Each human being must develop all four psychological functions, according to Jungian theory, to become whole, even though it is understood that there will always be disparity among the levels of development of such functions in each individual.
Each human being must consciously walk the Four Paths, according to Creation Spirituality, to become whole, and one should never get stuck in any of them. The wheel must spin!
At times, individuals and societies may experience a significant emphasis on one particular path, which in Jungian terms would mean an excess of emphasis on one function. That is natural in and of itself: imbalances happen. Spiritual awareness then becomes involved, recognizing what is happening and working to restore balance.
In the last two meditations, I touched upon thinking/acting and deep feeling (via transformativa and via negativa). This is because they both look quite compromised in Western society today. In so many places, rational and compassionate thought is scorned, and feeling the pain of others — the only source of values that can nourish good thinking — is openly derided.
But what about the other two functions, sensation and intuition, which, in my understanding, can be paired with via positiva and via creativa?
One century ago, Jung was berating Western society for an excess of sensation, by which he meant that the atmosphere of positivism (i.e., modern scientism) left no space for what could not be felt with the five senses, then measured, and then exploited in one way or another. Moreover, intuition — from which spring all kinds of artistic endeavors, as well as mystical knowledge — was pushed into a corner and looked upon with suspicion, Jung said.
Creation Spirituality joins Jung’s critique while pointing out that physical sensation does not need to be reduced to materialism, but can be in itself a spiritual experience — the awe and wonder at creation, including our physical bodies and pleasures. Creation Spirituality also gives special recognition to intuition and is actively involved in making a mystic out of each person — something at which Jung worked almost exclusively on his own.
But Western societies in 2025 seem to suffer not only from weak thinking and weak feeling, but also from the same bulimia of sensation already diagnosed by Jung and from the same scant recognition of intuition that Jung lamented.
It seems to me that 19th-century positivism and scientism — the best allies of voracious capitalism — have been judged and condemned only in some circles, while Western society as a whole is still prey to their lies.
This is not a reason for despair, however. It only means that I have a lot of healing to do, i.e., balancing work. I have indeed enough good work for the rest of my life. Maybe you too?
Banner Image: A beaver busily at work building a dam, restoring natural balance to a wetland in Grand Teton Park, Wyoming. Photo by Chris Knight on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What functions of the human being do you see especially at risk today? What are your personal leanings and areas of growth, if you adopt the quadripartite scheme?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Natural Grace: Dialogues on creation, darkness, and the soul in spirituality and science (by Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake)
Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering Book
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
2 thoughts on “Balancing as a Spiritual Act”
My “personal leanings and areas of growth” are the contemplative via negativa of learning to let go/die to my egocentric self-consciousness by Being more open/conscious and trusting of the Divine Loving Flow of Our Compassionate Source~Co-Creator’s Spirit of LOVE~WISDOM~CREATIVITY… PRESENT within, through, among US (All Spiritual Beings and physical/nonphysical spiritual dimensions) in LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT (via transformativa)… COMPASSIONATE COSMIC CHRIST~BUDDHA CONSCIOUSNESS….
When I pondered the question, “What functions of the human being do you see especially at risk today?” I could not single out any and I quickly realized why: I would have exactly the same answer if the question applied to an impaired alcohol or drug addict. Materialism has made industrialized societies drunk. As Thomas Berry wrote in chapter 14 of The Great Work: “there is no dream or entrancement in the history of the Earth that has wrought the destruction that is taking place in the entrancement with industrial civilization. Such entrancement must be considered as a profound cultural disorientation. It can be dealt with only by a corresponding deep cultural therapy.”
A symbolic statistical representation of the industrial mead that inebriates us is our GLOBAL consumption of about 2 liters of crude oil per capita per day, North Americans being among the most active dipsomaniacs with 9 liters (over 2.3 US gallons) of crude oil per capita per day. Creation Spirituality is a “deep cultural therapy”, but, at any rate, the hangover will be severe.