Carl Jung on the Archetype of the Shadow.
The Archetype of the Shadow
The Bible says, “Whosoever shall say “Racha” to his brother is guilty of hellfire. “If we substitute “shadow” for “brother” and implicate the dark brother within, we open out this biblical word into new perspectives.
It also says, “Reconcile yourself with him as long as he is on the road.” “What ye have done to the least of your brethren ye have done unto me.”
The least of me is my inferior function which represents my shadow- side. But what, if the inferior and neglected function expresses the will of God?
When sacrifice is demanded it frequently implies the acceptance of our shadow- side.
If the poles of the psyche are torn apart and there is no living centre in a person, he feels forsaken and dominated by demons.
His self is empty and he cannot draw the opposites together.
The best protection against abandonment to demons is a conscious relationship to a close, living human being.
In the case of a woman the relationship should be to a man.
We should not try to escape upward or downward from the world.
To want to be the best or the worst of men is megalomania. It is devilish arrogance to want to destroy ourselves whenever we feel profoundly miserable.
That state of consciousness which will not let us admit to having a shadow pushes his surroundings into a position of inferiority.
All “good people” suffer from irritability.
We must be charitable to our weaknesses. An alchemical text says: “The mind should learn compassionate love for the body.”
The unconscious shows us the face that we turn towards it.
It smiles if we are friendly to it; but if we neglect it, it makes faces at us.
We can only become real by accepting our sexuality and not denying it through saintliness. We must descend into our own depths to have the visio Dei.
There are always people who want to bring light into the world because they are afraid to reach down into their own dirt. But who can be humble who has not sinned?
This is why sin is so important; this is why it is said that God loves the sinner more than ninety-nine righteous men.
The meaning of sin is that it teaches humility; the Church says, felix culpa. ~Carl Jung, Conversations with C.G. Jung, Archetypes of the Shadow, Pages 25.
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