Jung’s Landscape

Psyche refers to the totality of all psychological

processes. It “embraces all thought, feeling, and
behavior, both conscious and unconscious. It functions
as a guide which regulates and adapts the individual to
his social and physical environment.”
 Jung's Model of the Psyche

ego Ego-Self Axis

Personal
unconscious consciousness
C
A A C
collective
A Self A unconscious
C A A C A=Archetype
C=Complex
C
C

Adapted from Stevens, 1990, pg. 29

¡  In  becoming  civilized,  we  compromise  between  our  
natural  inclinations,  instincts,  and  the  patterns  of  
society  –  what  is  required  
 
§  One’s  public  self    
§  The  mask  we  wear    
§  We  have  many  masks  or  can  have  

 
¡  The  persona  is  oriented  toward  society  in  two  
ways    

§  We    create  a  mask(s)  based  on  what  society  

expects  of  us            
             
▪  Think  about  the  masks  you  have  worn  from            
kindergarten  to  now…  

§  Why  have  we  worn  these?  

 
¡  We  wear  a  mask  to  meet  our  own  
expectations  to  get  society  to  look  at  us  in  a  
particular  way!      

¡  How  about  here  today  in  the  classroom?    

¡  What  Persona  are  you  portraying  right  now?    

¡  Jung  reporting  in  Singer  pg.  159    

“When  we  analyze  the  persona  we  strip  off  the  mask,  
and  discover  that  what  seemed  individual  is  at  bottom  
collective;  in  other  words,  that  the  persona  was  only    a  
mask  for  the  collective  psyche.    Fundamentally  the  
persona  is  nothing  real…  In  a  certain  sense  all  this  is  
real,  yet  in  relation  to  the  essential  individuality  of  the  
person  concerned  it  is  only  a  secondary  reality,  a  
product  of  compromise,  in  making  which  others  often  
have  a  greater  share  than  he”.  
¡  The  Persona  is  nothing  but  a  status  symbol!  

¡  And  the  danger  is  we  believe  that  “I”  am  that!  

¡  This  may  work  well  enough  until  something  

happens  to  change  or  damage  the  mask  that  
interposed  between  the  reality  of  the  person  
and  the  desired  image.    Then  the  person  may  
begin  to  wonder,  “Who  am  I”.      
Let’s  Meet  The  Shadow  
 The  Other  Within  Us…  

“The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And
because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to
change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds”

R.D. Laing
¡  “Within  each  woman  and  man,  the  dim  
cavern  of  the  unconscious  holds  our  
forbidden  feelings,  secret  wishes,  and  
creative  urges.    Over  time,  these  ‘dark’  
forces  take  on  a  life  of  their  own,  forming  
an  intuitively  recognizable  figure  –  the  
Shadow.    A  recurring  theme  in  literature  
and  legend,  the  Shadow  is  like  an  invisible  
twin,  a  stranger  that  is  us,  yet  is  not  us.    
When  it  acts  out  in  the  public  domain,  we  
witness  our  leaders,  like  hero-­‐villains,  fall  
from  grace  in  scandal.    Closer  to  home,  
we  may  feel  overcome  with  rage,  
obsession,  and  shame  or  succumb  to  self-­‐
destructive  lies,  addiction,  and  
depression.    These  appearances  of  the  
Shadow  introduce  us  to  the  Other,  a  
powerful  force  that  defies  our  efforts  to  
tame  and  control  it.”  
 (Zweig)  
¡  “[The  Shadow]  is  everything  in  us  that  is  
unconscious,  repressed,  undeveloped  and  denied.  
These  are  dark  rejected  aspects  of  our  being  as  
well  as  light,  so  there  is  positive  undeveloped  
potential  in  the  Shadow  that  we  don’t  know  about  
because  anything  that  is  unconscious  remains  
hidden  from  our  active  conscious  mind…  

 A  confrontation  with  the  Shadow  is  essential  for  

self  awareness.  We  cannot  learn  about  ourselves  if  
we  do  not  learn  about  our  Shadow,  so,  therefore,  
we  are  going  to  attract  it  through  the  mirrors  of  
other  people.”  

 (Eigen).    
¡  “The  Shadow  is  difficult  to  perceive  
consciously.  Since  an  individual  will  
deny  or  ignore  his  or  her  Shadow  side,  
it  is  likely  that  it  will  be  projected  onto  
others.  Instead  of  acknowledging  their  
Shadow,  the  individual  will  
unconsciously  see  it  in  people  they  
encounter  or  even  concepts,  objects,  
ethics  or  groups...  These  characteristics  
that  we  find  hideous  in  other  people  
could  in  fact  be  our  own  repressed  
attributes…  [we  have]  stumbled  upon  
parts  of…[our]  own  Shadow.”  

   (Wilson)  
In  literature  and  film,  often  the  hero’s  Shadow  is  embodied  within  a  foil  character.    
But  not  every  hero/villain  pairing  is  a  true  Shadow  relationship.    When  the  hero’s  
darker  side  exists  within  another  character,  there  must  also  be  a  strong  surface  
connection  evident  between  the  protagonist  and  antagonist.    They  are  similar,  but  
disparate.    The  similarities  pull  them  together  as  the  differences  tear  them  asunder.      
Within  the  Batman  film  The  Dark  Knight,  the  co-­‐dependent  relationship  between  hero  
and  villain,  light  and  dark,  is  pushed  to  center  stage.    The  Joker  repeatedly  states  that  
the  existence  of  Batman  spurned  the  creation  of  the  Joker,  that  each  operates  against  
and  because  of  the  other.    Every  coin  needs  two  sides  and  although  the  Joker  states  it  
flippantly,  there  is  a  meaningful  subtext  when  he  says  to  Batman,  “You  complete  
me.”  
The  Stars  Wars  universe  is  chock-­‐full  of  deliberate  archetypes.    The  Shadow  is  no  exception.    The  
promotional  image  to  the  left  directly  speaks  to  the  fact  that  Anakin  Skywalker  will  eventually  grow  
up  to  be  swallowed  by  his  Shadow;  he  will  fall  and  rise  anew  as  the  black-­‐hearted  Darth  Vader.    His  
literal  shadow  foreshadows  the  eventual  power  his  psychological  Shadow  will  possess.    The  
promotional  image  on  the  right  again  highlights  this  duality,  within  Anakin,  of  both  light  and  dark.    
Tatters  of  the  left  portion  remain  human,  but  the  majority  of  his  face  is  covered  in  robotic  darkness.            
In  Tolkien’s  Lord  of  the  Rings  trilogy,  a  complex  system  of  Self  and  Shadow  is  established.    There  are  many  surface  
similarities  between  the  halfling  hero  Frodo  and  his  shadowy  counterpart  Gollum.    Frodo  Baggins  is  a  hobbit,  the  
type  of  creature  Gollum  used  to  be.    Both  have  intimate  knowledge  of  the  pain  and  power  associated  with  the  role  
of  a  ring-­‐bearer.    But  Frodo  has  not  yet  been  completely  overcome  by  his  Shadow  while  Gollum  has  almost  been  
defeated  by  the  darkness  within.    Even  within  this  Shadow  representative,  there  is  a  further  split  between  good  
and  evil.    Gollum  has  two  distinct  personalities  bearing  several  differing  names  –  Smeagol/Slinker  still  remembers  
shreds  of  his  humanity  while  Gollum/Stinker  no  longer  yearns  for  the  touch  of  interior  sunlight.  
¡  http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wxN2Mewamj0  

¡  http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DLvIFRNbqOs  

 
¡  Eigen,  Rebecca.  "The  Shadow  Dance  –  Understanding  Repetitive  Patterns  in  
 Relationships.” ShadowDance.com.  09  June  2009.  ShadowDance  Unlimited.  27  Aug  
 2009  <http://shadowdance.com/shadow/theshadow>.  

¡  Jung,  C.  G..  The  Archetypes  and  the  Collective  Unconscious.  2nd  ed.  New  York:  
 Princeton  University  Press,  1959.  Print.    
 
¡  Wilson,  Kevin.  "Confrontation  With  the  Shadow.“ Insomnium.com.  27  Aug  2009  
 <insomnium.com>.    

¡  Zweig,  Connie,  and  Steve  Wolf.  Romancing  the  Shadow:  Illuminating  the  Dark  Side  of  the  
 Soul.  New  York:  Simon  &  Shuster,  1997.  Print.