Chapter 93
Collective unconscious.
It was a concept by Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and a renowned magician of his time.
Carl Jung wanted to bring sorcery down to the level of magic through systematized studies such as symbolism, mythology, and alchemy. He wanted to turn an unsystematized field of sorcery into magic and spread it widely to benefit everyone.
He showed great interest in sorcery related to the soul.
He wanted to unravel the secrets of the soul using his magical and psychological knowledge, and establish a unique Western soul classification system, breaking away from the Eastern thought of dividing the soul into hon and baek.
But unfortunately, his attempt failed.
He wanted to study the soul, but what was actually revealed was about the mind.
Anima, Animus.
Persona.
Shadow.
...
However, his research wasn't entirely in vain.
He was able to discover one thing.
Collective unconscious.
The unconscious characteristics shared by all of humanity.
It was a concept called the sympathy of all things and the root of human spirit.
This collective unconscious seemed at first glance to be related to the mind, but when delving deeper, it also included aspects of the unique qualities of the human soul, and was related to the genes that humans possess.
Body.
Soul.
Mind.
The unconscious tendency shared among humans who fully embodied these three things.
Neither transcendent beings, evil spirits, nor demons.
It was a repository that only humans possessed, which no one else could approach.
"Ta-da! It's a treasure trove!"
And now, two people had stepped into that repository.
"Ugh! This feels strange... It feels like my whole body is sticky..."
Ella groaned as she examined her body as soon as she fell from the air.
The feeling of slime sticking to her entire body was unbearable.
But as if to say this is a dream and what you felt was an illusion, there was no trace left on her body. Far from being covered in sticky liquid, her entire body was fluffy as if she had just taken a bath.
The woman smiled broadly as she watched Ella shudder with a frown.
"Think of it as bathing in glue~"
She said this as if teasing and helped Ella up.
"Wow..."
Ella, who had gotten up, couldn't help but be amazed at the scenery before her.
"This is completely, completely... a dream..."
A landscape full of structures that could only be seen as a dream.
An upside-down pyramid.
A giant tree walking on its roots and spewing fire from its branches.
Penguins flying in flocks across the sky.
A harp seal rolling around with its body tens of meters long, smashing everything in its path.
It was chaos itself.
And it wasn't just the scenery that was strange.
Every time the woman held Ella's hand and passed through what looked like a door, the scenery changed dramatically.
A barren desert suddenly changed into a volcanic area spewing ice.
It changed into a space landscape where giant meteors traveled leisurely.
They were standing on a snake's body the size of a city.
Scenes that could never be seen in reality.
Literally dreamlike landscapes.
"How is it? Isn't it amazing?"
The woman asked Ella, puffing out her chest.
She needed praise, she needed a reaction.
It was a posture that seemed to assert this with her whole body.
"Y-yes... It's amazing."
When Ella said this reluctantly, the woman grabbed Ella's face with both hands as if angry and said:
"Say it with more soul."
At that earnest request, Ella shouted:
"It's amazing!"
"More!"
"It's incredibly amazing!"
"More!"
"It's totally incredible! Big sister is the best!"
"Yes! That's it!"
The woman, who had semi-forcibly received praise from Ella, looked satisfied.
"That's right! Do you know how amazing and wonderful this place is! Although I could only come here very rarely, it was the joy of my life~"
"The joy of your life...?"
"Yes. Did I have eyes, did I have ears? My only entertainment was stealing glances at the dreams our pretty little sister had~ and wandering around in my own dreams. Ah, I'm not saying little sister's dreams weren't fun, okay? But you need some different entertainment too, right~"
Ella was slowly listening to the woman's words when something caught her attention.
"You saw my dreams?"
"Yes~ Somehow it worked out."
"W-wait a moment. That... perhaps...?"
"I'll keep any embarrassing dreams buried only in my memory! Promise!"
"No! That's not the issue!"
Ella grabbed the woman's shoulders with both hands and shook her in protest.
But the woman stood still like a deeply rooted tree, not moving an inch despite Ella's full-strength shaking, and waited until she ran out of strength.
And finally, when Ella lowered her hands, exhausted, the woman continued speaking as if there had been no protest.
"Still, the dream world was so vast that I wasn't bored. But one day, there was a pond I had never seen before, can you believe it? And of course, when you discover a pond like that, it's common sense to jump in!"
"That's not common sense!"
"I can't resist new content~ This is common sense. Do you understand?"
Common sense?
What was common sense?
Ella felt her head becoming confused at the woman's words that seemed to take this for granted.
"So, like an adventurer seeking the unknown, I went into the pond, and oh my! There was a place created by gathering fragments of countless people's unconscious! A space full of sights I had never seen before and information I was acquiring for the first time. It's totally like a treasure trove, right~?"
"Yes..."
"You shouldn't react like that! I'm telling you it's a totally amazing place~ Do you know how fun it is to travel here~"
"Is... that so?"
"Hmm. I want to explain like a guide. That would make memories! But it seems we don't have much time left until we wake up, and this big sister is so frustrated~!"
The woman, seemingly frustrated that Ella didn't understand the greatness of this place, explained to her several times. But when Ella still didn't understand no matter how much she explained, the woman asked for help from someone behind Ella, as if seeking assistance.
"I'm not good at explaining~ Grandpa, please explain it to her~"
"What? Grandpa?"
At those words, when Ella turned her head, there really was an old man there.
A giant height that seemed to exceed 2m.
A skinny and unsightly body reminiscent of an old tree, and a body that was practically naked with only the private parts covered by wrapped cloth.
Long white beard reaching down to the navel and a shiny bald head as if shaved.
He was an old man who gave the impression of an eccentric.
"What cute children."
The old man said this while looking at the two with deep eyes like looking at the sea.
Then he bent his waist with a creaking sound.
"One has qualification, and one is accompanied by one who has qualification."
He looked at Ella, who was holding the woman's hand tightly as if slightly nervous.
"Cute child. I will not explain. Even if I explain, you will not understand, and even if you understand, you will not have occasion to come here, and if you have occasion to come here, you will already be in a state of understanding. Because truth is like formlessness itself, if you try to define it, from that moment it ceases to be truth."
"P-pardon?"
"Only what you realize and embrace yourself is truth. If you say it has no form, it will only become formless and will be neither wisdom nor knowledge, so this is not truth, and the moment you define it, it takes form and becomes distant from truth. Therefore, I will not explain anything to you. Only what you realize yourself and obtain yourself is the only path to truth."
The woman pleaded again, acting cute, at the old man's words that seemed to be grasping at clouds.
"Please explain anyway~~"
"It cannot be done. Just as what lives in water cannot explain to what lives on land and understand, just as what breathes cannot properly realize the difference of what does not breathe. No matter what I say now, it will become distorted wisdom to that child, and will become different knowledge. This is like reciting a mantra to a fish, so I will not explain."
"Then, ah! I'll give you this~~ Please do it!"
The woman held out a book to the old man.
『 One-time Access Pass to Human Collective Unconscious Network (Surface) - Used - 』
"Other people liked receiving this too~ They said it helps with ascetic practices? Please do it after receiving this~~!"
The old man looked alternately at the book and the woman, then stroked his beard as if pondering and accepted the book. When the book was held in the old man's hand, it turned into a large flame and burned his hand, then flowed along his skin and slipped into his mouth. But as if used to such things, the old man took a deep breath and swallowed all the flames entering his body, then sat cross-legged on the floor, closed his eyes for a moment, and began to chant a mantra.
In the hand that had been wrapped in flames, there was a rosary made of 108 beads, and each bead of the rosary was made entirely of flames.
"Om bhur bhuvah svah (ॐ भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः)."
Tat savitur varenyam---
The mantra flowed from the old man's mouth in a drawl.
It was a heavy and massive sound as if suppressing flames with air.
"Bhargo devasya dhimahi (भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि)."
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat (धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त्)
Om.
Oom.
Ommmm-------
The old man finished reciting the Gayatri Mantra, his body trembling.
"Cute child. I have received something precious from you, so I will grant your request."