The quest for identity is a topic that has enriched the work of many intellec- tuals over the centuries, often excelling in different fields. The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1875), the psychoanalyst C.G. Jung (1875-1961) and the poet John of the Cross (1542-1591) wished to achieve self-fulfillment. Indeed, the work of these three intellectuals makes this fulfillment possible: the role of Kierkegaard- ian anguish, as a first impulse to orient man towards self-study, and then to guide him along the path of Jungian individuation, could not be sublimated without the experience of the divine described in the poems of John of the Cross. For Kierkeg- aard, Jung, and John of the Cross, faith proves to be a guide without which man cannot aspire to self-realization, for such an objective is first and foremost a person- al process, and secondly, a form of religious quietism. Man, as an individual limited by his condition, must hand over the torch to the divine to complete this first per- sonal task. This brings us to the adage inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Know thyself,” which is simply a way of establishing in the human unconscious the right order of roles that enables man to become not just a man among men, but an accomplished individual thanks to the soul’s union with God.
