Emerging from the Shadows

“Something of the abysmal darkness of the world has broken in on us… When evil breaks… into the order of things, our whole circle of psychic protection is disrupted.” C.G. Jung, Vol. 10, p. 411

Humanity’s scars are etched in our ongoing wars. It is time to dismantle many of our illusions about life and face the terrifying truth about ongoing crimes against humanity, while also seeing that we are marching steadily towards our own demise.

History proves this fact when documenting our development of ever more sophisticated instruments of destruction. From the beginning of time, when our hands were our only weapons, to nuclear bombs, which, if detonated, will create a reality we never wanted to imagine, bringing us ever closer to that brink.

Humanity is intoxicated with the power and hope of creating and destroying life.

Once these discoveries and creations are unleashed into the world, we no longer have control over them, and similar to the workings of an autonomous complex, they take on a life of their own.

We have far too many examples of our inability to contain or control what we have created and the grave consequences suffered by humanity because of these. We continue making discoveries which adversely affect our health, while still electing despotic leaders who bring such disaster and hatred into the world.

Now we must ask: “What is our unconscious motivation for such decisions?”

This intoxication with power, with evil, or something far beyond our imagination is more alive today than ever. But aren’t we taught that life is sacred? How can we have strayed so far from this natural order of life?

Images often teach us more than any words.

In the Pietà and the sculpture of the Suffering Mother with knives piercing her heart, each, while deeply disturbing, accurately captures the Soul’s experience of violent transgressions.

They reveal the unimaginable torment of a mother’s broken heart as she stands by helplessly watching her son’s tortured death. Could the images portraying this reality be otherwise?

We find similar images in our clients’ and our own dreams as they speak of transgressions against an innate moral code.

Such images of humanity’s pain have been staring us in the face for centuries. As guardians of a profound understanding of life, they still hope that we will face the consequences of our unchecked penchant towards destruction.

So too we may finally realize a very difficult “truth” in that the ongoing escalation of worldwide conflict may be the Soul’s response to our actions, with an end point we never want to consider.

About the Presentation

This presentation will look at the archetypal roots of violence and the unconscious consequences of crimes against humanity.

No longer can we languish in religious apologetics or cast unwarranted hero projections. Instead, we need to develop an understanding of the ways of the Soul and a mature and profound sense of discernment worthy of the life and possibilities we have been blessed with.