When An Inner Situation Is Not

From Aion (1951), Collected Works Vol. 9ii, Paragraph 126, pp. 70–71, in the chapter "Christ: A Symbol of the Self." The full sentence continues: "That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves." Jung is describing how repressed unconscious contents — particularly the Shadow — do not disappear but are projected outward, where they are experienced as external conflict, misfortune, or fate. Aion was one of his most technical late works, exploring the psychology of the Christian aeon through the symbol of the Self.