This Jungian Life

Humans have played games since prehistoric times. Games bring us together and pit us against each other. We agree to rules, take turns, develop tolerance for frustration, and learn to win and lose. We develop skills and submit to chance. Games range from luck to skill, from a throw of the dice to acing it at tennis. Games regulate aggression: only one can win, whether on a gameboard or the court. Shadow is sanctioned within the rules, creating monikers like The Black Death of chess and Boss of the Moss of golf—and in the heat of a game, shadier traits may also be revealed. But “playing games” in relationships is universally condemned as cheating. Games introduce us to conditions of life, for we must play the hand we’ve been dealt. Confronted with the limitations of ego and understanding, we may discover that games are metaphors for the movement of a mysterious cosmos. Here’s the dream we analyze: “I dream of this place that is dark and largely empty. The doors to the place are open. Inside there is a void, an