophic. Jaffé regrets the constant struggle of humanity to apply what they see in art to their own life but maintains hope that they once again will do so and that art will once again become whole.