Editing Collective unconscious (section)

== Application to politics and society ==
Elements from the collective unconscious can manifest among groups of people, who by definition all share a connection to these elements. Groups of people can become especially receptive to specific symbols due to the historical situation they find themselves in.<ref>Progoff, ''Jung's Psychology and its Social Meaning'' (1953), pp. 199–200.</ref> The common importance of the collective unconscious makes people ripe for political manipulation, especially in the era of [[mass politics]].<ref>Jung, ''Collected Works'' vol. 9.I (1959), "The Concept of the Collective Unconscious" (1936), ¶97 (p. 47): "Today you can judge better than you could twenty years ago the nature of the forces involved. Can we not see how a whole nation is reviving an archaic symbol, yes, even archaic religious forms, and how this mass emotion is influencing and revolutionizing the life of the individual in a catastrophic manner? The man of the past is alive in us today to a degree undreamt of before the war, and in the last analysis what is the fate of great nations but a summation of the psychic changes in individuals?"  Also see: ''Collected Works'' vol. 10 (1964), "The Undiscovered Self (Present and Future)" (1957/1958).</ref> Jung compared mass movements to mass psychoses, comparable to [[demonic possession]] in which people uncritically channel unconscious symbolism through the social dynamic of the [[Crowd psychology|mob]] and the [[charismatic leader|leader]].<ref>Progoff, ''Jung's Psychology and its Social Meaning'' (1953), pp. 205–208.</ref>

Although [[civilization]] leads people to disavow their links with the mythological world of uncivilized societies, Jung argued that aspects of the primitive unconscious would nevertheless reassert themselves in the form of [[superstition]]s, everyday practices, and unquestioned traditions such as the [[Christmas tree]].<ref>Singer, ''Culture and the Collective Unconscious'' (1968), pp. 19–20.</ref>

Based on empirical inquiry, Jung felt that all humans, regardless of racial and geographic differences, share the same collective pool of instincts and images, though these manifest differently due to the moulding influence of culture.<ref>Shelburne, ''Mythos and Logos'' (1988) pp. 32–33.</ref> However, above and in addition to the primordial collective unconscious, people within a certain culture may share additional bodies of primal collective ideas.<ref>Singer, ''Culture and the Collective Unconscious'' (1968), pp. 134–135.</ref>

Jung called the [[Ufology|UFO phenomenon]] a "living myth", a legend in the process of consolidation.<ref>Jung, ''Collected Works'' vol. 10 (1964), "On the Nature of the Psyche" (1947/1954), ¶614 (pp. 322–323). Discussed in Shelburne, ''Mythos and Logos'' (1988) p. 60.</ref> Belief in a messianic encounter with UFOs demonstrated the point, Jung argued, that even if a rationalistic modern ideology repressed the images of the collective unconscious, its fundamental aspects would inevitably resurface. The circular shape of the flying saucer confirms its symbolic connection to repressed but psychically necessary ideas of divinity.<ref>Jung, ''Collected Works'' vol. 10 (1964), "Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth" (1958), ¶622–623 (pp. 327–328). "Anyone with the requisite historical and psychological knowledge knows that circular symbols have played an important role in every age; in our own sphere of culture, for instance, they were not only soul symbols but 'God-images.' There is an old saying that 'God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere.' God in his omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence is a totality symbol ''par excellence'', something round, complete, and perfect. Epiphanies of this sort are, in the tradition, often associated with fire and light. On the antique level, therefore, the Ufos could easily be conceived as 'gods.' They are impressive manifestations of totality whose simple, round form portrays the archetype of the self, which as we know from experience plays the chief role in uniting apparently irreconcilable opposites and is therefore best suited to compensate the split-mindedness of our age. It has a particularly important role to play among the other archetypes in that it is primarily the regulator and orderer of chaotic states, giving the personality the greatest possible unity and wholeness... The present world situation is calculated as never before to arouse expectations of a redeeming, supernatural event. If these expectations have not dared to show themselves in the open, this is simply because no one is deeply rooted enough in the tradition of earlier centuries to consider an intervention from heaven as a matter of course."</ref>

The universal applicability of archetypes has not escaped the attention of [[marketing]] specialists, who observe that [[Promotional merchandise|branding]] can resonate with consumers through appeal to archetypes of the collective unconscious.