The completeness of fours became apparent in the search for union of the opposites. Ones, twos and threes were inherently incomplete. In each case one or more dimensions of the self was submerged in the shadow. Reclaiming shadow selves was necessary to complete the four armed cross of the Tai Chi Dancer. Added emphasis appears in red, and my reactions are enclosed in a box: (Note 118)

Three of the four orienting functions are available to consciousness. This is confirmed by the psychological experience that a rational type, for instance, whose superior function is thinking, has at his disposal one, or possibly two, auxiliary functions of an irrational nature, namely sensation (the "fonction du réel") and intuition (perception via the unconscious). His inferior function will be feeling (valuation), which remains in a retarded state and is contaminated with the unconscious. It refuses to come along with the others and often goes wildly off on its own. . . .

Whatever was buried in my shadow had its due. The stronger the supression, the more powerful the self betrayal. My submerged feeling came out as moodiness toward my wife. Tremendous energy was dissipated acting out denied subpersonalities.

The connection with the earlier attitude is maintained because part of the personality remains behind in the previous situation; that is to say it lapses into unconsciousness and starts building up the shadow. The loss makes itself felt in consciousness through the absence of at least one of the four orienting functions, and the missing function is always the opposite of the superior function. The loss need not necessarily take the form of complete absence; in other words, the inferior function may be either unconscious or conscious, but in both cases it is autonomous and obsessive and not influenceable by the will. It has the "all-or-none" character of an instinct. . . .

Of Jung's four orienting functions; sensation, thinking, feeling and intuition; thinking was clearly my superior mode. Its complement feeling was therefore inferior. Being unconscious, this part had a will of its own. Since this function was not at my disposal, I could not draw on it to help me understand whether something suited me or not. The energy and wisdom of feeling was lost in the unconscious.

The quaternity is an archetype of almost universal occurrence. It forms the logical basis for any whole judgment. If one wishes to pass such a judgment, it must have this fourfold aspect. For instance, if you want to describe the horizon as a whole, you name the four quarters of heaven. Three is not a natural coefficient of order, but an artificial one. There are four elements, four prime qualities, four colours, four castes, four ways of spiritual development in Buddhism, etc. So, too, there are four aspects of psychological orientation, beyond which nothing fundamental remains to be said.

Discovery of the Tai Chi Dancer revealed the universal truth that resolution required a four fold "integration" of the rational and intuitive, and of the lower and upper charkas. It was difficult to find a word suiting the union - integration did not fit, neither did balance and flexibility. These words from my poem "Staff of Life" said it best:

Stalks of grain
In the sea breeze
Leaning toward the lee.

This is the flowing movement of the Tai Chi Dancer with his feet oriented in the four directions.

In order to orient ourselves, we must have a function which ascertains that something is there (sensation); a second function which establishes what it is (thinking); a third function which states whether it suits us or not, whether we wish to accept it or not (feeling); and a fourth function which indicates where it came from and where it is going (intuition). When this has been done, there is nothing more to say. . . . This is so because the fourfold aspect is the minimum requirement for a complete judgment. The ideal of completeness is the circle or sphere, but its natural minimal division is a quaternity. . . .

My fascination with the Taoist yin yang yantra reflected this motif. Not only was there a dark yin and a light yang, but each had the anima and animus of the other embedded within. By adding arrows around the circle, I captured their dynamic expression. For complete judgment, the Tai Chi Dancer had to embrace the four corners.

The individuation process is invariably started off by the patient's becoming conscious of the shadow, a personality component usually with a negative sign. This "inferior" personality is made up of everything that will not fit in with, and adapt to, the laws and regulations of conscious life. It is compounded of "disobedience" and is therefore rejected not on moral grounds only, but also for reasons of expediency. Closer investigation shows that there is at least one function in it which ought to collaborate in orienting consciousness. Or rather, this function does collaborate, not for the benefit of conscious, purposive intentions, but in the interests of unconscious tendencies pursuing a different goal.

My feeling function went its own way. Subpersonalities feelings of fear and desire were expressed indirectly. They appeared in unexpected and dysfunctional ways. The wholeness of the Tai Chi Dancer would elude me until progress was made recognizing these parts of myself. Otherwise they would continue to wreck havoc.

It is this fourth, "inferior" function which acts autonomously towards consciousness and cannot be harnessed to the latter's intentions. It lurks behind every neurotic dissociation and can only be annexed to consciousness if the corresponding unconscious contents are made conscious at the same time. But this integration cannot take place and be put to a useful purpose unless one can admit the tendencies bound up with the shadow and allow them some measure of realization - tempered, of course, with the necessary criticism. This leads to disobedience and self-disgust, but also to self-reliance, without which individuation is unthinkable.

Anything less than a four way combination of the rational - intuitive and upper - lower chakra poles of the cross I bore was incomplete. Many years were spent with a strong presence in the lower chakras with the rational mode. At most, I was half a person until the upper chakras and the intuitive mode were given attention. I had to become an equal opportunity employer for my inner selves. The quaternity concept was clear about the universality of this truth.

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