u/Ascending_Serpent_

Greetings everybody, cool to see a new sub surrounding the works of Jung. I hope to contribute meaningfully to this community over time.

I wrote this essay about a year ago after having read Jung's masterwork Aion, which at the time absolutely floored me. The immense significance of this work can hardly be overstated. One chapter on The Archetype of the Self in Gnosticism I found so profound that I decided to write this supplementary text in order to fully appreciate its depth.

What started out as a few notes on these 6 pages quickly turned into an elaborate essay of 21 pages! The essay covers the various symbols used by the Gnostics to demarcate the Archetype of the Self and ends with the rehabilitation of Eve, who like the Serpent of Genesis has been carrying the weight of our collective shadow for over two thousand years.

If you are down for a crazy ride into the world of Jungian Psychology then I would highly recommend you give it crack. I'd be curious to hear what you all have to say. Cheers!

Link here: An Initiated's Guide to Aion

Greetings everybody, I wrote this essay about a year ago after having read Jung's masterwork Aion, which at the time absolutely floored me. The immense significance of this work can hardly be overstated. One chapter on The Archetype of the Self in Gnosticism I found so profound that I decided to write this supplementary text in order to fully appreciate its depth.

What started out as a few notes on these 6 pages quickly turned into an elaborate essay of 21 pages! The essay covers the various symbols used by the Gnostics to demarcate the Archetype of the Self and ends with the rehabilitation of Eve, who like the Serpent of Genesis has been carrying the weight of our collective shadow for over two thousand years.

If you are down for a crazy ride into the world of Jungian Psychology then I would highly recommend you give it crack. I'd be curious to hear what you all have to say. Cheers!

Link here: An Initiated's Guide to Aion

Much has been said on how to do shadow work for oneself. With the main method usually starting out by first gradually becoming aware of one's own projections, then to sniff out what psychic significance these projections hold, and then to finally understand what lessons are hiding behind their veil and how we can pull that which has remained hidden in darkness into the light.

This alone is a major undertaking and no easy task. For anyone who has dived deep within the labyrinth of one's own psyche knows how confusing, disorientating and frustrating it can be to chase one's own shadow.

Yet this chase only becomes exponentially harder as we try to hunt for them in others. For as human beings we are by nature and circumstance forced to share the space with others who, just like us, carry a shadow. A shadow, that is, which can be equally if not more destructive than our own. The question then becomes how to confront the other with their Shadow side in such a manner that actually facilitates their growth and development?

My Shadow or your Shadow?

This is easier said than done. For as a rule, the Shadow prefers to remain hidden in the dark and will protect itself from anyone attempting to cast a light on it, especially if that probing light comes from outside, that is, from others.

There is also the very real risk that we as probers fall into the trap of projection ourselves and mistake our own shadow for that of the other. For more often than not, the origin of our frustration with others is not to be found in them but in ourselves. And due to the projecting nature of the shadow, we usually do not recognize the source of said frustration as coming from ourselves and are quick to point the accusatory finger to others.

Having said that, it is beyond all doubt that at times the shadow of other's is (at the very least in part) at fault for the difficulties at hand. So, how does one help their fellow creature confront and integrate their shadow in a manner that avoids the pitfalls of our own projections or the avoidant responses we often get from those on trial?

The answer is not an easy one to say the very least, for everyone has their own unique shadow which ought to be dealt with in its own unique way. That said, over the last year or so I believe to have identified a few key principles which have helped me to deal with the shadow of others and hopefully can be of use to you as well.

Though not a perfect science, I believe that at the very least these two lessons avoid the mayor pitfalls we often run into when addressing the shadow of others. So without further ado, here they are.

Forgiveness of Unconsciousness

In arguably his most impressive work, Aion, Jung argues that sin is born out of a state of unconsciousness (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung : Aion, p. 192). All acts of evil are therefore understood as a lack of conscious awareness of what one is doing. There is this quote of a wise Orthodox monk which argues for something quite similar which says;

"There are two kinds of people in the world; those who do wrong and are not aware of it being wrong, and those who do wrong and are aware of it being wrong. Of which I am not certain that there exist any people in the later category."

In the great Jewish tradition there too is found the idea of Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) which translates to wholeness or completeness. Sin, as a consequence, is understood as a deviation from Shalom, from wholeness. Or in other words, a deviation from consciousness.

Forgiving ourselves for the sin of unconsciousness is a crucial first step towards becoming whole again. For the only way to grow and integrate these shadow parts of ourselves is to first acknowledge that these parts have remained shrouded in the darkness of our own minds and have to be brought into light before they can heal and grow.

If we understand that the Shadow residing in ourselves is in part the result of our own unconsciousness, and can forgive ourself for our own unconsciousness, then we ought to extend the same leniency to others in turn.

If we condemn too harshly those parts of ourselves that are dark then we do not give them the opportunity to be cleansed by the light. They then become like contaminated food we rather not touch, left in the cupboard to rot. Only by acknowledging that these parts have not been given enough attention can we hope to cure its disease and once again enjoy its fruits. For the greatest opportunity for growth is always to be found in the darkest places.

This does not mean that we should let others or ourselves completely off the hook with a simple wave of the hand and chuckle saying, "oh it is quite alright. Afterall, I was not aware of how much of a jerk I was being." But it does mean that we ought to be careful not to be too harsh or condemning of others and ourselves. Like a little neglected child hiding in a dark corner, we should not scold but warmly welcome its presence. Only then can we draw it out without causing a fuss.

It is always easy to get upset at the behavior of others, yet if we keep in mind that it is their shadow at play then we can have sympathy for the little child hidden in the darkness, waiting to be drawn out into the light, not by force but by loving hands. Forgiveness is the key to healing yourself and the key to healing others. Or as I always say;

"You forgive the other not for their sake, but so that you yourself may heal. And you forgive yourself not for your own sake, but so that you may heal others."

Care for the Dark
Okay, so say that you have succeeded in drawing the shadow out without force or harsh confrontation but through an attitude of loving and forgiving understanding. That in itself is a mayor achievement. For most just scold the other and wonder why nothing changes. But in this case, you were able to address the darkness in the other without condemnation, they have trusted you enough to show it to you.

Keep in mind that this is all very unlikely, for most people do not even show their little malnourished child to themselves, let alone to others. And yet, sometimes its presence is undeniably obvious, so obvious that even the person in question cannot deny its existence. Yet they will continue to deny it (no matter how patently obvious) if you continue condemn and scold them. "For who are you, a person no better than me, to teach me a lesson".

On the other hand, If you were able to maintain an attitude of understanding and care during its coming out, it might just allow itself to be looked at without antagonism.

Great, now the only thing you ought to do is gently acknowledge its presence and after a few seconds let it go off again, back to its own dark little corner. That is all. Keep the other responsible and accountable for their shadow, acknowledge its presence when appropriate but above all give the other the time to nourish the sick child themselves. For at the end of the day, it is always up to the other to make those changes in themselves that are so crucial for transformation. Neither you nor I can force that change. We can only be casual bystanders.

And if they chose not to change then so be it. If you believe that you have done all that you can do to help the other, if you indeed abided by the two principles mentioned above and honestly and earnestly did all you can do to help then and they still remain stuck in their old ways, then so be it. At that point the question is up to you whether you chose to stay or not. Whether their refusal to nurse their shadow is too much a burden for you is only something you can decide.

Conclusion
I hope this post found you well. Hopefully I was able to share some useful information on the subject and have helped you help others. If you have anything to add or are perhaps critical of what I wrote I would love to hear it in the comments. As always I wish you all safe travels on your path towards individuation. May we meet again.

Cheers!!!

I have often seen this sentiment come by throughout the years; "Oh but dreams are nothing more than your mind processing what it has seen throughout the day, right?" NO!!! And I am sick and tiered of hearing it. And although this sentiment might be understandable to some degree, it is patently false. Therefore, this post serves to lay this opinion to rest once and for all.

The Tip of the Iceberg
Okay, so before I start my rant I must give credit where credit is due. For there is something to be said for the idea that the primary function of dreams is to process memories made throughout the day. Research has shown that the hippocampus does "replay" memories during REM sleep and other studies show that people who play a particular video game throughout the whole day report (sometimes) seeing said video game in their dreams. And it is true that dreamers often see images, impressions and memories of events that have happened to them throughout the day in their dreams. So to the layman, the idea that the primary function of dreams is to store and process memories doesn't seem all that far-fetched.

However, from a Jungian perspective this is merely the tip of the iceberg. This is because, according to Jung, dreams contain messages, symbols and impressions that very often have little to nothing to do with what one has experienced throughout the day. This fact becomes all too clear to anyone who has kept track of their dreams over an extended period of time. I can attest to this myself. By now I have amassed more than 45 pages worth of dreams which I have been keeping track of over the last 5-6 years. And I can tell you, only a fraction of those actually contain anything that I could tie to what I had seen the previous day.

Anyways, if it is the case that the majority of our dreams do not contain impressions of the things we have seen throughout the day we must ask ourselves two questions; If not to store and process memories, what is the function of dreams? And what do we make of those dreams that do contain impressions of the previous day?

1. If not to store and process memories, what is the function of dreams?

Good question. To understand its answer we must dive a bit into Jungian Psychology. As said previously, according to Jung, our dreams contain the symbolic messages from the unconscious. The unconscious is that part of the psyche which operates, like any other organ, autonomously from the ego. The ego in turn is that part of the psyche which is capable of consciously taking objects of experience and reflecting on those objects. We often mistakenly assume that this self-reflective capacity of the ego is all there is to the psyche and minimize or laugh off the role of the unconscious. Understandably so, for the idea that the heart or kidney operates autonomously from our egos is not all that frightening. Yet the idea that we share our minds with a side cast in shadow is far more disturbing. And yet, it is exactly in our dream life where the autonomous role of the unconscious becomes most apparent.

When we do look at our dreams, and take the time to meditate on its themes and symbols, we find that they tells us entire stories. They communicates to us all of those thoughts and feelings that take place in the back of our minds which we are rarely fully conscious of. Contents of the psyche which tell us a deeper story of who we are and where we stand in life. When one first starts to track there dreams they might initially only be able to garner a glimpse of these inner stories. A flash of the unconscious self rushing by in the form of a single scene or impression. This is also one of the reasons why most never bother to keep track of their dreams to begin with. For what value lies there in remembering those fragments of weird impressions and thoughts?

Yet, once one starts to take their dreams seriously, and diligently begins to record them, they will find that those initial snippets gradually grow out into 3 page long stories with different characters, scenes and events. In fact, over time they will even discover entire narrative arcs taking place across multiple dreams. Dreams, which often do not have any bearing on any memories that we have had during the day. This means that in contrast to just raw memory processing, we should see the function of dreams as being communicative or even dialectical. I use the word dialectical due to the fact our dreams often convey compensatory messages which attempt to offset the often lopsided attitudes we carry in our conscious daily life.

To give an example by illustration, I once knew of a young man who desperately wanted to live the conservative, nuclear family dream. He turned his back to everything modern, seeing it as the hopeless corruption of the beauty which was once the past (in his opinion). His attitude towards women was therefore quite patriarchal and condescending, going so far as to claim that giving women the right to vote was the greatest political tragedy which had ever befallen the western world. His blatant sexism and misogamy often isolated him from his peers and especially women, making his dream of ever establishing a family exceedingly slim. One day he told me that he had this reoccurring nightmare of him kicking in the house of his own home and rushing in with a sawed-off shotgun and then proceeding to shoot his wife and little child. Every time he had this dream the poor lad would wake up in cold sweat unable to return back to the slumber of sleep.

Now obviously, this man had no wife nor child. Nor had he actually ever murdered anyone with a sawed-off shotgun, debunking the idea that the function of dreams is merely to process memories. When we look at his daily life, his conscious attitude towards women and the world, the dream's message and meaning becomes obvious even to the layman. The dream was trying to convey to him (in the most graphic way possible) how his aggressive attitude towards women was destroying the very thing he treasured the most, a family.

This example is but one of the many hundreds examples I am aware of which illustrate the deeply symbolic and communicative nature of dreams and its function of communicating to us the complexes, feelings and attitudes which unconsciously guide our lives. So next time you dream, ask yourself, what does it mean and what is it trying to tell me. If you are brave enough to face the unconscious and its often uncomfortable messages, you will be rewarded with access to a deeper layer of the self.

2. What do we make of those dreams that do contain impressions of the previous day?

The answer to this question is a lot more straightforward than it might initially appear to be. According to Jung, our unconscious uses the sensory impressions of our daily lives as food for the symbols and forms in which it attempts to express its encrypted messages. This is the number 1 reason for why many mistakenly assume that dreaming is nothing more than the psyche "processing" what it has seen throughout the day.

A person might see a strange looking man during the day and then dream about said man at night. Resulting in them waking up and shrugging it off as "just my brain processing what it has seen today". The reality is that the Psyche uses "outer images/ impressions" as the carriers of its symbolic messages. Apparently the strange looking man was well fit to serve as a symbol which then was communicated towards the dreamer in their sleep. This symbol could stand for anything, perhaps a misshapen inner masculinity demanding attention or a striking reminder of the strangeness of the masculine half. Apparently, the strange looking man served as an ideal screen to project a certain symbol or message on to. Yet again, with the aim of communicating a message to the conscious self.

The same goes more or less for the concept of Synchronicity. I had a friend of mine who at one point kept on seeing tricycles every time she went outside. Often at exactly the same moment when she was reminded of her shortcomings in one way or another. Now the truth is that it isn't the case that every time she went outside there was a real uptick in the amount of people who are riding tricycles, but that her unconscious is flagging instances of this particular sensory impression/ image in order to convey the message of incompleteness or disbalance. A theme she wrestled with in her personal life.

Takeaway

Hopefully I was able to effective communicate towards all of you how I look at dreams and their psychological function. And hopefully I was even able to convince a few skeptics of the unconscious's communicative and symbolic nature. Either way, regardless of whether or not you agree with me I hope you enjoyed the read and hopefully the post was worthy of your time. I wish you all safe travels on your quests for individuation. Till we meet again!

Cheers!!!

So this is a funny one. Not too long ago I dreamed about breaking the back of Andrew Tate in a most hilarious manner. The dream itself came at a time in my life when I was making real progress integrating my Anima and confronting certain toxic aspects of my masculine shadow-side. When viewed through a Jungian lens the dream becomes rich in symbolism. Curious to hear all of your thoughts.

The Dream
I dreamt that I was taking a class called Critique held by a professor who looked dazed and confused, as if he had forgotten himself. We were shortly after divided into groups and were instructed to debate one another.

All of a sudden Andrew Tate entered the scene and made his way towards me. However, he was walking on crutches as his left leg was in a cast, having been broken. Funnily enough, despite his obvious handicap, he still believed that it would be a good idea to start being condescending towards me and even started pushing me a bit. When he reached down to steal something out of my bag I gave him a slight push to which he fell on the ground and immediately broke his back.

The dream ends with me leaving the scene and making my way back home only to find that the faucet had been open all this time and the sink would not drain resulting in the entire floor being covered with water.

The Analysis
Before we can get to the funny part we must first pause and meditate on the significance of the critique class held by the absentminded professor. The fact that the professor is a masculine, intellectual authority figure guiding a class called Critique is significant to say the least. I actually took a class in college called Critique discussing various societal-critical philosophical perspectives. The ability to "critique" the society we live in and its premises being the main objective of the class.

The fact that this professor seems to have lost his ability to mindfully guide the class might hint at an inner masculine authority figure in me who has lost his ability to critique society in turn or at the very least has become disorientated and must again learn to find his footing. Which, in all honesty, I could relate to at the time. Many conceptions I held about human nature and how society should be were shaken during this period of Anima integration and I was forced to reconsider many of the opinions I used to hold. Mostly, these opinions related to men-women relations, quite fitting for a young man trying to integrate his Anima.

The fact that we were instructed afterwards to debate one another seems to indicate that this process is in part shaping itself through intellectual discourse. Though perhaps more antagonistic than it has to be.

The arrival of a handicapped Andrew Tate only seems to confirm my suspicions that the theme being questioned and critiqued here is the supremacy of the masculine principle residing in me. This misogynistic, juvenile and cringe figure is a perfect embodiment of a toxic masculinity handicapped due to its inability to integrate the feminine principle AKA the Anima. His pathetic attempts to bully me only illustrate that I have finally come to the point where I can see past his shallow facade of strength and confidence.

Integrating the Anima requires of a man to fully come to turns with the feminine principle residing in him but also outside of him in the real world, in society, in the actual relationships he has and maintains with women. Many men fear the Anima and dare not approach her out of fear that they will fall under her spell and become demasculinized as a consequence. This fear is in part justified and real.

We all know men who play the "nice-guy" in a pathetic attempt to garner sympathy from women. These men more often than not carry the worst of both worlds, an underdeveloped, and pathetic masculinity stripped of true confidence. And an overly sentimental, clingy, dependent femininity which reminds us more of a toddler than the emotional maturity, depth of spirit and wisdom of the Anima.

As a consequence many young men now-a-days rather choose to embrace the toxic, one-sided masculine principle than to be a half-baked cuck of a man. Fair, and yet, the price of this is a total lack of spiritual depth and creativity, a masculinity that is infertile and uncreative, one dimensional etc. etc. The real work that has to be done is to learn to dance with the Anima as opposed to repressing her or to be swallowed up by her. A difficult feat but worth the adventure.

Anyways, back to the dream; Tate tries to steal something out of my bag. What that might be I have no clue. Perhaps the the Serpent of alchemy which carries the "Transformative Substance". That which allows us to individuate and transform spiritually. But I have seen enough of this clown-show and decide to give him a slight push which results in the fracture of his back, the spine, the alchemical ladder, the cakra staircase of Kundalini Yoga and leave him behind, for he has nothing more to teach me.

I return home, to my own Temenos, the home of my psyche and find that the faucet had been open all this time and the sink had been clogged. Obviously the living water of the unconscious is rushing in but cannot be digested. Something is blocking the drain. Perhaps I need some more time to let all of this "sink in" and must first find this blockage before I can commence.

Takeaway
At the end of the day I see this as a positive dream. One that is encouraging me that I am walking in the right direction. The coniunctio of alchemy (the full integration of opposites) is on its way. It is not here yet, for that I must remain patient, not force anything but remain ever watchful and observant. I am still like the disorientated professor trying to find his new footing. I will give myself some time to find this new footing and remain satisfied with the knowledge that the first real steps have already been taken.

If you have made it this far I thank you for your patience. If you have any comments to make I would love to read them and discuss the dream's symbolism with you. Either way, I wish you all safe travels on your quests towards individuation, until we meet again.

Cheers!!!

An inner sanctum, a spiritual place of retrieve devoted towards the process of individuation. According the Jung, once an individual starts the process of individuation, starts to notice the signs of their unconscious self lurking with, begins to meditate on them and actively engage with them, they slowly enter into the numinous realm of the unconscious and embark on the courageous night sea journey down into the underworld.

For most, this initial descent into the unconscious is met with a great deal of turbulence. For the ego, that faculty of the psyche which caries the conscious contents, descending into the unconscious would seemingly entail extinguishing itself in the process. Sublimated under the waves of unconsciousness, the subject risks fracturing the conscious personality into many disassociated pieces which in turn can manifest itself as an apparent (or sometimes even real) schizophrenia.

All of a sudden the individual gets acquainted with all of those autonomous life forces lingering within. Gets confronted with the many faces of the psyche which hitherto have remain shrouded in darkness. One embarking on said journey would initially find themselves in what the alchemist called the Nigredo stage, that first darkening of the soul which comes before the eventual rebirth.

Anxiously the poor ego awaits for things to get better, might even desire to return back to the surface. But it is too late. For once one commits to the path of individuation the only way forward is through.

So how does one get through? Fortunately, this first descent into the self does not only have to be categorized as a strictly destructive experience. For according to Jung, the individual in such a position can now work on their own Temenos, their inner sanctum of the soul dedicated towards courageously confronting the unconscious in an organized and safe manner.

In his work Psychology and Alchemy, Jung describes a Temenos as a squared structure which spontaneously presents itself to the subject during their initial descent into the unconscious. The structure is supposed to serve as a fortified temple of the soul. A place where one can departmentalize the messages and symbols of the unconscious and calmy reflect on them instead of being overwhelmed by them.

The idea is that an individual can build a place of their own, in the inner and outer world that can help them organize the great inner work of transformation. Those who take the task at hand seriously won't simply let individuation happen to them but will actively mediate on and facilitate the process.

What follows are a few helpful tips to do this:

- Write down your dreams and reflect one them: This is the most obvious piece of advice I can give. We know that the average person has about 3-5 dreams every night!!! That is 3-5 messages coming straight from your unconscious trying to tell you something every night!!! Capture your dreams as the first thing you do once you awake. Before rolling over and hitting the snooze button, before getting out of bed or opening the curtains, WRITE DOWN YOUR DREAMS. I have collected about 40 pages worth of dreams by now and can only say that it serves as the most potent gateway towards the unconscious. The transformative effects of writing your dreams down and reflecting on them in invaluable and serves as an absolute must for anyone who practices the art of individuation.

- Start doing shadow work: Also an obvious piece of advice though perhaps less clear and straightforward than dream work. Much has been written on Shadow Work in the past, from people offering shadow work journals or step-by-step how-to guides. The truth is that shadow work requires a lot of painstaking work aimed at slowly becoming conscious of your own shadow and then finding ways to integrate it. The easiest way to do this is to start identifying your projections. That is, becoming aware of those objects of experience that evoke the strongest (negative) emotions in you and then meditating on what these projections have to teach you. I must stress here that often our projections ARE valid and even justified in one way or another. Whether this be a woman getting upset at the 132th time that she had to deal with a sexist comment that day or whether this is a man getting upset at what he believes to be the gradual erosion of his culture and people due to immigration. We are often quite justified in feeling the way we do, at least, from our perspective. However, this does not take away from the fact that these strong (negative) emotions inside of us also point to an inner cause, an inner truth that we refuse to confront inwardly and therefore attach more emotional significance to it once we see it play out in the outer world. In contrast to the Freudian conception of projection, Jung does not believe that projection always entails that we project our own faults and shortcomings onto the other, just as often we project an unconscious psychic content onto someone which does not have a 1:1 correlation with the particular behavior or experience that we find so bothersome in others or the world. The woman who faces sexism and is bothered by that is not sexist herself (per se) but is confronted with an unconscious psychic content in herself that needs to be resolved. If she fails to do this then the projection making faculty of the unconscious eventually gains the upper hand and she will find herself cursing the entire world, all men and eventually loosing the ability to stand and act strongly in the world. She will loose herself in hatred and rage. The exact same can be said of the man who experiences a significant emotional reaction when he is confronted with the demographic shifts happening around him. Shadow work asks us to face our projections and then find out for ourselves what the underlining cause is and how to integrate it. This does not mean that the man or woman just discussed should no longer be bothered by their respected issues but that they find the strength in themselves to carry on with life and even confront these issues effectively in the inner and outer world.

- Unleash your creative self: Jung was a fervent believer in using the creative faculties of the psyche as a tool to access the deeper layers of the unconscious. The soul must be fed with good literature, music and art. That is true, but equally, the soul should also be given the opportunity to speak, to express, to let out. One does not have to be a great artist to do so. In fact, one does not need to be an artist at all. The only thing one ought to do is to allow oneself to express. This can be through any medium or form, as long as one is willing to give expression to what lurks within. Feel free to have your work be horrible by every standard and metric, as long as you produce. When you just begin, the golden rule is to prioritize quantity over quality. Quality will follow, you do not have to worry about that, first give rise to what lurks within, then polish.

- A centralized hub: The final bit of advice I can give you is to find a way to centralize all of this. It can be quite overwhelming to log all of this work down in a journal or book. You might find yourself missing patterns between the three aforementioned categories or even within those categories. At least, that was my experience. So I recommend centralizing all of your work in different folders and files on your laptop or better, use any of the online Individuation Platforms dedicated towards helping you in this process. Feel free to use the one I am building called mytemenos.ai if you want. It has 4 different digital rooms each dedicated to the categories mentioned above. In each room you can store all of the work you are doing and organize it in a nice overview, gain sweet insights and reflect on it with the help of a Jungian AI guide meant to ask you questions aimed at getting to know yourself better. I also added meta-pattern detection across sessions/ work you safe so that deeper psychological patterns that emerge get recognized easier. Either way, whatever method you go for make sure that yo can always easily access your Temenos and log the work you are doing. Whether that is through my platform or not.

That is all, I wish you all save travels on your inward journey and good luck.

Cheers!