Tag: The Shadow Archetype

topographia

An exploration of the Shadow as a universal psychic structure—the ‘dark side’ of the ego that contains everything we have disowned or deemed unacceptable. While often viewed as a repository of shame, the Shadow also holds the ‘gold’ of our unlived potential. By identifying how this archetype operates in our lives, groups, and our societies, we move toward a more integrated and honest expression of the Self.

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  • The Disease of Greed

    The Disease of Greed

    “The love of possessions is a disease in them […] If America had been twice the size it is, there still would not have been enough.” Chief Sitting Bull, 1877.

  • These Ancient Stones

    These Ancient Stones

    It takes a lot of courage to work through what has pained you all your life.

  • Shadow

    Shadow

    This past weekend I had the privilege of witnessing a courageous confrontation. Beforehand, no one had mustered the courage to say anything. Finally, though, one of us decided to confront the situation.

  • Suffering the Opposites

    Suffering the Opposites

    I have come to believe that the fiercer a person’s condemnation of “the other side,” the more likely he is blind to his own shadow—the very traits he condemns in others are lying dormant within himself.

  • Freedom

    Freedom

    I remembered my own childhood, the hours spent outside in trees, playing in the shade of my grandmother’s huge, gnarled Crape Myrtle, reading on the porch swing,

  • Leaving Home

    Leaving Home

    A thread running through many dysfunctional leave-takings is that they occur between adolescents and their parents. The once-perfect child goes wrong and is ousted by parents who project their own lack of individuation through an act of tough love.

  • Warning Signs

    Warning Signs

    When I see myself at my worst, I want to apologize to my loved ones for being me. I’m a confusing mix of big-hearted and pig-headed, hearth-warmer and arsonist. I wonder what people will say about me at my memorial service.