It would appear necessary to first go through the full development of individual ego-consciousness before one becomes properly qualified for what I might call 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, which is no longer bound by the ordinary limits of individual experience. Initially, this entry into group consciousness simply feels like a dissolution or disintegration of individual ego-consciousness – which is, indeed, partly the case – but it is also a 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 of the limiting horizons of personal ego consciousness. Thus, in the initial stages, it feels more like a regression than a pro-gression to a higher or more expanded consciousness.
But regression to what? One answer is “to mass consciousness” – which may be thought of as “group consciousness at a lower octave.” Mass consciousness may be characterized as human consciousness at a pre-egoic, instinctual level. It is out of this undifferentiated, dreamlike mass consciousness that the individual ego arises – like a volcanic island rising from below the ocean into that very different medium, the air. Each human child recapitulates this “archetypal” process of individualization in its progressive acquisition of distinct ego-consciousness.
The chief difference between mass consciousness and group consciousness in terms of psychic experience is this: in the former stage we see the merger or identification of consciousness with objects, other persons, and states, while in group consciousness there is 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 instead of boundary-less identification. This very different experience – of relationship as opposed to a fused state of identification – is enabled by the developed, strong, self-aware ego which is capable of “holding its own” against the pull of the object or state. Because its structural integrity is not easily dissolved by the charms or terrors of the once alluring/overpowering object – because it is not dislodged from its stable center of gravity – the fortified ego is able to remain afloat in the sometimes turbulent sea of psyche. Because it is able to “keep its head above water” in this way, and not drown, it can be of some assistance to those nearby who, as yet, lack sufficient buoyancy to avoid being pulled under. The buoyancy of this developed ego is assured by its partial inflation by the 𝑎𝑖𝑟 of 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑠, or mind, which is lighter than watery psyche.
Like an un-tethered buoy, this ego-flotation vessel is at liberty to move about on the sea surface. This mobility of the buoyant ego that is no longer at extreme risk of being pulled under (into “regressive” mass consciousness) betokens its freedom to imaginatively and compassionately relate to others without becoming problematically merged or identified with them. Like a good therapist, the developed ego that has awakened to group consciousness is able to offer love, guidance, and support to others without becoming problematically entangled/merged with them. Compassion without excessive attachment. Understanding without a need or desire to control.