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Hello nowheretorun,
I'm joining this conversation very late in the discussion and I've only just started to read through the 22 pages (!!!) of discussion. Just thought I'd mention I became interested in Jung several years ago -- not as a result of any religious or philosophical beliefs, but rather, because the work of the Jungians had proven to be the most insightful in terms of understanding my personal experience -- an experience that is known as "psychosis" and/or "schizophrenia" in this culture but also happens to have a striking resemblance to the processes outlined in the Rosarium Philosophorum, among others.

Basically, I spent roughly six weeks in a state of altered consciousness. You can read a brief summary of that account here should you wish to do so. Those with a background in depth psychology can likely recognize a number of archetypal elements--shadow, anima/animus, the Self, etc.

This article excerpt may also be insighful: Mental Breakdown as Healing.

I'll likely have more to say once I've worked my way through the backlog.