INTROVERSION NEED NOT BE A HANDICAP...

DARK NIGHT of the soul

By Luther Allen

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This short little essay is an extemporaneous reply by the author to the sound and the fury generated in the "Culture and the Introvert" article and a reply, both published in 1956. Perhaps Perhaps it can generate additional thought for many readers at the beginning of a new year. --Ed.

Carl Jung was the one to make a big thing of the intro vert'-'extrovert' classification. He expounded on all this in his book PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES. I do not think he found any connection between introversion and sexual inversion. In a nutshell the introvert is the type of individual whose ener· gies are turned in upon himself; he is preoccupied with the contents of his own mind. The extrovert is the out-going fellow with practically no inner life at all. Jung believed that extremes of inversion and extremes of extroversion are equally dangerous to mental stability. The therapeutic task is to lead the introvert to become more out-going (but not to try to change him into an "eager-beaver") and to lead the extrovert to the discovery of his hidden inner resources. Tive ideal temperment would be a balanced one containing both introvert and extrovert elements . I suppose the mystic St John of the Cross was just about as introverted as a man can get, yet he was, at the same time, a very able and energetic executive and administrator of the church. We tend to make the error of believing that a man must be either the one thing or the other, and to overvalue the extrovert enormously for this is a "go-getter", "eager-beaver" sort of civilization we are living in.

I haven't read PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES for · long time, and found it difficult to understand when I did read it. but I seem to recall that Jung thought that the the extrovert and introvert temperments were probably constitutional. I think it is important to point out the value of introversion and the dangers of extroversion in these times when nearly everybody favors the latter. It is supposed to be healthier and more virtuous to be an eager-beaver. To understand the value of introversion, just remember that quite a few of the world's best books vere written in jail. Those writers, from John Bunyan to Jawaharlal Nehru, vere men with rich inner lives. so solitary confinement held no terrors for them and they turned their imprisonment to good account. The thorough-going extrovert, possessing practically no inner life at all. being utterly dependent upon his ties in the external world, as dependent as a babe upon its mother, would crack up in solitary. The introvert is the sort of man who is not afraid to be alone, who can spend much time alone both profitably and without being lonely. Unless carried to extremes, introver sion can be a source of source of real strength to the individual. All of us need our forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. All of us need to be able to meet the test of the "dark night of the soul."

LITHO IN USA

mattachine REVIEW

Mattachine REVIEW

VOLUME III

JANUARY 1957 NUMBER 1

CONTENTS

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL by Luther Allen.. DID DR. BERGLER BUNGLE HIS SUBJECT?.... SPECIAL SECTION: INDEX FOR 1955-1956. OFFICIAL PLEDGES NO POLICE STATE TACTICS... MARIN COUNTY (CALIF.) HOMOSEXUAL CASE APPEALED.

MATTACHINE SOCIETY ADDRESS CHANGES...

i-xviii

Back Cover

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