Re: What is individuation? and how does one attain it?

Hey David,
 Thanks for your question. Individuation is a concept put forward by 
the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) and 
volumes have been written about it by Jung himself, his followers and 
his detractors. The following webpage gives a clear step by step 
account of the individuation process as put forward by Jung:  
http://www.wynja.com/personality/jungarchf.html. 

 To make a long story short, individuation is achieved through the 
harmonisation of the conscious and the unconscious, as well as 
through the decentralisation of the ego. According to Jung, the key 
was to get in touch with the unconscious without letting the ego be 
overwhelmed by it. Functions existing below the threshold of 
consciousness need to be brought above that threshold, repressed 
"shadow" contents needs to be acknowledged, and the major 
archetypes of the collective unconscious (shadow, anima/animus, 
self) need to be discovered and related, so that their influence can be 
consciously mediated and their concerns addressed.
 Jung put individuation forward as a life long process which is never 
really finished. As you can see in the following quote, he linked it not 
with greatness or brilliance, but with being at peace with oneself and 
with the world:

 "The individuated human being is just ordinary, therefore almost 
invisible. . . . His feelings, thoughts, etc., are just anybody's feelings, 
thoughts, etc.-- quite ordinary, as a matter of fact, and not interesting 
at all. . . . He will have no need to be exaggerated, hypocritical, 
neurotic, or any other nuisance. He will be "in modest harmony with 
nature.". . . No matter whether people think they are individuated or 
not, they are just what they are: in the one case a man plus an 
unconscious nuisance disturbing to himself -- or, without it, 
unconscious of himself; or in the other case, conscious. The criterion 
is consciousness." (Jung, in Fadiman and Fragar, 1994, page 82)

 Jung, like his collaborator Freud, has been a major influence in the 
shaping of modern western thought. If you don’t feel like reading the 
20 volumes of his Collected Works, you can easily find a resume of 
his major ideas at your local library, for example "The Basic Writings 
of C.G. Jung". If you prefer literature to theory,  Herman Hesse’s 
"Damian", is rooted in Jung’s process of individuation and offers a 
clear, satisfying overview while remaining a fascinating read!

	I hope this answers your question !
	Cheers!
	Benoit