I began preparing the material for this talk because the topic has been on my mind for some time.  I find that most published writings on the shadow leave me most unsatisfied. And on the matter of dying, well, it appears to be one of those occasions when our tendency is to avert the eyes.  Nothing to see here!

Jung’s notion of the shadow was that it is an archetypal force.  So, my intention is to develop some potential richness around its archetypal basis.

Psychodynamic psychology is called psycho-dynamic precisely because it emphasis the dynamic or energy aspect of the archetype. It’s an archetypal force not a neutral structure. It is a force that is constituted as a pre-existing framework ready for action in the world. Thus we can talk of a primordial predisposition.  Babies don’t come into life as a blank page. Every baby has a prescribed beginning that is then continuously shaped by experience.

The archetypal shadow

Perhaps the most difficult to grasp of all the so-called Jungian archetypes is the ‘shadow’. We humans are drawn toward the ‘light’ and toward the ‘dark’. The light is a top-of-the-mountain experience. The dark, in contrast, is a moist, misty valley. One see clearly from on the mountain peak, the view is stunning and the air is pure. One only sees the very immediate in the dark valley. Often the mist is so full-on that all that can be seen is the thick mist itself. It’s so easy to feel lost. The expected path is barely visible if at all. Dying, as a key aspect of an archetypal force, is a move toward the ‘dark’.

Out culture is very light orientated in that we crave for understanding, insight, enlightenment. But because the archetypal force lies on the dynamic spectrum, the more we move toward the light the more our daily living accentuated the dark.

Ars moriendi, the classical literature on the art of dying needs to be revisited and Jung’s shadow work is proposed as a useful vehicle for this task.

David Russell is a past president of the Sydney Jung Society. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies and research in psychology at the University of Sydney. Here he was introduced to the writings of Sigmund Freud (unusual for a Department of Psychology) and developed an ongoing enthusiasm for the history and philosophy of psychology.

After a few years in private practice he moved into an academic career, which culminated in the establishment of the Master of Analytical Psychology degree at the University of Western Sydney. David has currently returned to private practice in Sydney CBD.  

SPECIAL EVENT

Saturday 6th July 2019 

Dr David Russell - Workshop:

"Making the Insights of Carl Jung's 'archetypal forces' Useful in Therpeutic Work"

(at the MacKillop Conference Centre, 50 Archibald St, Lyneham  10am - 4pm) 

Cost $50 for Jung Soc. members, $60 for non-members.