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Shadow

by Wynn Wagner

The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man's hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning. These are archetypes susceptible to personification; the archetypes of transformation, which express the process of individuation itself, are manifested in situations. As archetypes penetrate consciousness, they influence the perceived experience of normal and neurotic people; a too powerful archetype may totally possess the individual and cause psychosis.

Although the shadow appears negative, sometimes traits and associations arising from it can suggest a positive resolution to conflict.

--Carl Jung

Poem for the Eclipse Ritual (January, 2000)

Once upon a time, a maiden named Edith
Saw her shadow and away she flew.
"I don’t like you," she said to her darkness.
"I’ll kill you, Shadow, if it’s the last thing I do."

Try Edith did, through years of "Screw you"
And stubborn, stretch-mouthed voodoo.
So many things not to like, Goodie Two Shoe:
Killers, rapists, bigots, tofu. Yes, even tofu.

By the time she grew old, she’d done nothing
But become a wanton gumshoe.
Life’s twilight caught Edith aching,
As she looked back at herself in review.

Bitter and hard had Crone Edith become
That she didn’t know what else to do.
So she turned to her shadow and looked in the scum,
And decided to try to break through.

"I’ll name you Kate," said Edith downcast.
"You are welded to me, like my soul’s tattoo."
Greeting her shadow, no longer harassed
Was the magick that broke the taboo.

Happy at last ‘till their final day,
Her shadow was nothing to outdo.
The shadow named Kate was invited to stay
And be part of life’s dance anew.

And when Edith died, Kate bid us adieu,
Which brings me to the moral for you.
You see, when good and bad are joined like glue.
You can have your Kate and Edith too.

--Thursday, January 20, 2000

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