Talisman or Taboo? Money and Individuation

Abstract

This dissertation examines the taboo forbidding discussion about money within depth psychology and how this silence shapes the individuation of psychological healers. Using the hermeneutic methodology favored by Carl G. Jung, this qualitative study analyzes texts from Jung’s corpus and those of subsequent Jungian scholars. It also draws from fields that inform depth psychological understanding, including anthropology, philosophy, history, and mythology as well as economics and numismatics, to trace money’s historical development and its emergence as a subject of controversy and moral/ethical confusion. Through textual analysis and attention to the lived experiences of psychological healers, this study provides evidence for the presence of a money taboo within depth psychology and for the value of addressing it. The findings suggest the need for depth psychological research on money and the possible benefits of including money-related considerations in the training and education of depth psychologists. Additionally, this work explores the possibility that psychic energy, Jung’s conceptualization of libido, the life force, serves as the generative force behind symbol creation in the unconscious psyche and constitutes the mechanism whereby symbols are made conscious—a process central to individuation. The inquiry ultimately reveals that the ‘money wound,’ rooted in collective disavowal and personal shadow material, can be transformed through conscious engagement with money as a symbol, offering psychological healers a pathway to greater wholeness and authentic relationship with this archetypal energy in both clinical practice and personal life.

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