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The Archetype of the Shadow
#36
Chris, I think the thrust Jung was intent on making was the psychological fact (rather than the known history of the mortal we call Joshua Ben Joseph) surrounding the birth of Christ, was that it was a twin birth - two brothers, not just one Son. When one came into existence, so did the other, the polar opposite; Christ and Satan. Or to put it in Edinger's words "the irrevocable split in the Christian psyche".

It is most interesting, I think, that the symbol of the Christian Aeon (ex explained by Jung) was chosen at the time, quite unconsciously, to represent this syzygy, was the zodiaical sign of Pisces, the two fishes pointing in opposite directions.

[Image: showimage.asp?ImageID=780]

The Christian aion is typified by a split, and "as long as that split exists," Edinger says, "everyone is going to do his best to identify with heaven, but as we know psychologically, whenever such a one-sided exists, it generates its opposite in the unconscious. That leads Jung to say "The coming of the anti-Christ is not just a prophetic prediction - it is an inexorable psychological law"".

And this is why Jung said "The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves."

Shakespeare penned the words:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,

That was just over 400 years ago. Today, we need to become our own stage director too, I think.

And so, speaking from the perspective of the lean and slippered pantaloon,
I feel certain that there is tremendous significance in the fact that Jung specified in his Will, that his "Red Book" was ony to be published after the year 2000.

At the commencement of the age of Aquarius:

[Image: showimage.asp?ImageID=773]

Man carries his own water. He becomes the container of consciousness and, if I understand it correctly, no longer needs a church, or outer image, on which to project it.

And again, so far as I understand it (not entirely clearly, I might add), the first task now facing us is for man to deal with his own inner contradiction, or else suffer it outside as fate, or in your words, become possessed by our demons. And that is why we should, if we are able {*}, to try to square up to the task of confronting our shadow, which is of the very first magnitude of importance.

{Edinger makes the point that not all egos can assimilate the shadow and it would be wrong for them to try}.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
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Messages In This Thread
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 26-01-2009, 02:12 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-04-2009, 05:12 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-04-2009, 05:21 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-04-2009, 05:42 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Peter Presland - 02-04-2009, 10:23 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-04-2009, 11:56 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-04-2009, 11:58 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Jan Klimkowski - 04-08-2009, 07:37 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 03-09-2009, 09:24 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 30-09-2009, 08:08 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 07-10-2009, 04:25 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Keith Millea - 08-10-2009, 09:15 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 09-10-2009, 10:53 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 28-10-2009, 02:35 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 11-11-2009, 05:48 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-12-2009, 01:51 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 18-12-2009, 11:36 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Magda Hassan - 19-12-2009, 12:17 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-02-2010, 03:13 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-02-2010, 03:18 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-02-2010, 04:20 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-02-2010, 05:04 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Charles Drago - 02-02-2010, 09:39 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-02-2010, 11:25 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Charles Drago - 02-02-2010, 11:43 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 12-02-2010, 09:52 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 13-02-2010, 12:41 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 25-02-2010, 05:05 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 01-03-2010, 06:29 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Magda Hassan - 02-03-2010, 01:43 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-03-2010, 04:27 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-03-2010, 06:25 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-03-2010, 08:55 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 03-03-2010, 11:46 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Chris Bowen - 04-03-2010, 01:25 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 04-03-2010, 01:35 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Chris Bowen - 04-03-2010, 05:43 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 04-03-2010, 08:08 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Ed Jewett - 23-07-2010, 07:48 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 09-11-2010, 08:16 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Gary Severson - 26-07-2011, 06:18 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 17-04-2013, 10:12 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by R.K. Locke - 18-09-2013, 09:16 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 19-09-2013, 08:27 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 02-10-2013, 02:58 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by R.K. Locke - 02-10-2013, 07:54 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 03-10-2013, 11:06 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Michael Falcone - 02-04-2016, 05:37 PM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 03-04-2016, 08:55 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by Michael Falcone - 04-04-2016, 12:05 AM
The Archetype of the Shadow - by David Guyatt - 04-04-2016, 08:41 AM

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