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The Shadow Knows
Ruthie Newman - The Shadow Knows
2/10/08
I  started my pilgrimage or descent as Dante would have it(  the  underworld  was  his  shadow world)  with  several questions?
 Why  do moral individuals  who adhere  to the universal tenets of  not intentionally harming another  or murdering another, profess these beliefs  in worship  and  then   kill,  torture   ( the other,  the  enemy ,their brothers ) in  war,  in  revolutions, civil protests..
Why do ordinary basically good people participate in the  killing of others? What  leads  them  to  kill in the name of an idea , a  Religious  leader?  What led the  Christains  in the middle  ages  on their Crusades, burn, rape, pillage  and murder., and   when besieging a  town   killing  the  entire population. Why  do  Muslim  extremists  murder their fellow  Muslims?
 2. I  turned  to  Karen Armstrongs  historical examination  of the  transformations  of  religions . Maybe  the  past  might give me  some  answers.
 From an historical view I  saw  only two religions  that seemed  to remain consistant with  their teachings of non violence  , tolerance, compassion.  Buddhism and Jainism . Leaving the history  of Armstrong   I could recognize     Quakers in our time as  absolute pacifists.  And J>W>s.
 The only excuses the individual followers  of  each  religion  gave  for following orders of their autocratic and absolute rulers  to carry out  the  orders  of  brutality  and  mass  murders  with  such  energy  was  HEAVEN, PARADISE.  (St. Augustine )
3. Then  I fell into  the  world  of Kapuscinski  a Polish  journalists  whose  life  could  be a  Great spy movie. His description of the modern world made vivid  the  horrors  of mass killings., His descriptions are a cross between Kafka snd Saramago   
 In  Armenia  the  Turks  who were allies of the Germans  in WWI murdered  3 million Armenians, The  complete autocratic  Haile Salassie   chose  to  ignore  the millions  of  his  people  who were  starving  to  death)  the  Shah  of Iran  had a  secret  service Savak  that  maintained  a net  work  in  which  one  out  of  ten people  was  involved.  They maintained control by fear    by torture  , imprisonment  without cause    etc.  
 The  most  terrifying  work  was  Imperium  a  study  of  Stalin's  systematic  genocide.  And democide( government  ordered extermination )
 Stalin's schemes as  well as  those  of  other imperialists  and  colonial  powers ( in  the  19th and  20th century and the Greeks as Thuycidies showed ) consisted of divide  and  conquer.   Letting  each  clan, tribe, religion and ethnic group ( often language based) destroy each other Thus  allowing  a dictator  to walk  into the  vacuum   (  nothing  has  changed) After describing  Ukraine ( where Stalin  did murder 20 million)         Kapusincki  ( p 248  of  Imperium) sums up.
 “Three plagues, three contagions threaten the world.
 The  first is the  plague  of nationalism
 The second is the plague  of  racism
 The  third  is the plague of religious fundamentalism            
 All three share one trait, a common denominator-an aggressive all-powerful,total irrationality
Anyone stricken with one of these plagues is beyond reason In  his head burns a sacred pyre that awaits only its sacrifical victims. . . There are no people-there is only the cause.
 A mind touched by such as contagion is a closed mind, one dimensional, monothematic, spinning round one subject only -its enemy. Thinking about  our enemy sustains us, allows us to exist. That is why our enemy is always present  , is always with us.
Ah I said To myself  this  last  statement  describes  the  shadows   presence.
4.  Still on  my  pilgrim age  (  emphasis on the grim)  hoping  for some  answers I went  to hear Donald G.Dutton discuss  his book The psychology of Genocide, Massacres, and Extreme violence.
Dutton sees the causes  of a willingness, to  torture,rape, kill even women and  children in a multiplicity  of  forces:
 a frustration of basic survival needs
 Economic insecurity,  agrarian ( similar to Diamonds Collapse)  and urban poverty, over crowding , Stress, powerlessness, fear of being killed, loss of  face  of  Manhood., the Ancestral shadow
Waller's theory p.1371. our ancestral shadow: ethnocentrism, xenophobia, desire for social dominance(2).moral disintegration ,absence of guilt rational self interest,(3. A culture of cruelty merger of role and person,4. Us-them thinking, dehumanization, and blaming  the  victims.
. And  most  importantly persuasion  by Political and Religious leaders.
 Dutton sited historical occurrences from archaeology even cave men, the Bible, Crusades then to the modern world where Democide operates as seen in Hitler, The YoungTurks, Russians, Bosnia, Darfur (take your pick of any  big mass murders) Dutton  suggests that human  are  wired to kill .
 Being  a psychologists  he  stressed  that men are not rational when demonizing the  other.
He referenced the  Peloponnesian War
 Men , Groups, leaders rationalize violence. The Crusades justification  based on St. Augustine who argued for a just war,  The Popes promised crusaders their  sins would be  erased,  of  course  the  sins  were  those  committed  against  their  group not  the other.  In .Siege warfare a favorite form of the Crusades  everybody was  killed. For this cleansing the soldiers of the Cross were promised a place in heaven
Leaders lie, create rationalizations in such a way as to dehumanize the other.  20 million Ukrainians, (the Georgians  were erased by Stalin, The  Young  Turks killed 3 million Armenians because they spoke another language and had a different religion.  For  the  sake  of  power by a dictator  or a political party  when there are no clear “difference” ones are created. So Pol Phat created  an out-group from the same population starting his massacres by annihilating all the “educated people”  those who wore glasses. OOPS
Dutton's book left me in  a funk for which chocolate was no help.
5. Jung's concept of the shadow seemed  to  me  to describe  the  causes  and the nature  of all these horrors. The concept of the shadow could bring these atrocities down to the individual  level. Perhaps understanding one's self could  assist in resisting the forces of  evil. Maybe making the shadow  a friend could nullify what seems to be a given in man's nature.
I would like   to  review  Jung's  concept  of the  shadow  as  I  do  so  I  hope  connections  can  be  made  to explain some  of the  previous observations
According to Jung the Shadow is the part of our psyche that we do not want, to admit to. or which we have repressed  so deeply that we can not face it. In  the  shadow  lie  the  inferior functions
( explain four functions, two  or t three may  be  dominant  but  we  have  trouble  with  the  forth  function we  can't  develop  it  so  it  is  inferior  in conscious power)
We project onto others what we most dislike  or fear in ourselves. In personal relationships we tend  to project  our shadow onto members of the same  sex. On beautiful Orcas island don't we each  have  at  least someone who is a thorn in our paw? In a  larger context in group shadows we project onto the unknown segment  of society what we most fear in ourselves.  This  is most  easily seen  at  election  time   in politics and  in our international relations. The devil doesn't wear Prada he wears our unknown, unadmitted  fears.  
Viewing what we dislike in someone else  is often a clue to our own  nature.  If  we can recognize the aspect  of our  shadow and make  friends  with  it we are no longer in the  grips of an irrational antipathy over which we have no control  ,  this  irrational  out of control  state  is  called  Affect.
(There is the Family Shadow  “we keep hidden fear What  the neighbors  will think).
 The Other ( a term that appears  in  literature, politics  and psychology is the dumping ground for our shadow When we no longer recognize our own aspects and project  our shadow outward we are dehumanizing the other When we loose all those  values of empathy, tolerance and love, when we become blind to our  own shadow we make  of the the other  our enemy, our personal foe,  our political foe and our cultural, national foe Once  we see some one else  or  some  other group as the other then  anything  goes.  We  can annihilate them, they become non us, non human we can go to war we can kill them  After all our religious, societal values  and  taboos don't apply to  the  non human.
 And  most  useful in understanding genocide, wars  etc  is
  the  collective   Shadow
These  negative group  projections   takes  the  form  of scapegoating, racism, .enemy making The hypnotic power and contagious nature  of these strong emotions are evident in  universal  pervasiveness( of racial persecution, tribal slaughter   religious wars  etc,  the   3  plagues  of  Kapuscinski.)
 Succumbing to the shadow on a national level by waging a preemptive war is a colossal act of  shadow possession  
 What  can  we  do?   WE can acknowledge  that  the  shadow is a continuum of ourselves, that which we become when we go to the other side It  is our other face. ( yes, Star wars  based  on Jungian  concepts as explicated by Joseph Campbell) WE  manifest the shadow in our hated other, in the group with which we feel  the  least  affinity. . .OF course some of our aversions are based upon  conscious moral  or ethical principles,  but other aversions are CHARGED  with emotional affect.  These emotional charges are the realm of the shadow.
 So  there I was reading  books  I  had  finished  my  fourth Kapuscinski book, read  the Dutton  and picked up  Blood  and Soil, a World history  of Genocide and extermination from Sparta to Darfur by Ben Kiernan  I had  worked myself   into  navy blue  angst watching the news, hearing the debates, watching Bush off to meddle in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, the middle east( there goes national  debt)  there   was the same greed, institutionalized  fear, military shortsightedness, sectarian  and religious divisions  time immemorial.
 As an antidote I turned to youtube to watch OBama's victory speech after the Iowa primary.  And there in his speech was the   answer to my depression HOPE.  Maybe all I could do was hope that on an individual level we could make the shadow our friend and come to understand that  the terrible actions we read about were just as much a within our selves.
 .Rather than grabbing my” bankie” and my dog and hiding under the covers I shall commit myself to hope acting positively in the small world with a critical perspective on actions confronting the institutions and instruments  of greed and fear.  hoping that enough of us can make the shadow our friend in the real world
 Coming in contact with the  shadow includes  The  work  of  active  imagination, and uncovering  the  self  from the  crust  of the  persona  recognizing our shadow  projections for what  they are and thus no longer being  griped  by negative  affect. The shadow never dies, we always cast a shadow. But how we relate to it and it  to us, depends  on whether  it is known. Sometimes we are fortunate and this knowledge elicits a kindness and tolerance  in us  for  others ( what  bothers us in  others
 Jeremiah Abrams  makes   some hopeful comments “shadow -work is good  medicine! It  leads to a practice I refer to as the pursuit of the unhypocritical life, which some might call living with integrity. . .
 As Gandhi said,” the only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts.  That is where the battle should  Be  fought.”
. . Awareness  of the shadow personality can dissolve its unconscious power over our choices.. . if we  have control than we can take responsibility for the kind  of  little world we create.
In the end, what remains is what we can only come to know when we are alone, naked and the light is behind us
 Wendell Berry
I go among trees and sit still.
All my stirring becomes quiet
Around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
Where I left them, asleep like cattle.
Then what  is afraid of me comes
And lives a while in my sight.
What it fears in me leaves me,
And the fear of me leaves it
It sings, and I hear  its  song,,.
Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
And the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

Wendell Berry

To go in the dark with a light  is to
Know the light.
To know the dark, go dark.
Go without sight, and find that the dark too,
Blooms  and sings,
And  is traveled by dark feet and  dark  wings.



Insert Sounds of Silence
yes    Hello darkness, my old friend,

I've come to talk with you again,

Because a vision softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.





no In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone,

neath the halo of a street lamp,

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of

A neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence.



yes   And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more.

People talking without speaking,

People hearing without listening,

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence.







yes    Fools said I ,you do not know

Silence like a cancer grows.

Hear my words that I might teach you,

Take my arms that I might reach you.

But my words like silent raindrops fell,

And echoed

In the wells of silence





yes      And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon God they made.

And the sign flashed out its warning,

In the words that it was forming.

And the signs said, the words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls.

And whisperd in the sounds of silence.











For closing  reading.

Theo   Roethke    1964  from the Far Field (p.198)

I see in the advancing  and retreating waters

The shape that came  from my sleep weeping:

The eternal one,the child. . .

The friend that runs before me  on the windy headlands,

Neither voice nor  vision.



I , who came back from the depths laughing too loudly,

Become another thing;

My eyes extend beyond the farthest bloom of the waves;

I lose and find myself in the long water;

I am gathered together once more;

I embrace the world










Bibliograph



1.Selections from Jung



2. Meeting the Shadow,the hidden Power of the dark side  of human Nature, selections adited by Zweig and Abrams



3.Ryszard Kapuscinski:

           Imperium

           The Emperor

           Shah of  Shahs

           Encountering the Other  ( hopeful )



4. Donald  G. Dutton  The Psychology of Genocide, Massacres, and Extreme Violence

5. Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil, A world history  of Genocide and Extermination  from Sparta to Darfur