The Dark Side of Yourself & Fears

Spirit Growth,
First I want to validate your apprehension about “The Dark Side>“
I hear your fear. I understand your frustration and concern about exploring these things in your self.
While it seems scary , the fact is we all have this place you call “The Dark Side.”
And your anxiety about exploring that place is a normal healthy and important psychological function.
It is a normal part of a psychological substrate called the “Id” While it does contain images and base desires for the most part it is in the subconscious or unconscious. Often it is suppressed by to other parts of the psychological stratum Ego and Superego.
Here is a very basic model of psychological structure … don’t hold this to tightly … it is only a model to help put this “Dark Side” into a perspective.

The Id ~ The id is a component of personality. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. The id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
The id is driven by a pleasure/pain principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
However, immediately satisfying these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing things we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable.
The Ego ~ The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.
The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
The Superego ~ The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society--our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
There are two parts of the superego:
1. The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. These behaviors include those which are approved of by parental and other authority figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.
2. The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.
The superego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
The Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego
With so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Ego strength is the ability to function despite these dueling forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting.

You use the term “Dark Side.” You ask if this is a term to describe “"something" related to your innermost fears?” You also follow with “I also feel that there are hidden fears inside of me I have not yet identified.
How can I find out more about these fears? I have the feeling that deep inside I know very well what these fears are. How can I find out why I don't want to encounter them?”
There is not a simple answer to these questions.
But there is a simple answer to your feelings … your greatest fear is you finding within your Self “the Dark Side.” Your connotation and denotation implies “Dark Side” as bad or evil.
So your fear is that you will find a bad or evil part of yourself. And unspoken is that you will bring to “light” areas of pain and injury that were suppressed.
Your anxiety level has been raised by the individual and collective archetype of the “Dark Side.”

Let us put that on hold for a minute.
Suppose we take the concepts and examine them under two lens … one being “Love and Light” the other being “The Dark Side.”
Pride can be a dimension of “self-esteem” or “arrogance.”
Passion … can be “the feeling of intense desire or interest” or it can be “lust as in a destructive sexual obsession.”
Forgiveness can be “a path of love, understanding, restoration, and acceptance” or the complacency of indifference in the elements of spousal abuse.
What are some other constructs can we look at through our lens?
Justice? Self Reliance? Focus? Industrious? Persistence? Innovative? Nurturing? Prosperity?
I think you see my point … everything can be under either lens. And everything can be both sides at once or a degree in the middle.
In my own life I was a soldier. Characteristics I had to adopt to survive haunt me even today … but without them there would be no beautiful daughter, loving and happy wife, healthy recovering patients, or a host of other things that God has gifted or tasked to me.
The point I am trying to make is that when we label experiences or characteristics as the “Dark Side” we deny ourselves the lens you have so beautifully named … “Love and Light..”

To better bring this into perspective let me present another, perhaps more relevant applicable theory.
It is one that more directly interprets “The Dark Side.”
That is a set of Jungian constructs very close to “The Dark Side”; the “unconscious” or “Shadow.”

An innate need for self-realization leads people to explore and integrate their experiences, unconscious (person and collective), and conscious.
Self-realization is a process that;
1. Is the fulfillment of ones own abilities or capacities
2. The direct experience of being, in relation to one's inner nature as an unbounded creator of one's reality
This natural process is called individuation, or the process of becoming an individual.
The process of individuation necessary for a person to become whole. This is a psychological process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining conscious autonomy. Individuation is the central concept .
The ultimate goal of the collective unconscious and self-realization is to pull us to the highest experience.
The basic assumption is that the personal unconscious (or “Dark Side”) is a potent part — probably the more active part — of the normal human psyche. Reliable communication between the conscious and unconscious parts of the psyche is necessary for wholeness.
It is the belief that the “Dark Side” holds thoughts and dreams which show ideas, beliefs, and feelings of which individuals are not readily aware, but need to be, and that such material is expressed in a personalized vocabulary of visual metaphors. Things "known but unknown" are contained in the unconscious, and dreams are one of the main vehicles for the unconscious to express them.
The collective unconscious contains archetypes common to all human beings. That is, individuation may bring to surface symbols that do not relate to the life experiences of a single person. This content is more easily viewed as answers to the more fundamental questions of humanity: life, death, meaning, happiness, fear. Among these more spiritual concepts may arise and be integrated into the personality.
Part of this “Dar k Side” is psychological definitions which distinguishes between a personal and a collective unconscious.

Some general psychodynamic constructs include:
1. The psyche tends toward wholeness.
2. The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious contains the archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual.
3. Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche. Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures.
4. The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure.
5. The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche.
6. The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness.
7. Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict.

The archetypes ( also parts of “The Dark Side) form a dynamic substratum common to all humanity, upon the foundation of which each individual builds his own experience of life, developing a unique array of psychological characteristics. Thus, while archetypes themselves may be conceived as a relative few innate nebulous forms, from these may arise innumerable images, symbols and patterns of behavior. While the emerging images and forms are apprehended consciously, the archetypes which inform them are elementary structures which are unconscious and impossible to apprehend. Being unconscious, the existence of archetypes can only be deduced indirectly by examining behavior, images, art, myths, etc. They are inherited potentials which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world.
Strictly speaking, archetypal figures such as the hero, the goddess and the wise man are not archetypes, but archetypal images which have crystallized out of the archetypes-as-such: as Jung put it, 'definite mythological images of motifs...are nothing more than conscious representations; it would be absurd to assume that such variable representations could be inherited', as opposed to their deeper, instinctual sources - 'the "archaic remnants", which I call "archetypes" or "primordial images"

Five main archetypes are sometimes enumerated;
* The Self, the regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of individuation - the representative of 'that wholeness which the introspective philosophy of all times and climes has characterized with an inexhaustible variety of symbols, names and concepts'[13].
* The Shadow, the opposite of the ego image, often containing qualities that the ego does not identify with but possesses nonetheless
* The Anima, the feminine image in a man's psyche; or:
* The Animus, the masculine image in a woman's psyche
* The Persona, to Jung a mere 'functional complex...by no means identical to the individuality', the way we present to the world - a mask which protects the Ego from negative images, and which by post-Jungians is sometimes considered an 'archetype...as a dynamic/structural component of the psyche'
"Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide."

A vocabulary hit list:
INDIVIDUATION. Jung believed that a human being is inwardly whole, but that most of us have lost touch with important parts of our selves. Through listening to the messages of our dreams and waking imagination, we can contact and reintegrate our different parts. The goal of life is individuation, the process of coming to know, giving expression to, and harmonizing the various components of the psyche. If we realize our uniqueness, we can undertake a process of individuation and tap into our true self. Each human being has a specific nature and calling which is uniquely his or her own, and unless these are fulfilled through a union of conscious and unconscious, the person can become sick.

THE UNCONSCIOUS. A basic tenet: All products of the unconscious are symbolic and can be taken as guiding messages. What is the dream or fantasy leading the person toward? The unconscious will live, and will move us, whether we like it or not.
Personal unconscious. That aspect of the psyche which does not usually inter the individual's awareness and which appears in overt behavior or in dreams. It is the source of new thoughts and creative ideals, and produces meaningful symbols.
Collective unconscious: That aspect of the unconscious which manifests inherited, universal themes which run through all human life. Inwardly, the whole history of the human race, back to the most primitive times, lives on in us.

SYMBOL. A name, term, picture which is familiar in daily life, yet has other connotations besides its conventional and obvious meaning. Implies something vague and partially unknown or hidden, and is never precisely defined. Dream symbols carry messages from the unconscious to the rational mind.

ARCHETYPES. These primordial images reflect basic patterns or universal themes common to us all which are present in the unconscious. These symbolic images exist outside space and time. Examples: Shadow, animus, anima, the old wise person, the innocent child. There also seem to be nature archetypes, like fire, ocean, river, mountain.

PERSONA. The "mask" or image we present to the world. Designed to make a particular impression on others, while concealing our true nature.

SHADOW. The side of our personality which we do not consciously display in public. May have positive or negative qualities. If it remains unconscious, the shadow is often projected onto other individuals or groups.

ANIMA. Archetype symbolizing the unconscious female component of the male psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as "feminine."

ANIMUS. Archetype symbolizing the unconscious male component of the female psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as "masculine."

DREAMS. Specific expressions of the unconscious which have a definite, purposeful structure indicating an underlying idea or intention. The general function of dreams is to restore one's total psychic equilibrium. They tend to play a complementary or compensatory role in our psychic makeup.

COMPLEXES: Usually unconscious and repressed emotionally-toned symbolic material that is incompatible with consciousness. "Stuck-together" agglomerations of thoughts, feelings, behavior patterns, and somatic forms of expression. Can cause constant psychological disturbances and symptoms of neurosis. With intervention, can become conscious and greatly reduced in their impact.

SYNCHRONICITY. The meaningful coincidence of a psychic and a physical state or event which have no causal relationship to each other.

SELF. Archetype symbolizing the totality of the personality. It represents the striving for unity, wholeness, and integration.

MANDALA. The Sanskrit word for circle. For Jung, the mandala was a symbol of wholeness, completeness, and perfection. Symbolized the self.

AMPLIFICATION. To get a larger sense of a dream, a kind of spreading-out of associations by referring to mythology, art, literature, music. ("Where have we heard this before."

ACTIVE IMAGINATION. A concept embracing a variety of techniques for activating our imaginal processes in waking life in order to tap into the unconscious meanings of our symbols.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES ~ People differ in certain basic ways, even though the instincts which drive us are the same. He distinguished two general attitudes--introversion and extraversion; and four functions--thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting.
Extravert: Outer-directed, need for sociability, chooses people as a source of energy, often action-oriented.
Introvert: Inner-directed, need for privacy and space; chooses solitude to recover energy, often reflective.
Thinking function: Logical, sees cause & effect relations, cool, distant, frank, questioning.
Feeling function: Creative, warm, intimate, a sense of valuing positively or negatively. (Note that this is not the same as emotion)
Sensing function: Sensory, oriented toward the body and senses, detailed, concrete, present.
Intuitive function. Sees many possibilities in situations, goes with hunches, impatient with earthy details, impractical, sometimes not present.

Spirit Growth ~ my main purpose was to show you that your “Dark Side” is a natural and healthy part of your “psyche” (you can substitute the word “soul”) The images of this “Dark Side” are both personal and collective (belonging to us all). And many of these elements of the “Dark Side” are supposed to remain unconscious.
The images from “The Dark Side” WILL emerge into conscious as part of the natural process of Individuation / Self-Actualization and that process has brought them up. While they may be disturbing, even fear generating, they are meant to be embraced and used to fuel the development of your “Self.” (also read as “Soul”)

Wishing you “Love and Light”,
Bear

The article below may be helpful- I got if from http://www.dragosroua.com/accepting-your-darkside/

What is your darkside?
We all know what is light in your life. Even if it takes different names or is described in different concepts, we all actually know when something is making us shine. Those are the things we thrive for all our life. But what is the darkside in you? It’s the opposite of the stuff you like? Not really. In fact, the darkside of your persona is often a rejected and ignored pile of emotions, situations and phobias that you try to forget with all your power.

Your darkside is what you hate most in yourself. It’s your fear of failure, it’s your extreme shyness or your sexual compulsion. Or maybe a drug or alcohol addiction or an aggressive way of dealing with your closest family and friends.

The darkside it’s also what you hate most in others. Every time a person is making you nuts, it’s because that person touched a very delicate part of your darkside. If somebody suddenly put you in a depressed state by talking about his parents, is because you have a very bad approach with your parents. If you spot a beggar walking in front of you with an image of poverty and suddenly you start to feel the chill about your bank account it’s because that person revealed in you the fear from scarcity.

At some level, your darkside is also the general conception about ugliness. If you’re bald, for instance, and you feel somehow guilty and rejected because of this, it’s because the general opinion is that baldness is something really ugly. The same goes for overweighted people or for extremely tall or short persons.

Why accepting your darkside?
The general approach toward the darkside is to “fight it”. From older religion to modern counseling techniques, you are supposed to “kill the anxiety”, to “destroy the enemy within” or to “have a victory upon yourself”. This is strange. This is a destructive approach. It makes you split your persona in two: the right and the wrong. You can’t really be mentally or spiritually split, unless you suffer from severe schizophrenia.

The acceptance, on the other hand, have some really interesting advantages.

First of all, when you accept that you do have a darkside and that is part of you, all the energy that you spent in fighting it, will suddenly be available for other purposes. You can start to build on your shiny part if you want, because you have an extra energy pack. You don’t need to fight anymore, just by accepting that you are who you are, you will have access to a new source of personal power. You just took some horse power from your regular “I am not this person, I can’t be that bad” sentences that you say to yourself, and used in another part of your activity. Like taking a walk, for example.

Second, when you totally accept yourself, you make a big step toward inner completion, or integrity. I don’t use the term integrity in its moral sense, but in the sense of “whole”-iness. Acting with integrity means acting with all your being, not following some moral code. Following a moral code should be a personal decision, but you can make that decision with integrity, with all your being. Keeping yourself mentally separated in images like: “I am a good person for doing this, but I am a bad person because I have this shopping compulsion” will lead you to a state of constant fatigue, if not illness. We’re not designed to act in a fragmented way, we’re supposed to act as a whole unique person, with good and bad parts.

And third, if you do accept you have a darkside, you establish a starting point. Now I know: “I’m not only this respectable person, but I am also this shy and sad person who fears social contacts. So? This is me, and I know from where I start and to where I end. I established my whole territory now. You can accept me or not, but I know that I accepted myself, and that’s ok.”

How can you accept your darkside?
Of course, in real life, is not that easy. You can’t just wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say to yourself: “ok, I do have a darkside, have a nice day”. It takes courage and energy. It takes time also. And it takes more than one try, that’s for sure.

How can you start it? A good insertion point would be to start identify your reactions to the stuff you don’t like. Let’s say you watch a movie and suddenly you feel depressed. Identify the context: was because the main character in the movie was left by his girlfriend? Ok, so it was fear from abandon. Try to observe each situation in which your emotions are running crazy and give a name to that situation. It’s difficult at the beginning because emotions are so energy-hungry that you will have so little energy left for observation. But it can be done, it only takes some discipline.

Soon you’ll realize that you have a limited pack of really bad situations. Using those names you will start to actually depict each and every situation in its own words: “now I have a shopping compulsion, now I have an aggressive impulse”. Following that impulse or stopping it is not the question at this stage. But naming it and observing it, is. As a matter of fact, following or not the impulse is strictly a personal choice.

After this stage, try to prepend the word “accept” to those situations. You are probably now in the position to accurately identify all your “dark” contexts and use appropriate names for them, so all you have to do is to put “accept” before the names. So, the situation: “shopping compulsion” becomes “accept shopping compulsion”. I am sure that everybody got the idea now.

This is not an all-in-one technique for accepting your darkside, not even the most efficient one. I’m sure everybody may come with variations or even other techniques for starting to accept the inner darkside. I only try to describe what worked for me.

When do I know I succeeded?
Basically, there isn’t such a moment. Like I already said, you can’t wake up in the morning and say: “aye, this is my darkside and I accept it”. Maybe the results will come in a different form. You may feel some sort of relaxation and some increase in the energy level. Or maybe you will start to feel relaxed in contexts were you used to be tensed.

One other symptom that you really started to accept your self will be the “linearity” in your manifestations. Being it anger or joy, if you could sustain that feeling for longer periods than before, that is a sign that your person is starting to re-conciliate with itself.

And that is your real victory, and it was obtained only by consciously accepting yourself.

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Replies

Bear October 19, 2010 at 11:42pm

Spirit Growth,
First I want to validate your apprehension about “The Dark Side>“
I hear your fear. I understand your frustration and concern about exploring these things in your self.
While it seems scary , the fact is we all have this place you call “The Dark Side.”
And your anxiety about exploring that place is a normal healthy and important psychological function.
It is a normal part of a psychological substrate called the “Id” While it does contain images and base desires for the most part it is in the subconscious or unconscious. Often it is suppressed by to other parts of the psychological stratum Ego and Superego.
Here is a very basic model of psychological structure … don’t hold this to tightly … it is only a model to help put this “Dark Side” into a perspective.

The Id ~ The id is a component of personality. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. The id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.
The id is driven by a pleasure/pain principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.
However, immediately satisfying these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing things we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable.
The Ego ~ The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.
The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.
The Superego ~ The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society--our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.
There are two parts of the superego:
1. The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. These behaviors include those which are approved of by parental and other authority figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.
2. The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.
The superego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
The Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego
With so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Ego strength is the ability to function despite these dueling forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting.

You use the term “Dark Side.” You ask if this is a term to describe “"something" related to your innermost fears?” You also follow with “I also feel that there are hidden fears inside of me I have not yet identified.
How can I find out more about these fears? I have the feeling that deep inside I know very well what these fears are. How can I find out why I don't want to encounter them?”
There is not a simple answer to these questions.
But there is a simple answer to your feelings … your greatest fear is you finding within your Self “the Dark Side.” Your connotation and denotation implies “Dark Side” as bad or evil.
So your fear is that you will find a bad or evil part of yourself. And unspoken is that you will bring to “light” areas of pain and injury that were suppressed.
Your anxiety level has been raised by the individual and collective archetype of the “Dark Side.”

Let us put that on hold for a minute.
Suppose we take the concepts and examine them under two lens … one being “Love and Light” the other being “The Dark Side.”
Pride can be a dimension of “self-esteem” or “arrogance.”
Passion … can be “the feeling of intense desire or interest” or it can be “lust as in a destructive sexual obsession.”
Forgiveness can be “a path of love, understanding, restoration, and acceptance” or the complacency of indifference in the elements of spousal abuse.
What are some other constructs can we look at through our lens?
Justice? Self Reliance? Focus? Industrious? Persistence? Innovative? Nurturing? Prosperity?
I think you see my point … everything can be under either lens. And everything can be both sides at once or a degree in the middle.
In my own life I was a soldier. Characteristics I had to adopt to survive haunt me even today … but without them there would be no beautiful daughter, loving and happy wife, healthy recovering patients, or a host of other things that God has gifted or tasked to me.
The point I am trying to make is that when we label experiences or characteristics as the “Dark Side” we deny ourselves the lens you have so beautifully named … “Love and Light..”

To better bring this into perspective let me present another, perhaps more relevant applicable theory.
It is one that more directly interprets “The Dark Side.”
That is a set of Jungian constructs very close to “The Dark Side”; the “unconscious” or “Shadow.”

An innate need for self-realization leads people to explore and integrate their experiences, unconscious (person and collective), and conscious.
Self-realization is a process that;
1. Is the fulfillment of ones own abilities or capacities
2. The direct experience of being, in relation to one's inner nature as an unbounded creator of one's reality
This natural process is called individuation, or the process of becoming an individual.
The process of individuation necessary for a person to become whole. This is a psychological process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining conscious autonomy. Individuation is the central concept .
The ultimate goal of the collective unconscious and self-realization is to pull us to the highest experience.
The basic assumption is that the personal unconscious (or “Dark Side”) is a potent part — probably the more active part — of the normal human psyche. Reliable communication between the conscious and unconscious parts of the psyche is necessary for wholeness.
It is the belief that the “Dark Side” holds thoughts and dreams which show ideas, beliefs, and feelings of which individuals are not readily aware, but need to be, and that such material is expressed in a personalized vocabulary of visual metaphors. Things "known but unknown" are contained in the unconscious, and dreams are one of the main vehicles for the unconscious to express them.
The collective unconscious contains archetypes common to all human beings. That is, individuation may bring to surface symbols that do not relate to the life experiences of a single person. This content is more easily viewed as answers to the more fundamental questions of humanity: life, death, meaning, happiness, fear. Among these more spiritual concepts may arise and be integrated into the personality.
Part of this “Dar k Side” is psychological definitions which distinguishes between a personal and a collective unconscious.

Some general psychodynamic constructs include:
1. The psyche tends toward wholeness.
2. The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious contains the archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual.
3. Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche. Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures.
4. The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure.
5. The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche.
6. The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness.
7. Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict.

The archetypes ( also parts of “The Dark Side) form a dynamic substratum common to all humanity, upon the foundation of which each individual builds his own experience of life, developing a unique array of psychological characteristics. Thus, while archetypes themselves may be conceived as a relative few innate nebulous forms, from these may arise innumerable images, symbols and patterns of behavior. While the emerging images and forms are apprehended consciously, the archetypes which inform them are elementary structures which are unconscious and impossible to apprehend. Being unconscious, the existence of archetypes can only be deduced indirectly by examining behavior, images, art, myths, etc. They are inherited potentials which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world.
Strictly speaking, archetypal figures such as the hero, the goddess and the wise man are not archetypes, but archetypal images which have crystallized out of the archetypes-as-such: as Jung put it, 'definite mythological images of motifs...are nothing more than conscious representations; it would be absurd to assume that such variable representations could be inherited', as opposed to their deeper, instinctual sources - 'the "archaic remnants", which I call "archetypes" or "primordial images"

Five main archetypes are sometimes enumerated;
* The Self, the regulating center of the psyche and facilitator of individuation - the representative of 'that wholeness which the introspective philosophy of all times and climes has characterized with an inexhaustible variety of symbols, names and concepts'[13].
* The Shadow, the opposite of the ego image, often containing qualities that the ego does not identify with but possesses nonetheless
* The Anima, the feminine image in a man's psyche; or:
* The Animus, the masculine image in a woman's psyche
* The Persona, to Jung a mere 'functional complex...by no means identical to the individuality', the way we present to the world - a mask which protects the Ego from negative images, and which by post-Jungians is sometimes considered an 'archetype...as a dynamic/structural component of the psyche'
"Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide."

A vocabulary hit list:
INDIVIDUATION. Jung believed that a human being is inwardly whole, but that most of us have lost touch with important parts of our selves. Through listening to the messages of our dreams and waking imagination, we can contact and reintegrate our different parts. The goal of life is individuation, the process of coming to know, giving expression to, and harmonizing the various components of the psyche. If we realize our uniqueness, we can undertake a process of individuation and tap into our true self. Each human being has a specific nature and calling which is uniquely his or her own, and unless these are fulfilled through a union of conscious and unconscious, the person can become sick.

THE UNCONSCIOUS. A basic tenet: All products of the unconscious are symbolic and can be taken as guiding messages. What is the dream or fantasy leading the person toward? The unconscious will live, and will move us, whether we like it or not.
Personal unconscious. That aspect of the psyche which does not usually inter the individual's awareness and which appears in overt behavior or in dreams. It is the source of new thoughts and creative ideals, and produces meaningful symbols.
Collective unconscious: That aspect of the unconscious which manifests inherited, universal themes which run through all human life. Inwardly, the whole history of the human race, back to the most primitive times, lives on in us.

SYMBOL. A name, term, picture which is familiar in daily life, yet has other connotations besides its conventional and obvious meaning. Implies something vague and partially unknown or hidden, and is never precisely defined. Dream symbols carry messages from the unconscious to the rational mind.

ARCHETYPES. These primordial images reflect basic patterns or universal themes common to us all which are present in the unconscious. These symbolic images exist outside space and time. Examples: Shadow, animus, anima, the old wise person, the innocent child. There also seem to be nature archetypes, like fire, ocean, river, mountain.

PERSONA. The "mask" or image we present to the world. Designed to make a particular impression on others, while concealing our true nature.

SHADOW. The side of our personality which we do not consciously display in public. May have positive or negative qualities. If it remains unconscious, the shadow is often projected onto other individuals or groups.

ANIMA. Archetype symbolizing the unconscious female component of the male psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as "feminine."

ANIMUS. Archetype symbolizing the unconscious male component of the female psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as "masculine."

DREAMS. Specific expressions of the unconscious which have a definite, purposeful structure indicating an underlying idea or intention. The general function of dreams is to restore one's total psychic equilibrium. They tend to play a complementary or compensatory role in our psychic makeup.

COMPLEXES: Usually unconscious and repressed emotionally-toned symbolic material that is incompatible with consciousness. "Stuck-together" agglomerations of thoughts, feelings, behavior patterns, and somatic forms of expression. Can cause constant psychological disturbances and symptoms of neurosis. With intervention, can become conscious and greatly reduced in their impact.

SYNCHRONICITY. The meaningful coincidence of a psychic and a physical state or event which have no causal relationship to each other.

SELF. Archetype symbolizing the totality of the personality. It represents the striving for unity, wholeness, and integration.

MANDALA. The Sanskrit word for circle. For Jung, the mandala was a symbol of wholeness, completeness, and perfection. Symbolized the self.

AMPLIFICATION. To get a larger sense of a dream, a kind of spreading-out of associations by referring to mythology, art, literature, music. ("Where have we heard this before."

ACTIVE IMAGINATION. A concept embracing a variety of techniques for activating our imaginal processes in waking life in order to tap into the unconscious meanings of our symbols.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES ~ People differ in certain basic ways, even though the instincts which drive us are the same. He distinguished two general attitudes--introversion and extraversion; and four functions--thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting.
Extravert: Outer-directed, need for sociability, chooses people as a source of energy, often action-oriented.
Introvert: Inner-directed, need for privacy and space; chooses solitude to recover energy, often reflective.
Thinking function: Logical, sees cause & effect relations, cool, distant, frank, questioning.
Feeling function: Creative, warm, intimate, a sense of valuing positively or negatively. (Note that this is not the same as emotion)
Sensing function: Sensory, oriented toward the body and senses, detailed, concrete, present.
Intuitive function. Sees many possibilities in situations, goes with hunches, impatient with earthy details, impractical, sometimes not present.

Spirit Growth ~ my main purpose was to show you that your “Dark Side” is a natural and healthy part of your “psyche” (you can substitute the word “soul”) The images of this “Dark Side” are both personal and collective (belonging to us all). And many of these elements of the “Dark Side” are supposed to remain unconscious.
The images from “The Dark Side” WILL emerge into conscious as part of the natural process of Individuation / Self-Actualization and that process has brought them up. While they may be disturbing, even fear generating, they are meant to be embraced and used to fuel the development of your “Self.” (also read as “Soul”)

Wishing you “Love and Light”,
Bear
MGem80 October 19, 2010 at 12:38pm

Awesome discussion spirit growth!
And mega responses!
It's hard at times to overcome the hurdles that we put in front of ourselves. I know my own hurdles only too well! I find that congratulating myself for recognising my 'self erected' hurdles, and having determination to overcome them, opens myself up to myself, if that makes sense??
I also agree with Ranthom, that there can't be dark without light.
I look forward to reading future responses on this subject.
Peace, love and light.
=)
Number9 October 19, 2010 at 6:51am

The article below may be helpful- I got if from http://www.dragosroua.com/accepting-your-darkside/

What is your darkside?
We all know what is light in your life. Even if it takes different names or is described in different concepts, we all actually know when something is making us shine. Those are the things we thrive for all our life. But what is the darkside in you? It’s the opposite of the stuff you like? Not really. In fact, the darkside of your persona is often a rejected and ignored pile of emotions, situations and phobias that you try to forget with all your power.

Your darkside is what you hate most in yourself. It’s your fear of failure, it’s your extreme shyness or your sexual compulsion. Or maybe a drug or alcohol addiction or an aggressive way of dealing with your closest family and friends.

The darkside it’s also what you hate most in others. Every time a person is making you nuts, it’s because that person touched a very delicate part of your darkside. If somebody suddenly put you in a depressed state by talking about his parents, is because you have a very bad approach with your parents. If you spot a beggar walking in front of you with an image of poverty and suddenly you start to feel the chill about your bank account it’s because that person revealed in you the fear from scarcity.

At some level, your darkside is also the general conception about ugliness. If you’re bald, for instance, and you feel somehow guilty and rejected because of this, it’s because the general opinion is that baldness is something really ugly. The same goes for overweighted people or for extremely tall or short persons.

Why accepting your darkside?
The general approach toward the darkside is to “fight it”. From older religion to modern counseling techniques, you are supposed to “kill the anxiety”, to “destroy the enemy within” or to “have a victory upon yourself”. This is strange. This is a destructive approach. It makes you split your persona in two: the right and the wrong. You can’t really be mentally or spiritually split, unless you suffer from severe schizophrenia.

The acceptance, on the other hand, have some really interesting advantages.

First of all, when you accept that you do have a darkside and that is part of you, all the energy that you spent in fighting it, will suddenly be available for other purposes. You can start to build on your shiny part if you want, because you have an extra energy pack. You don’t need to fight anymore, just by accepting that you are who you are, you will have access to a new source of personal power. You just took some horse power from your regular “I am not this person, I can’t be that bad” sentences that you say to yourself, and used in another part of your activity. Like taking a walk, for example.

Second, when you totally accept yourself, you make a big step toward inner completion, or integrity. I don’t use the term integrity in its moral sense, but in the sense of “whole”-iness. Acting with integrity means acting with all your being, not following some moral code. Following a moral code should be a personal decision, but you can make that decision with integrity, with all your being. Keeping yourself mentally separated in images like: “I am a good person for doing this, but I am a bad person because I have this shopping compulsion” will lead you to a state of constant fatigue, if not illness. We’re not designed to act in a fragmented way, we’re supposed to act as a whole unique person, with good and bad parts.

And third, if you do accept you have a darkside, you establish a starting point. Now I know: “I’m not only this respectable person, but I am also this shy and sad person who fears social contacts. So? This is me, and I know from where I start and to where I end. I established my whole territory now. You can accept me or not, but I know that I accepted myself, and that’s ok.”

How can you accept your darkside?
Of course, in real life, is not that easy. You can’t just wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say to yourself: “ok, I do have a darkside, have a nice day”. It takes courage and energy. It takes time also. And it takes more than one try, that’s for sure.

How can you start it? A good insertion point would be to start identify your reactions to the stuff you don’t like. Let’s say you watch a movie and suddenly you feel depressed. Identify the context: was because the main character in the movie was left by his girlfriend? Ok, so it was fear from abandon. Try to observe each situation in which your emotions are running crazy and give a name to that situation. It’s difficult at the beginning because emotions are so energy-hungry that you will have so little energy left for observation. But it can be done, it only takes some discipline.

Soon you’ll realize that you have a limited pack of really bad situations. Using those names you will start to actually depict each and every situation in its own words: “now I have a shopping compulsion, now I have an aggressive impulse”. Following that impulse or stopping it is not the question at this stage. But naming it and observing it, is. As a matter of fact, following or not the impulse is strictly a personal choice.

After this stage, try to prepend the word “accept” to those situations. You are probably now in the position to accurately identify all your “dark” contexts and use appropriate names for them, so all you have to do is to put “accept” before the names. So, the situation: “shopping compulsion” becomes “accept shopping compulsion”. I am sure that everybody got the idea now.

This is not an all-in-one technique for accepting your darkside, not even the most efficient one. I’m sure everybody may come with variations or even other techniques for starting to accept the inner darkside. I only try to describe what worked for me.

When do I know I succeeded?
Basically, there isn’t such a moment. Like I already said, you can’t wake up in the morning and say: “aye, this is my darkside and I accept it”. Maybe the results will come in a different form. You may feel some sort of relaxation and some increase in the energy level. Or maybe you will start to feel relaxed in contexts were you used to be tensed.

One other symptom that you really started to accept your self will be the “linearity” in your manifestations. Being it anger or joy, if you could sustain that feeling for longer periods than before, that is a sign that your person is starting to re-conciliate with itself.

And that is your real victory, and it was obtained only by consciously accepting yourself.

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