If it has been believed hitherto that the human shadow was the source of all evil,
If it has been believed hitherto that the human shadow was the source of all evil, it can now be ascertained on closer investigation that the unconscious man, that is, his shadow, does not consist only of morally reprehensible tendencies, but also displays a number of good qualities, such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights, creative impulses, etc.
On this level of understanding, evil appears more as a distortion, a deformation, a misinterpretation and misapplication of factsthat in themselves are natural.
These falsifications and caricatures now appear as the specific effects of anima and animus, and the latter as the real authors of evil.
But we cannot stop even at this realization, for it turns out that all archetypes spontaneously develop favourable and unfavourable, light and dark, good and bad effects. In the end we have to acknowledge that the self is a complexio oppositorum precisely because there can be no reality without polarity.
We must not overlook the fact that opposites acquire their moral accentuation only within the sphere of human endeavour and action, and that we are unable to give a definition of good and evil that could be considered universally valid. In other words, we do not know what good and evil are in themselves.
It must therefore be supposed that they spring from a need of human consciousness and that for this reason they lose their validity outside the human sphere.
That is to say a hypostasis of good and evil as metaphysical entities is inadmissible because it would deprive these terms of
meaning.
If we call everything that God does or allows “good,” then evil is good too, and “good” becomes meaningless.
But suffering, whether it be Christ’s passion or the suffering of the world, remains the same as before.
Stupidity, sin, sickness, old age, and death continue to form the dark foil that sets off the .joyful splendour of life. ~Carl Jung, CW 9ii, Par 423.
The Archetype of the Shadow:
From Conversations with C. G. Jung
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.
The 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 protecon 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 accepng 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, Jung-Ostrowski, Pages 25-26.
Carl Jung Depth Psychology Blog
