Jung’s Myth of the Cave

Rev Ernie Mills

Carl Jung tells the story of a man who went in search of the truth.  He found a cave and there he decided to stay until the truth was revealed to him.  After a few days, he was suddenly overcome by the urge to draw circles on the cave walls. “This is it,” he thought to himself and so he drew more circles. He left the cave and shared his discoveries with others who later discovered the same cave and the circles on the walls.  “This is it,” they exclaimed, and so they started drawing circles. Jung comments “This is the way it was then and the way it is now. We anticipate results in hopes that the process that led to those results will repeat itself.” Joseph Campbell calls it “eating the menu.”