Following the birth of consciousness, the recognition of opposites (good and evil, divine and worm), and the subsequent expulsion from a paradisal form of the psyche, man is subject to the next stage of evolution. 
When confronted with a situation where one is conscious of two conflicting attitudes, the obvious solution is to retain the attitude that one identifies as being associated with the higher self. However, Cain’s slaying of Abel is done by man. Cain’s banishment to wander is done by God. To slay the higher self in favor of a lesser attitude is all too easy. To set this lesser attitude aside and choose the path of righteousness is to become one with God. Should one limit the degree to which Cain is a ruling influence, becoming God’s chosen may be on the horizon. This, however, means surviving the flood of unconscious contents that threaten to consume to world. The mind of the schizophrenic exists in this world, beyond space and time, in some other dimension we’ve deemed “the unconscious”. The schizophrenic mind is the key to moving into the next stage of consciousness. Severe mental illness is a cancer of consciousness. It is a malfunctioning of the archetypal process that involves complete possession by the elder gods (archetypes) of the unconscious. The complete and utter fear that characterizes these forms of mental illness is the precise fear that the mythological hero confronts, slays, and, out of the ashes, becomes born anew.