C
In order to understand what Sandplay is about it is helpful to take a look at the psyche in general to understand what we mean when we talk about the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. To help with this take a look at figure 1.
The circle represents the totality of the psyche in each individual. This circle is divided into 2. That part above the mid line is consciousness and that part below the line is the unconscious. This was the term that Jung used and is equivalent to what other people might call the subconscious. The unconscious is divided in 2 in this diagram. What is shown in the diagram as the personal unconscious is that part of the unconscious in which is stored everything that has happened to each individual from the moment of birth until the present. The section at the bottom of the diagram, the collective unconscious, is more difficult to understand. The essence of this theory is that there is an aspect of psychic energy that is available to us that is timeless and non personal. An example of this would be in the way a child learns to walk. Walking is a very complex procedure but given the appropriate support a child learns to walk very quickly. It had in it from the time of its birth that particular knowledge. Similar to the inheriting of knowledge about our physical existence in the world we also inherit knowledge about how to relate emotionally to the world and to become fully actualized, fully human. We also have knowledge that comes through our history about the symbolic meaning of things. A person will use an object during a sandplay process that he or she has never encountered before but the unconscious is familiar with it because there is knowledge in the unconscious that comes from the history of being human. Click on this link for an illustration of how the unconscious is active in everyday life.