Shadowy people

Geez, I thought evil was Ken Lay, Dick Cheney, Saddam Hussein, Hitler and his henchmen, Michael Vick, Jeffery Dhamer, Inquisitors, genocide practioners, environmental despoilers, Charles Manson, demons and devils and on and on.

Within Jungian psychology there is a concept known as The Shadow. Most of us encounter our own shadows in the form of projection. That is to say, we disown the characteristics and behaviors we cannot stand about ourselves and project them onto others. We then insist that they carry our shadow for us and may even punish them for the things we hate about ourselves. One example of this might be a minister who openly despises gays while privately engaging in closeted homosexual activity.

Those who cannot accept their shadow will reject it in favor of embracing their Persona. The persona is the idealized image we present of who we really are. And still … The Shadow Knows when we are lying to ourselves and those around us. The shadow contains our every fear, our every terror, it knows our every truth – especially the ones we can't stand to face about ourselves.

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The Shadow
I was a couple of sentences in on Anima/Animus, before I noticed that I had forgotten the Shadow. That is the nature of this archetype, it is the receptacle for all of that which we have for one reason or another disowned. There seems to be a movement on to 'redeem' the Shadow, as evidenced by such books as Your Golden Shadow, but in truth there's a great deal that's very, very unpleasant here, since we have good reason for wanting to disown our darker natures. The avenue for an attempted redemption of the Shadow lies in the belief that everything disowned winds up here. A person who grew up in a family where level headedness prevailed and such things as art making were not given much value may discover some artistic aptitude hiding out in their shadow. There are treasures here, but they are buried in stinking muck.

…

Archetypes and the Individuation Process
According to Jung, one must get in touch with the Shadow and Anima/Animus before one can truly get in touch with the Self. The order is sequential, and as tempting as it may be to try and skip the Shadow or deal only superficially with it, it is here that we begin.

Jung referred to this initial step as “the First Act of Courage”. And the first thing that is necessary in coming to terms with one's own shadow is simply to acknowledge that it exists. It sounds obvious, but there are those for whom the thought of actually having a darker side to their nature is extremely uncomfortable. Yet this is one of the primary reasons for undertaking the 'Shadow work' in the first place, since that which we have yet disavow in ourselves will be projected outwards.

One of the clues to projection of shadow content is the degree of negative emotion aroused in us by something in the outside world - often other people. It can be something they do, or even just the way they look. Projection is accompanied by emotion. Jung distinguished between 'feeling' (a function which evaluates) and 'emotion' (a physiological affect). If there is no projection of something which is at the root personal, it is possible to evaluate something (or someone) external as being 'bad', without being greatly upset, experiencing, at most, a sense of regret or pity. If the emotion is stronger than that, then we may want to ask ourselves what of ourselves we see in what is making us feel that way. That said, it is important to note that not all projection is negative, that at some level it may all be projection given our subjective perspectives, and that there is a place in the world for righteous anger which motivates social action for change.

One of the advantages of withdrawing one's shadow projections and owning our own 'stuff' is that the external world may brighten up a little for ourselves and those around us, since we won't be projecting so much of a negative nature outwards and saying, 'That's just how the world is, life's a bitch and then you die.'

There is also truth in the 'Golden Shadow' observation that there are things of value which we have disowned, both aptitudes and qualities, in the Shadow. The person who blushes, and qualifies, and resists, and is generally tremendously uncomfortable when asked to sing may have a part of them which wants nothing more than to belt out a round or two of something raucous, commanding the admiration of those around. Thus the popularity of having a few in a Karoke bar. Also, without going into great detail, life energy (libido) is locked up in the Shadow, energy we could all probably use more of.

The downside to the shadow work is that it involves confronting parts of ourselves which are located in the Shadow precisely because they are frightening or shameful. Jungian analysts advise that this work be done only under the supervision of a Jungian analyst, ignoring the fact that this eliminates a large class of people who cannot afford the services of such a professional. Another book (ref?) suggests that at very least one should do the work with the help of a very close friend whom one trusts in order to have a reference in the external world, an anchor and safe haven and source of reinforcement when dark realizations seem to be all out global truths of complete personal unworthiness. It isn't a journey to be undertaken lightly.

Source: Archetypes & The Individuation Process

See also: The Process of Individuation: The Shadow

Music of the Hour: Scared

The following article is one of the best I've ever found for demonstrating shadow projection upon the world stage.  It's slightly dated at this point, but still relevant.  Those who are grappling with understanding the role of the shadow in their outer relationships may well be able to draw some lessons from it.

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SHADOW PROJECTION: THE FUEL OF WAR

by Paul Levy

Speaking about World War I, Jung could just as well been commenting on our current war when he said, “The psychological concomitants of the present war- above all the incredible brutalization of public opinion, the mutual slanderings, the unprecedented fury of destruction, the monstrous flood of lies, and man’s incapacity to call a halt to the bloody demon- are uniquely fitted to force upon the attention of every thinking person the problem of the chaotic unconscious which slumbers uneasily beneath the ordered world of consciousness. The war has pitilessly revealed to civilized man that he is still a barbarian, and has at the same time shown what an iron scourge lies in store for him if ever again he should be tempted to make his neighbor responsible for his own evil qualities.”

Jung was illumining the root cause of war itself, which is to be found in the unconscious psyche of humanity. Jung was pointing out the underlying psychological lesson of war, which is that to project the shadow, our darker half, outside of ourselves, is an “inner” act which always results in incredible destruction in the “outer” world.

Shadow projection is itself the unmediated expression, revelation and playing out of the shadow. Shadow projection, the process in which we “demonize” our enemies, entrancing ourselves into believing that “they” are inhumane monsters who need to be destroyed, is the underlying psychological process which, when collectively mobilized, is the high-octane fuel which feeds the human activity of war.

Commenting on the human act of projection, Jung said, “Properly understood, projection is not a voluntary happening; it is something that approaches the conscious mind from “outside,” a kind of sheen on the object, while all the time the subject remains unaware that he himself is the source of light which causes the cat’s eye of the projection to shine.” When we shadow project, we hypnotize ourselves into relating to our own shadow as if it is outside of ourselves. Jung talked about “…the overweening pretensions of the human shadow, which we so gladly project on our fellow man in order to visit our own sins upon him with apparent justification.”

In shadow projecting, we split-off from and try to get rid of a part of ourselves, which is a self-mutilation that is actually an act of violence. In the act of shadow projecting, we disassociate from a part of ourselves and “split” (in two), turning away in revulsion from and severing our association with our darker half, as if we have never met it before in our entire life. We throw our own darkness outside of ourselves and see it as if it exists only in others. We then react violently when we encounter an embodied reflection of our shadow in the outer world, wanting to destroy it, as it reminds us of something dark within ourselves that we’d rather have nothing to do with.

In the act of shadow projecting, we perpetrate violence (both psychic and/or physical) not only on ourselves, but on the “other” who is the recipient of our shadow projection. This act of external violence is nothing other than our inner process of doing violence to a part of ourselves changing channels and expressing itself in, as and through the external world. In trying to destroy our projected shadow in the outer world, however, we act out, become possessed by and incarnate the very shadow we are trying to destroy…

Sanjuro: Back to our now 28 year old fella. What is the process? You know already what it is. If you despise loud and aggressive people, you have to become that which is already you. Your inner Mr Loud and Aggressive.

I'm not so sure I agree with this statement Sanjuro.  I think it would be more true to say that you have to find where you share a common component with “Mr. Loud and Aggressive”.  Then, you need to begin to identify what you find to be negative, shameful or frightening about those characteristics and ideally, come to some form of peace with them.  As you do so, you will begin to integrate your shadow – which is to say – you will begin to withdraw your shadow projection. 

None of this will necessarily produce any degree of change in “Mr. Loud and Aggressive”.  He might still remain who he is, but  you will have changed as a result of your own inner  work.  Your perception of who he is may have changed; you can more easily accept his human foibles because you can now more easily accept your own.  This is the value of shadow work.

But, you still have your Ego. It’s the shadow-traffic controller. Its job is to help keep the real nasty stuff in check. Only those folk who are psychotic have a problem with that part.

I'll let that one go.  This time.  ;-)


Music of the Hour: The Darkest One

See also: Meeting Darkness on the Path

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A “just because” entry…


I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Frisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu.
Mein Irisch Kind,
Wo weilest du?

'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
'They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Od' und leer das Meer.


The Wasteland


Music of the Hour: Be Your Self


[I am saddened to see that Zaadz doesn't allow a centering feature in their comments.  And no colors!  I may not be able to function without colors.]

1. Zaadz participants are asked to not copy work from outside sources, but instead to use links for these, not paste them in as your own. Except of course a poem or two. The idea is that it is to encourage engagement with our own experience, and written from our own mind. There are a lot of uncredited sources in your posts.

Actually, Sanjuro… if you look you will see that every article is sourced. 

Meantime, different people have different posting styles as based on the environment they are in.  My posting style is to drag in some  basic background and then discuss as based on personal experience.  There's three reasons for that.  The first is that  some concepts may be sketchy or foreign to potential participants; the second is that it doesn't have to be all about me; and the third is that before others could possibly begin to understand my personal experience (and quite often, their own), they're going to need to have a reasonably thorough grounding in Jungian psychology – without that, they'll never be able to recognize the Jungian elements in those experiences. 

But, perhaps I'm wrong to assume.  Let us try…

A few years ago I went through a series of losses as accompanied by trauma.  This produced a collapse of the ego (one's known sense of self-identity).  When the ego collapses, shatters, fragments, or what not,  contents from the  collective and personal unconscious flood forth  producing archetypal elements including the shadow, the anima/animus and an encounter with the Self.  This is outwardly expressed in symbolic, metaphorical language – which unfortunately, very few people speak and therefore, do not understand.  Individuals with a background in depth psychology or transpersonal psychology might be more capable of doing so than the average individual. 

In keeping with your request, a brief summary of my personal experience is written up here, but I suspect that, just as one is out of their element in a foreign culture where they do not speak the language, it won't make much sense to you.

2. If you are going to post more material than the blog's owner, you will want to create your own blog! Its common sense and courtesy in the blogosphere.

I have done that Sanjuro but I suspect it will disappoint you for it's nothing but an introduction to the concept of spiritual emergency and comprised entirely of article excerpts from other individuals who are far more capable of speaking directly to the matter than I am.  And yes, they are all sourced. 

Nonetheless, thanks for the feedback. 

Incidentally, you may also enjoy this book Sanjuro: The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

I'd love to include an excerpt so readers have a better idea if they should actually bother to click the link, but in keeping with the Zaadz community norms as you have expressed them, I won't. 

Sanjuro,

I'll try to get through the extensive comments here soon.  I suspect they are worth reading.  And that's going to entail going over to Julian Walker's blog and reading inticement which you reference.  If it's like some of his other blogs on Integral Theory recently, that's no small task in itself but I gained much from following links around.

Over the last year here at Zaadz/Gaia, I've run into people doing shadow work.  It would seem important.  I can believe the repressed, emotionally charged, aspects of our self might do a bit of mischief.  I look forward to reading through Spiritual Emergency's comments here on your blog and then I may post a bit more, if anything I have to say seems worthwhile.

What drew me here was the comment about Eckhart on your status line and so what caught my attention in this blog was “you still have your Ego. It's the shadow-traffic controller. Its job is to help keep the real nasty stuff in check. Only those folk who are psychotic have a problem with that part. You will be strengthening your Ego. Or as Jung called it, creating a container.”  So, if we are trying to disidentify with our Ego, then who keeps the shadow in check?  Or as Tolle would call it - that nasty psychic entity known in his vernacular as The Pain Body.  It may be, though, as I've run into with someone else, that the definition of Ego and Inner Being or Presence are a bit interchanged and/or different.

Deborah