• Eric Wintjen
    16
    Carl Jung discusses in Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious the concept of the persona and shadow, describing the persona as the mask one wears in presenting themselves to the world as a harmless individual, and the shadow being the dark, cruel, and possibly violent fantasies and compulsions one keeps hidden away. Some individuals have trouble reconciling these two halves of their being myself being one either losing control of their shadow and acting out in unpleasant ways, or in my case, rejecting their shadow and becoming weak and easily manipulated. It is preferable to integrate one's shadow into his or her persona to reap the benefits that both halves have to offer. There are multiple theories on how one might accomplish this but it all begins with acknowledgment of your darker half.
    I suggest that we have a discussion where we acknowledge our shadow, describe our darker half, and perhaps help each reconcile these parts of ourselves and integrate them. It is possible that this will result something akin to a confessional for me if nobody else is interested in sharing. I am okay with this, I just believe it will be a more interesting and helpful discussion if multiple people share as well.

    My Shadow
    I have a deep lust for power. I fantasize about ruling the world, contemplating the intricacies of establishing unified world under a quasi-feudal system with me as the emperor or king. I fantasize about waging war with the remaining old world (our current world) governments still clinging to small amounts of power in isolated corners of the world, and destroying them through superior firepower and strategy. I fantasize about one of the previously mentioned "old world" governments assassinating a loved one (my future wife or child), and executing their members with my own hand. This is similar to another fantasy I have of killing to protect somebody I love usually with a gun or with my hands, sometimes it is in the context of a random mugging where I end up shooting the assailant or a home invasion where I either shoot them or beat them to death with my hands.

    Prior to writing this I worried that these fantasies were perhaps abnormal in their level of detail, that most people's shadow was more a collection of recurring, instinctive, aberrant thoughts. Perhaps this is true, in which case feel free to pick my fantasies apart and discuss them. Ultimately, whether this discussion goes anywhere or not, getting these thoughts off my chest was somewhat cathartic.
  • Baden
    15.6k


    Well, we're all bundles of drives vying for control of an ego which needs to self-identify as a unity in order to function properly. The shadow is just a fancy name for some of our more "dangerous" drives. Let them out to play in the real world sometimes in a controlled way and you may find less need for the fantasizing.
  • Caldwell
    1.3k
    Some individuals have trouble reconciling these two halves of their being myself being one either losing control of their shadow and acting out in unpleasant ways, or in my case, rejecting their shadow and becoming weak and easily manipulated.Eric Wintjen
    I refuse to believe that there are only these options.
    There are people who truly reject cruelty and war. Their shadow could be that they have no aspirations to be powerful.
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