[jamesn.]

A lot of interesting ideas you’ve offered Mars; but I must admit I’m a little confused. So to make sure I’m understanding you correctly in relation to this topic of: “Jung’s and Joseph’s explanation of the Shadow system within the psyche”; it would help me to know what your understanding of the Shadow is and how it inter-relates with the psyche? That way I can better understand what you are saying.

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I want to add some clarity to my question that may offer some insight to why I ask it. Mars; to me your posts were wonderfully insightful concerning many different points of view that you offered. But the Shadow thrives on projection; and as has been offered in the various clips it is that part of ourselves we don’t know; it responds to things we don’t always recognize within ourselves and often misinforms our sensibilities. As human beings we assume things that are not always accurate; and this archetypal aspect creates images that carry information the psyche must read or process.

The world is going through tremendous turmoil right now exacerbated by this pandemic. And it would wrong of me to assume I know what you are dealing with and thereby assume by what I read I know what you are saying. As you stated; (at least as I understood it); that there is much that is wrong with man’s ability to cope adequately with the global problems set before him; and yes; I agree as seen through a certain lens. But one of the things that Joseph mentions that may or may not fall in line with your thoughts on this is: “The world is a mess; it’s always been a mess; and you are not going to change that reality.”

But we are not talking about the attainment of world peace and everyone living happily ever after; we are talking about dealing with our reality the best way we can; (and this involves coming to terms with our Shadow; which often times helps to create much of this mess we have to live with). And until man as a species becomes more aware of this side of his nature the madness that helped to spread this virus will continue.

Where I live for instance this issue of getting people all on the same page to come to a common agreement about how to fight it is the central problem surrounding a political election where Shadow Projection is a major tactic being used to change opinions specifically about whether wearing a mask and keeping social distance has an important enough effect to stop it. (And insane as that may sound everyone is affected by those who refuse to comply. As I speak we are at record levels of infection with no end in sight until a vaccine can be produced.) Now one could say this is because of misinformation; but it also is used as a weapon of projection to create ill will. This use to be called propaganda; but it’s function is to turn a human being into something evil for political purposes; (on both sides).

So what does this have to do with my point? My point is learning to understand our “Shadow side of our nature” because we all do this but most of the time don’t realize it. We cast Shadow content on others when the real issues most often lie inside of us; and our task is to learn how to see this in ourselves and change our behavior. (Joseph mentions this is one of the great tasks of later life; which is part of the individuation process.)

Much of my earlier post concerning human suffering had to do with society as well as myself trying to see the world in a different way than just out of frustration with what is wrong with it. And learning to see my “blind side” and learning to recognize when it’s in play is part of that process. (This is one of the things I’m trying to address in this topic.) So when I asked the question concerning your understanding of the Shadow; that helps me to know we are on the same page when addressing my impression of your thoughts!

So; I just wanted to clear up any possible misunderstandings as to “why” I asked it. (Again; I thought your posts were great!)