Goethe - Flowers in Italy

Goethe embarked on his journey to Italy in mid-life. He reported a difference in his being which was interpreted as a gestalt, a synthesis of his personality which moved him to a more comfortable and holistic existence. In Palermo his experiences in the gardens led to a striking vision of a flower which seemed to him to contain a deeper design - an innate and natural patterning which would later become the foundation for C.G.Jung's archetypal patterns. Not surprisingly Anton Ehrenzweig in his 'Hidden Order of Art" saw something similar existing at the most basic and subconscious level in the processes of creativity. Even in layers which seemed like chaos, there were  complex patterns of ordering working before the work of art even began to take shape.

Carl Jung followed from Weimar Classical aesthetics (Kant-Schiller-Goethe) and introduced the world of ideas, self, and principles, as archetypes - elements of the collective unconscious. At our deepest level he suggested, we apprehend symbols (archetypal patterns) and it is our job to make something of it through our creative and conscious endeavors. This is his reasoning behind studies of symbols. A full personality-the self/identity he added,  is a pre-requisite for such tasks. It is the fulcrum lying between conscious and unconscious elements. Therefore the psychology of personal growth and the idea of personality were introduced to his psychology (Aion). 

Jung, when looking at Goethe’s experience in Italy - also the model for the self, observed Goethe's  gestalt moment. Various terms have been introduced describing personal growth and personality. Neumann called it 'centroversion,' and went on to say this coming together of the inner dynamics of the psyche was the prelude to genuine creativity.  The 'hero' he said was the one who took on the challenges of life, described in mythology as storms, monsters, seductions, and so fourth and triumphantly overcame them. The hero synthesized such dynamics and energies in authentic creative pursuits. Here the work of decontaminating and releasing subconscious drives to the process of art was paramount. Today one would reframe this as taking ownership of one's shadow and understanding that the negative within us is only the reverse mirror image of what some of our hidden talents might be.  This is the crucial task of life and the necessary work for the creative soul - the establishment of the true self.