The Origins and History of Consciousness

Analytical psychologist Erich Neumann sets out the archetypal stages through which consciousness develops, arguing that each individual passes through the same stages as humanity as a whole. Drawing on world mythology, he shows the sequence opening and closing with the Uroboros, the serpent that eats its tail, while myths of the Great Mother, the World Creation, the dragon fight, the separation of the World Parents and the hero's birth mark the stages between. The hero stands for ego consciousness as it emerges from an undifferentiated unconscious state. Neumann describes a move from a matriarchal stage of fusion with the world to a patriarchal stage of ego awareness. Carl Jung contributed the foreword.

Jordan B. Peterson included it among the suggested readings for Maps of Meaning.