The three stages of the Anthropos and the differentiation and individuation of the psyche

This is a thesis in the psychology of C.G. Jung, in which archetypal motifs are traced and analyzed in two main sources of religious imagery and symbolism: Gnosticism and the Kabbalah. The figure of the Anthropos, who is prominent in both of these traditions, forms the focal point of the analysis, and is interpreted as being a representation of the central archetype in Jung's model of the psyches the Self. Around the Anthropos, a mythic sequence forming three distinct stages; primordial unity, differentiation and fall, and redemption, is formulated in both the Gnostic and Kabbalistic material, and this is seen to parallel and express the three-fold developmental process of the psyche based around the Self. Thus, the Self appears first in an undifferentiated condition which is termed the "primal Self", it then moves into a state of being separated from the ego as the latter becomes developed and differentiated, wherein it can be called the "unconscious Self", finally, with the integration of Self and ego, the third stage of the "Individuated Self" is realized. By illustrating the parallels and making analytical comparisons between the three stages of the Anthropos and the three stages of the Self, the thesis aims at clarifying at least one level of meaning contained in the religious material, so that it is seen to give expression to archetypal processes occurring within the human psyche, and at the same time to formulate a complete developmental model which contributes to the understanding and clarification of the central concepts of Jung's psychology.