Digesting Jung: Food for the Journey - Inner City Books

7
Typology Revisited
The superior function is always an expression of the conscious
personality, of its aims, will, and general performance,
whereas the less differentiated functions fall into the category
of things that simply “happen” to one. 19
Over the years, Jung’s model of typology, outlined here earlier, has
been very significant to me as a psychological compass. But I have
to say that I learned almost as much about typology from living
with Arnold as I did from reading Jung.
I met Arnold only a few weeks before leaving for Zurich, where
we had both been accepted to train at the Jung Institute. We took to
each other and agreed to share a place, which I offered to find since
I would be there first. I house-hunted for a week and found a gem.
Arnold, it turned out, was a raving intuitive. I met him at the station
when he arrived. It was the third train I’d met. True to his type,
his letter had been sketchy on details. True to my predominantly
sensation orientation, I wasn’t.
“I’ve rented an old house in the country,” I told him, hefting his
bag. The lock was broken and the straps were gone. One wheel was
missing. “Twelve and a half minutes on the train and it’s never late.
The house has green shutters and polka-dot wallpaper. The garden
is bursting with forsythia, roses, clematis and lily of the valley. The
landlady is a Swiss businesswoman from the Engadine, an attractive
blond. She says we can furnish it the way we want.”
“Great!” said Arnold, holding a newspaper over his head. It was
pouring out. He had no hat and he’d forgotten to bring his raincoat.
He was wearing slippers, for God’s sake. We couldn’t find his
trunk because he’d booked it through to Lucerne.
19 “General Description of the Types,” Psychological Types, CW 6, par. 575.
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