The Self
Edward F. Edinger, The Aion Lectures, p. 34-6.
There is a logical problem in all of this, because when the Self is defined as the totality of the psyche, the totality includes the ego. How can the ego, a mere part of the whole, stand separate and speak of the totality as though it were something separate from itself? This paradox is built into the human psyche and into the phenomenon of consciousness. It is as though the ego as the son takes over some of the qualities of the Self as the father, and presumes to be a separate entity even while it is still part of the whole.
In the first stage, the ego is still contained in the original unconscious Self. It has not been born yet, so to speak.
In the second stage, it starts to peep out; nevertheless, in spite of the fact that it has some separate existence, the ego's center still remains in the Self, so there is still a predominant state of ego-Self identity, which means that there can be no experience such as that which Jung describes as personality No. 1 and No. 2. Ego and Self would be felt as identical.
In the third stage, the center of the ego has emerged from its containment in the Self, and the ego is now in a position to experience itself as a separate center; the connection between the ego and the Self becomes conscious. What I call the ego-Self axis becomes a connecting link of which one is aware. Of course there would be no awareness of such a link until there is awareness of a duality rather than a unity.
The fourth stage is a hypothetical ideal, an imaginary state with no residual ego-Self identity at all. To the extent that the ego is identified with the Self, which is the state of the vast majority of humanity, unconscious assumptions prevail that the ego carries the qualities of the Self, that the ego is immortal, that it is the center of the world, and that its desires have the imperative of deity. This is not thought consciously of course; consciously, one can be quite civilized and apparently humble, yet still have quite different underlying unconscious assumptions which come into view under special circumstances.