The Self’s longing for wholeness is one of the most powerful teleological forces involved in the long and sometimes arduous path of individuation. Imagery, in Jungian psychology, plays an important role in the psyche’s path serving as the agency to transport the contents of the unconscious to consciousness through, what Jung named, symbols of transformation. This presentation uses Jung’s practice of the active imagination to explore and interpret, Picasso’s lifelong interest and experience of the dove and its impact on my spiritual path.
The dove operates as a symbol of transformation that not only carries him along the path of individuation but also activates the collective psyche’s yearnings of post World War II Europe. The evolution of the dove is tracked from a lowly pigeon to a dove, revealing Picasso’s inner world, his experience of transcendence, and his yearning for peace.