JSNYC
Another thread was discussing assigning the personality types to the court cards. I made the statement that I think it is necessary to focus on the function types to fully understand and make use of the personality types. However, since that is off-topic for that thread, I started this thread.
Click here to view the thread: Myers Briggs Types and the Court Cards
To begin to understand C. G. Jung's function types, I think it is helpful to understand Jung's focus on energy. To understand Jung's viewpoint, I have to start with his split with Freud. Freud also believed in energy, except he thought the energy was comprised of only sexual energy. Jung disagreed. He agreed in the energy perspective, but he thought that sexual energy was just a part of a larger mass of energy.
Essentially, we are all constantly receiving, processing, and projecting energy. This energy is of a psychological or spiritual nature. The goal, according to Jung, is to keep the energy flowing and in balance. When that energy gets bound up, doesn't have a natural, healthy release, it causes problems. That is the crux, although also a tremendous over-simplification, of what Freud and Jung believed. Since Freud believed that the energy was entirely sexual in nature, he thus thought that all psychological problems could essentially be reduced to a sexual core. Jung thought the person was much more complex than that, although sexuality obviously plays an important role, it is not the only role.
After understanding how Jung perceived the human psyche to work, his function types also make more sense. Think of the function types as processes that receive, process, and project energy. Each grouping of function types performs a particular function within this cycle, and each of the two types are the extreme example of the opposing ways that the function is preformed. Just like boiling hot and freezing cold, every gradation exists in between them. But also, don't think of them as a scale, they are two different functions, and can be developed to different degrees, although they are largely inversely correlated.
The first function types that Jung proposed were, Introversion and Extroversion. (*Introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with shyness! Thanks stefficus.) Jung defined extroversion as focusing on the object, the objective view, and introversion as focusing on the subject, the subjective view. Initially, Jung divided everyone into these two groups. It is obvious why Jung saw these function types first, because these are the most noticeable function types.
*It is important to remember to treat the function types' labels, the actual names of the function types, as inadequate and incorrect. These are the best human language names that Jung could think of for these abstract, psychological functions. The names of these functions are no more accurate than the name of a Tarot card.
Just like Jung, anyone that is new to the function types will tend to focus on introversion and extroversion, because these traits so obviously and noticeably differentiate people. Later, when Jung proposed the other function types, he recanted the misguided over importance he placed on introversion and extroversion. I define these traits as the most externally (visibly) important, and the most internally (to the actual person) unimportant.
Now I will briefly introduce the rest of the function types. The next group is sensing and intuiting. Jung called these functions the perceiving functions. These functions dictate how a person perceives the world or life. The next group is thinking and feeling. Jung called these functions the judging functions. These functions dictate how a person judges what they have perceived. And those are all the function types that Jung proposed. E/I Extroversion and Introversion, S/N Sensing and iNtuiting, T/F Thinking and Feeling.
But wait! There is one final group of function types in the personality types! In the 1950's, Isabel Myers, and her mother, Katharine Briggs, created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality test. In creating their personality test, they found Jung's types to be missing something. So they created the last group of function types, the types are perceiving and judging, P/J. (Sound familiar?) These functions indicate a person's internal focus. It is important to note that, Myers and Briggs were searching for another set of function types to help them noticeably differentiate people, or how people visibly behave. Jung was primarily focused on the person, and what really differentiates people.
Now I will list all the function types in relation to their function in a person's flow of energy:
E/I = how internal energy is projected
S/N = how external energy is received
T/F = how external energy is processed
P/J = how internal energy is processed
Thus I categorize E/I and P/J as external functions, these functions deal with the energy that is projected. I then categorize S/N and T/F as internal functions, these functions deal with the energy that is received. This fits nicely into Jung's view of balance as well. The external functions deal with internal energy (that is projected), and the internal functions deal with external energy (that is received).
So now I will present the whole process. Let's start with external energy, the energy that is received. Thus this requires the first internal function types, which are S/N. Sensing and iNtuiting determine how external energy is perceived. This is how a person views their external world. If they use sensing, they see the external world through their senses. They see what is in front of them; they hear and feel what is immediately around them. Sensing people are sensual people. People that use intuiting, see the world through their intuition, they see ideas and what is possible. They don't focus on the actual, sensual world itself; they focus on what can be done with that world.
Then the next internal function types we encounter are the function types that process the energy received with S/N, which are T/F. Thinking and Feeling are how a person processes or evaluates the energy that was received. A thinking person will tend to use logical, definable structures to process that energy, and a feeling person will tend to use abstract, indefinable structures. Because a thinking person's structures can be defined, thus expressed and evaluated in the external world, a thinking person will tend to be more practical, pragmatic, or grounded, whereas a feeling person, perfectly comfortable with the abstract, will tend to be more fanciful, principled, or idealistic.
Once energy has been received and processed, and has become internal energy, the first external function types we encounter to deal with this internal energy are P/J. Perceiving and Judging determine how the internal energy is processed. A perceiving person focuses on the perceptive functions, S/N. Since their focus is on the received energy, they tend to be more reactive people. Judging people focus on the judging functions, T/F. Since they focus on the energy after it has been processed, they tend to be more deliberate or judgmental people. Perceiving people focus on the raw, unprocessed energy and react to it, whereas judging people focus on the processed energy, they evaluate and judge that energy, and thus their world.
And finally, the second group of external function types, which project the energy that was processed with P/J, which are E/I. Extroversion and introversion are where a person focuses the processed, projected energy. An extroverted person focuses that energy on the object; an introverted person focuses that energy on the subject. An extroverted person tends to be concerned with changing the world, an introverted person tends to be concerned with changing their world.
So what does this have to do with the Tarot?
Actually, I previously wrote something for this section that was over twice as long as what I wrote above. But I still didn't adequately express the concepts I was trying to convey. So I will just present the conclusions, and I think that may actually work better to promote discussion. Which is the point of me writing this.
First, I just want to say that a discussion of the personality types is only a small fraction of what I believe can be learned about the Tarot from this area of study. The next most important concept is Jung's transcendent function. Then combine that with the magnificent study done by David Keirsey on the personality types in his book Please Understand Me, as well as Jung's other concepts of complexes, the collective unconscious, and archetypes, and I believe that can add a great depth of understanding to the entire minor arcana. As a matter of fact, Jung named and explained archetypes that I think describe the minor arcana overall quite well.
And finally, in the post I linked (above) I mentioned that I thought a single function type couldn't be effectively applied to a suit (or the court cards). That is because the other strong function types in a person differentiate the primary or dominant function types. For example, the thinking in an intuiting Rational is very different than the thinking in a sensory Guardian. Likewise, the feeling in an intuiting Idealist is much different than the feeling in a sensory Artisan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[size=+1]Wands[/size]
Suit: passion and action
Element: fire
Keirsey temperament: Artisans
Function types: Sensing and Feeling (conflicting)
Active, male and female suit, although slightly female.
[size=+1]Cups[/size]
Suit: emotion and feelings
Element: water
Keirsey temperament: Idealists
Function types: iNtuiting and Feeling (complementary)
Receptive, female suit
[size=+1]Swords[/size]
Suit: intellect and struggles
Element: air
Keirsey temperament: Rationals
Function types: iNtuiting and Thinking (conflicting)
Active, male suit.
[size=+1]Pentacles[/size]
Suit: the tangible, security
Element: earth
Keirsey temperament: Guardians
Function types: Sensing and Thinking (complementary)
Receptive, male and female suit, although slightly male.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to add two final things. First, I find it useful to think of the Tarot's images, symbols, archetypes, however you want to name them, as epitomes. They epitomize whatever it is they are trying to convey. That implicitly indicates that the meanings of the cards are just the beginning to actually understanding the cards. And thus the meaning of the cards should never be constrained by the framework used to understand them.
And the second thing, I don't know how, or even really what to say. I just feel as though I haven't concluded what I want to say. So in these situations, I ask the Tarot, what do I want to say:
Judgement ~*~ King of Coins ~*~ The Magician
A true understanding of the Tarot cards cannot be had through any amount of study or analysis, or through the use of any system or framework. A true understanding can only be had through application of the lessons learned, and the experience gained through that application.
Hmmm... that is the advice the Tarot has been giving me lately...
(Do you think any of my biases crept in? Do you think it matters?
)
Click here to view the thread: Myers Briggs Types and the Court Cards
To begin to understand C. G. Jung's function types, I think it is helpful to understand Jung's focus on energy. To understand Jung's viewpoint, I have to start with his split with Freud. Freud also believed in energy, except he thought the energy was comprised of only sexual energy. Jung disagreed. He agreed in the energy perspective, but he thought that sexual energy was just a part of a larger mass of energy.
Essentially, we are all constantly receiving, processing, and projecting energy. This energy is of a psychological or spiritual nature. The goal, according to Jung, is to keep the energy flowing and in balance. When that energy gets bound up, doesn't have a natural, healthy release, it causes problems. That is the crux, although also a tremendous over-simplification, of what Freud and Jung believed. Since Freud believed that the energy was entirely sexual in nature, he thus thought that all psychological problems could essentially be reduced to a sexual core. Jung thought the person was much more complex than that, although sexuality obviously plays an important role, it is not the only role.
After understanding how Jung perceived the human psyche to work, his function types also make more sense. Think of the function types as processes that receive, process, and project energy. Each grouping of function types performs a particular function within this cycle, and each of the two types are the extreme example of the opposing ways that the function is preformed. Just like boiling hot and freezing cold, every gradation exists in between them. But also, don't think of them as a scale, they are two different functions, and can be developed to different degrees, although they are largely inversely correlated.
The first function types that Jung proposed were, Introversion and Extroversion. (*Introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with shyness! Thanks stefficus.) Jung defined extroversion as focusing on the object, the objective view, and introversion as focusing on the subject, the subjective view. Initially, Jung divided everyone into these two groups. It is obvious why Jung saw these function types first, because these are the most noticeable function types.
*It is important to remember to treat the function types' labels, the actual names of the function types, as inadequate and incorrect. These are the best human language names that Jung could think of for these abstract, psychological functions. The names of these functions are no more accurate than the name of a Tarot card.
Just like Jung, anyone that is new to the function types will tend to focus on introversion and extroversion, because these traits so obviously and noticeably differentiate people. Later, when Jung proposed the other function types, he recanted the misguided over importance he placed on introversion and extroversion. I define these traits as the most externally (visibly) important, and the most internally (to the actual person) unimportant.
Now I will briefly introduce the rest of the function types. The next group is sensing and intuiting. Jung called these functions the perceiving functions. These functions dictate how a person perceives the world or life. The next group is thinking and feeling. Jung called these functions the judging functions. These functions dictate how a person judges what they have perceived. And those are all the function types that Jung proposed. E/I Extroversion and Introversion, S/N Sensing and iNtuiting, T/F Thinking and Feeling.
But wait! There is one final group of function types in the personality types! In the 1950's, Isabel Myers, and her mother, Katharine Briggs, created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality test. In creating their personality test, they found Jung's types to be missing something. So they created the last group of function types, the types are perceiving and judging, P/J. (Sound familiar?) These functions indicate a person's internal focus. It is important to note that, Myers and Briggs were searching for another set of function types to help them noticeably differentiate people, or how people visibly behave. Jung was primarily focused on the person, and what really differentiates people.
Now I will list all the function types in relation to their function in a person's flow of energy:
E/I = how internal energy is projected
S/N = how external energy is received
T/F = how external energy is processed
P/J = how internal energy is processed
Thus I categorize E/I and P/J as external functions, these functions deal with the energy that is projected. I then categorize S/N and T/F as internal functions, these functions deal with the energy that is received. This fits nicely into Jung's view of balance as well. The external functions deal with internal energy (that is projected), and the internal functions deal with external energy (that is received).
So now I will present the whole process. Let's start with external energy, the energy that is received. Thus this requires the first internal function types, which are S/N. Sensing and iNtuiting determine how external energy is perceived. This is how a person views their external world. If they use sensing, they see the external world through their senses. They see what is in front of them; they hear and feel what is immediately around them. Sensing people are sensual people. People that use intuiting, see the world through their intuition, they see ideas and what is possible. They don't focus on the actual, sensual world itself; they focus on what can be done with that world.
Then the next internal function types we encounter are the function types that process the energy received with S/N, which are T/F. Thinking and Feeling are how a person processes or evaluates the energy that was received. A thinking person will tend to use logical, definable structures to process that energy, and a feeling person will tend to use abstract, indefinable structures. Because a thinking person's structures can be defined, thus expressed and evaluated in the external world, a thinking person will tend to be more practical, pragmatic, or grounded, whereas a feeling person, perfectly comfortable with the abstract, will tend to be more fanciful, principled, or idealistic.
Once energy has been received and processed, and has become internal energy, the first external function types we encounter to deal with this internal energy are P/J. Perceiving and Judging determine how the internal energy is processed. A perceiving person focuses on the perceptive functions, S/N. Since their focus is on the received energy, they tend to be more reactive people. Judging people focus on the judging functions, T/F. Since they focus on the energy after it has been processed, they tend to be more deliberate or judgmental people. Perceiving people focus on the raw, unprocessed energy and react to it, whereas judging people focus on the processed energy, they evaluate and judge that energy, and thus their world.
And finally, the second group of external function types, which project the energy that was processed with P/J, which are E/I. Extroversion and introversion are where a person focuses the processed, projected energy. An extroverted person focuses that energy on the object; an introverted person focuses that energy on the subject. An extroverted person tends to be concerned with changing the world, an introverted person tends to be concerned with changing their world.
So what does this have to do with the Tarot?
Actually, I previously wrote something for this section that was over twice as long as what I wrote above. But I still didn't adequately express the concepts I was trying to convey. So I will just present the conclusions, and I think that may actually work better to promote discussion. Which is the point of me writing this.
First, I just want to say that a discussion of the personality types is only a small fraction of what I believe can be learned about the Tarot from this area of study. The next most important concept is Jung's transcendent function. Then combine that with the magnificent study done by David Keirsey on the personality types in his book Please Understand Me, as well as Jung's other concepts of complexes, the collective unconscious, and archetypes, and I believe that can add a great depth of understanding to the entire minor arcana. As a matter of fact, Jung named and explained archetypes that I think describe the minor arcana overall quite well.
And finally, in the post I linked (above) I mentioned that I thought a single function type couldn't be effectively applied to a suit (or the court cards). That is because the other strong function types in a person differentiate the primary or dominant function types. For example, the thinking in an intuiting Rational is very different than the thinking in a sensory Guardian. Likewise, the feeling in an intuiting Idealist is much different than the feeling in a sensory Artisan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[size=+1]Wands[/size]
Suit: passion and action
Element: fire
Keirsey temperament: Artisans
Function types: Sensing and Feeling (conflicting)
Active, male and female suit, although slightly female.
[size=+1]Cups[/size]
Suit: emotion and feelings
Element: water
Keirsey temperament: Idealists
Function types: iNtuiting and Feeling (complementary)
Receptive, female suit
[size=+1]Swords[/size]
Suit: intellect and struggles
Element: air
Keirsey temperament: Rationals
Function types: iNtuiting and Thinking (conflicting)
Active, male suit.
[size=+1]Pentacles[/size]
Suit: the tangible, security
Element: earth
Keirsey temperament: Guardians
Function types: Sensing and Thinking (complementary)
Receptive, male and female suit, although slightly male.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to add two final things. First, I find it useful to think of the Tarot's images, symbols, archetypes, however you want to name them, as epitomes. They epitomize whatever it is they are trying to convey. That implicitly indicates that the meanings of the cards are just the beginning to actually understanding the cards. And thus the meaning of the cards should never be constrained by the framework used to understand them.
And the second thing, I don't know how, or even really what to say. I just feel as though I haven't concluded what I want to say. So in these situations, I ask the Tarot, what do I want to say:
Judgement ~*~ King of Coins ~*~ The Magician
A true understanding of the Tarot cards cannot be had through any amount of study or analysis, or through the use of any system or framework. A true understanding can only be had through application of the lessons learned, and the experience gained through that application.
Hmmm... that is the advice the Tarot has been giving me lately...
(Do you think any of my biases crept in? Do you think it matters?
)