Psychologist Carl Jung identified the quaternity (union of four) as a symbol of wholeness.  He used it in portraying his four primary cognitive functions: intuition, sensation, thinking, and feeling (emotions).

Similar to this is Russian esotericist George Gurdjieff’s system of harmonious development, called “The Fourth Way,”  His “Work” centered on simultaneously developing the body, the emotions, and the mind so one can develop a fourth function - the soul.  He used the quaternity metaphor of the horse-drawn carriage to visualize this, with a carriage,  horse,  driver, and a master inside the carriage.

This podcast episode explores these topics in-depth as well Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious, and how it relates to Hegel’s historical development of the World-Spirit.  

Support the show