America's Collective Shadow Climbs Out Of Our Lizard Brains...

To Bite Us All In The A**. It's heavy but we can rise above it together.

The Unbearable Heaviness Of Being American Right Now

For many of us, it’s unbearably heavy to see and feel what is happening in America right now. I know this affects more than just us in the US. People around the world are stunned and sorrowful. How does it feel?

It’s very heavy on a heart that has empathy when you see the unfortunate, the disadvantaged, the marginalized, the mocked, and belittled being taken advantage of. It’s difficult to bear when you’re being demonized for caring about a stranger seeking refuge or a humble migrant worker who wants to feed their family. It weighs on you when you want fairness and equality in a system that promises these things in its constitution. Some get frustrated or angry over what seems like a futile attempt to change the world for the good of all people. Understandable.

I also understand the resentment you can feel when it seems like people are making you feel guilty for things you don’t feel responsible for or perhaps, are not ready to face. Maybe you’re struggling and it seems like some others are getting an unfair advantage. Anger and thoughts of revenge can arise in your mind. There’s a heaviness to being angry or resentful. It’s heavy when your friends and family cannot understand you.

It’s unbearably heavy to live in a society with such deep conflict.

Therapists understand that you should never push someone to face a part of their shadow that they still resist because it could be retraumatizing. Reactive emotions could get stirred up. Perhaps some in our society feel ‘pushed’, ergo the resentment. I also see how some are gung-ho to right every wrong and heal every wound. This can also be done in an unhealthy way, via resentment and blaming.

I’m calling for a return to sanity instead of conflict. Resentment and blaming are futile endeavors that Jung had something to say about:

“No matter how much parents and grandparents may have sinned against the child, the wo/man who is really adult will accept these sins as their own condition which has to be reckoned with. Only a fool is interested in other people’s guilt since s/he cannot alter it. The wise person learns only from their own guilt.. They will ask themselves: Who am I that all this should happen to me? To find the answer to this fateful question, s/he will look into their own heart.” -CG Jung, Psychology and Alchemy (slight editing for clarity and inclusion mine)

America could start to heal if we individually and collectively looked into our hearts to uncover our shadow elements and bring them to the light of understanding and forgiveness while letting go of projection and blame.

Collective Shadow is Rising Out of Our Collective Unconscious

I feel that our current upheavals and conflict are largely a result of our unhealed collective shadow. We as a society have participated in traumatic events as perpetrators and victims.

“Carl Jung talks about two types of shadows: the personal shadow (the unknown dark side of our personality) and the collective shadow (the unknown dark side of society).” Eternalized YT

To heal our subconscious collective shadow and trauma Jung says we must “bring the darkness to the light”. “Look into our own heart”, how does that work? We’ll explore that in a bit. First, we need to define some things so we’re on the same page.

What Is Collective Shadow?

The collective shadow refers to the unconscious aspects of a society or group that are repressed or denied, often manifesting as shared negative traits or behaviors. It embodies the darker side of humanity, including collective evils and societal issues that arise when these aspects are not acknowledged.

Simply put: The collective shadow is formed when a traumatic experience of a group is avoided, hidden, or suppressed. The shadow experiences that have been suppressed then manifest in dysfunctional ways.

“Encountering the collective shadow leads to social upheaval – wars, economic crises, political conflicts. Usually persons (or social groups) project their shadow on others and thus force them to bear the burden of responsibility for all that is “bad”. For example, men cast their shadow on women, whites on blacks, blacks on whites, Catholics on Protestants, capitalists on communists, Muslims on Hindus, etc. In a social group, a family or an individual can become a “scapegoat”, that is, a group shadow, and they can somehow be sacrificed to a “deity” in atonement for the sins and evils of all members of the group. The bearer of the group shadow becomes a representative of another world, possesses great energy, is simultaneously feared, despised and revered.” International Association for Analytical Psychology, The Shadow.

Reactionary Politics & Our National Shadow

American society in recent years has been encountering its shadow, which is glaringly demonstrated by the social conflict we see. Is there a way to end the conflict or to avoid the “civil war” that some factions long to see?

Some groups display a desperate unconscious effort to hold the shadow at bay, to resist “bringing up old wounds”. They strongly resent those pulling at the scabs of the dark parts of our history. The urge to hide or bury the sordid parts of our history is an urge to suppress our collective shadow. Unfortunately, suppression is what causes the shadow to grow and eventually manifest. Without acknowledgement and release, it will manifest in very unhealthy ways.

Suppression is especially true of fundamentalist religious or other groups from Muslim to Christian. They are taught to shun any thoughts associated with any symbol of “evil”. This practice in a collective tends to drive the shadow deeper. Which then exerts even more negative energy from the unconscious and hidden parts of our society. The anger and resentment go so deep that some are calling for revenge, retribution, and violence.

On the other hand, some people want to look at our collective shadow, expose it, and face it to foster social healing. AKA social justice groups. In doing so they can also engage in projection by blaming and name-calling. They are reacting to what seems like oppression and marginalization that has been going on for a long time.

When compassion is abandoned for resentment we are all in trouble. Scapegoating is a fool’s errand. Only open hearts can heal. If you want freedom from suffering, you want healing, not revenge.

None of this is freedom. It is a prison of the mind that can be overcome.

It’s important to understand, that to be able to integrate the collective shadow, we must have done enough personal shadow work to be able to handle the energies to neutralize the split in our minds.

To Heal (Integrate) A Shadow

“Enlightenment is bringing the darkness to the light” (of awareness)~Jung

“Everything hidden must be revealed”~MEM

Just understanding these concepts is a step in the right direction. Understanding can bring compassion online because you achieve a bit of objectivity. This objectivity quiets the lizard brain and allows our frontal lobes to think deeper again. Reactivity is then quelled. We can only work our triggers and reactions from an objective place.

Self-reflection is required (looking into our own hearts). A search for our motivations is revealing. Questions like: What am I fearing? What emotions are arising that cause me to contract? Can open us up to our traumatic wounds.

Feeling through the negative energies that arise instead of projecting on our fellow humans is a powerful key to transcending and integrating our deepest shadow elements.

You can learn the details on how to do this in my section on Emotional Integration. EIC This section is just getting off the ground. I will be adding step-by-step instructions along with Q&A for those willing to learn to change and heal the shadow.