Shadows of the collective unconscious
The part of yourself you refuse to see. It lives in the basement of the psyche, accumulating everything you disown. It is not evil -- it is unexamined. To face the shadow is the first act of courage.
who watches from the corner of your eye?
The feminine within the masculine, the soul-image that bridges the conscious and unconscious. She appears in dreams as the unknown woman, in waking life as the inexplicable attraction, in art as the muse who demands everything.
The archetype of meaning and spirit. He appears when the hero is lost -- the wizard at the crossroads, the hermit on the mountain. His wisdom is not comfort; it is the truth that transforms, often painfully.
every face you see in dreams is your own
She is nurture and devouring, the womb and the tomb. The archetype of origin, she pulls the psyche backward toward comfort and forward toward transformation. To individuate is to leave her -- and to carry her within.
the wound is where the light enters
Chaos incarnate, the boundary-crosser, the sacred fool. The trickster violates every rule to reveal that rules are constructions. Through disorder, a new order is born. Through laughter, truth is spoken.
Where the conscious meets its reflection
The mask you show the world. Carefully constructed, socially approved, the curated self. It protects and it conceals. It is necessary and it is a lie.
The face beneath the mask. Everything the persona denies, the shadow collects. It is not your enemy. It is you, waiting to be acknowledged.
look at yourself looking at yourself
You have looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back. But it did not consume you. It showed you the parts you had forgotten. And in remembering them, you became more whole.
-- written by candlelight, after midnight