“The risk is, that the artifex becomes identical with the goal of his opus. He becomes inflated and crazy: “multi perierunt in opere nostro!” There is a “demon” in the prima materia, that drives people crazy.” Unpublished Letter to Alice in Jung History

Not identifying with the collective unconscious is a crucial first step to establishing the ego/Self axis, whereby the energies which are present in the work are not usurped. Instead, they are served.   The risks on a path of individuation are real, for the energies that want to manifest and can show a disregard for the fragility of the ego through which it takes place.  (see definition of Inflation)

When we only see from the perspective of the ego, the focus can be to navigate with the ease of smooth sailing. I’m struck by the opposing image found in the New Testament when out in the storm, Christ sleeps snugly in the boat until, pushed by the desperation of the situation, the disciples wake him up.

Much of the work of a Jungian process, like the image of that small boat tossed in the tempest, is an operation that leads to the awakening of the Anthropos.