Following the themes from last week, within this post, we’ll look at the Ego, the Shadow, and begin with a basic exploration of the function of dreams as a way of growing in self-understanding and integration.
The Map of the Soul:
the Ego, the Shadow, and Dreams
(4) Ego - The ego can be understood as the system of controlled interpretation and illusion of
possessing the full self. It is not in accord with the body or with nature. Within the drawing, the ego is represented as a square to symbolize constructed thinking. Squares do not occur within nature. They are fully constructed by human intention and design. The ego participates in the deception that it has the capacity to fully know and engage (and act on behalf of) the whole person.
The ego is good in that it enables "persona" projection to achieve social, political, and economic ends. The ego instructs us as to how to live and function in society and is necessary for this aspect of the self’s development. However, for proper (“healthy,” “sound,” “good”) individuation and full integration of the self, an awareness of the ego’s controlling illusions is necessary.
The ego system has to learn from the fuller self. This is achieved through gained competency in observation, growing openness to experience the full range of the self and the cultivation of awareness. The ego is in need of “going to school” as it listens to the mythology that comes from what “lies beneath” within the whole self (and the collective unconscious). Body knowledge must be received with humility and a basic trust in what is being discovered and revealed by the whole embodied self as it moves in and is encountered within the world.
(5) Shadow - The shadow can be understood as the unconscious deposit (Freud) from deep within the body experience. Represents experiences that have been repressed (both within the individual’s bodied history, as well as from within the collective as it is received via human collective unconsciousness from the beginning of human history). The “shocks” from the shadow set up a state, a system of response (or perceived non-response), that results in a “posture” that one takes on throughout life. The personal shadow is the shocks/experiences that are unique to the person in all their particulars. The self is a function of the biology of the body. The body “stores” the shadow impressions and the body/shadow experience is a constituent component of the whole self as it is received and experienced within this deeper universal grounding.
possessing the full self. It is not in accord with the body or with nature. Within the drawing, the ego is represented as a square to symbolize constructed thinking. Squares do not occur within nature. They are fully constructed by human intention and design. The ego participates in the deception that it has the capacity to fully know and engage (and act on behalf of) the whole person.
The ego is good in that it enables "persona" projection to achieve social, political, and economic ends. The ego instructs us as to how to live and function in society and is necessary for this aspect of the self’s development. However, for proper (“healthy,” “sound,” “good”) individuation and full integration of the self, an awareness of the ego’s controlling illusions is necessary.
The ego system has to learn from the fuller self. This is achieved through gained competency in observation, growing openness to experience the full range of the self and the cultivation of awareness. The ego is in need of “going to school” as it listens to the mythology that comes from what “lies beneath” within the whole self (and the collective unconscious). Body knowledge must be received with humility and a basic trust in what is being discovered and revealed by the whole embodied self as it moves in and is encountered within the world.
Present within the shadow also lies the fundamental experiences of humanity throughout our evolution - the collective shadow. Within the arts (literature, film, storytelling, myths, visual arts, music, poetry, etc.) human beings are "playing out" the dramatic narrative of coming to terms with the collective shadow - encountering the fear, danger, and dread associated with the "darker" side of our existence.
A Side Note Regarding Dreams
Within the dream life of the individual, an unfolding drama of our personal experiences is being represented in symbols (often haphazardly "plucked" from recent daily experiences/images/occurrences.) The chaotic nature of this construction is the result of the ego’s controlling “defenses” being down during the sleep state. Often the symbols themselves have no intrinsic meaning and only function instrumentally to contact and communicate with the person’s conscious mind. In the dream state, the unconscious is offering up "material" to be "worked out." By remembering dreams, the symbols offered to us within them, and the dramas being played out in their narratives (what is at "stake"), we can begin to integrate our shadow. Guided reflection is helpful here.
(N.B. Reflection is possible by the aware "self," or through analysis we a psychoanalyst. Exercise with caution individual analysis; however, limited self-analysis is possible at times within the individuation process.)
There are two different kinds of dreams: (1) personal associations - generated from personal experience, and (2) social associations - generated from the collective unconscious and offered in mythological/archetypal symbols and images.
Jung spoke of both realities within dreams: (1) small/little dreams - presenting material from personal experience, and (2) large dreams - presenting material from mythological symbols and dreams that are working on societies shadow/embodiment. Larger dreams are received from the collective unconscious.
Next week we’ll look at the Persona(-ae), and the Anima/Animus.
Look forward to continuing this exploration with you all,
Jason
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