Carl Jung: All knowledge of the psyche is itself psychic;

All knowledge of the psyche is itself psychic; in spite of all this the soul is the only experient of life and existence.

It is, in fact, the only immediate experience we can have and the sine qua non of the subjective reality of the world.

The symbols it creates are always grounded in the unconscious archetype, but their manifest forms are moulded by the ideas
acquired by the conscious mind.

The archetypes are the numinous, structural elements of the psyche and possess a certain autonomy and spe- cific energy which enables
them to attract, out of the conscious mind, those contents which are best suited to themselves.

The symbols act as transformers, their function being to convert libido from a “lower” into a “higher” form.

This function is so important that feeling accords it the highest values.

The symbol works by suggestion; that is to say, it carries conviction and at the same time expresses the con- tent of that conviction.

It is able to do this because of the numen, the specific energy stored up in the archetype.

Experience of the archetype is not only impressive, it seizes and possesses the whole personality, and is natu- rally productive of faith. Carl Jung, CW 5, Para 344.