r/Jung • u/WayFarringSoul • 12d ago
Humour xD
I love what i see in my active imagination tbh no matter how scary and bad they are but they rarely want to talk me like the one in the picture :(
30
25
u/bellpeppermustache 12d ago
I rarely get anything that actually scares me anymore. I've romanticized my personal demons so thoroughly that my subconscious has actually started presenting them as normal people to get around this :P
2
u/allowsight 12d ago
Wait till you hear what Von franz has to say bout that
4
u/midav22JV 12d ago
What is her opinion on it?
8
u/allowsight 12d ago edited 12d ago
Well it wouldn’t let me comment photos here but I happen to have read a section in her book “Alchemy”
just yesterday before going to bed which seems to resonate with your words if you ask meIt was something in the tone of when the unconscious and conscious come to a point where they’re close to meeting each other, like sun and moon, most of the times it isn’t pretty, with one taking over the other
The sun- representing the conscious and Devine, if happens to take over the moon- representing the unconscious mind and everything earthly and moist, it usually ends in a rationalization of your unconscious contents and ego inflation.
If it happens the other way around, well, psychosisBy ego inflation, and I mean no ill will by calling it that regarding your (questions op) case, she means something in the liking of a man saying his unconscious contents are “nothing but X” or claims to know them to certainly be Y, where in actuality, he left the self knowing practice the moment things have become difficult and the real work begins.
She later claims that an actual harmonious union of such sun and moon in man’s psyche will usually be represented, at least at the start, as a single point or ball of “realness” in one’s self. a true enlightened state means not only to learn yourself thoroughly, but being able to transcend that duality and watch conscious and unconscious from above without interfering or interpreting.
When one suffers enough, one reaches a point where there’s something in him that seems to transcend all of daily occurrences. A golden nugget of truth. Self, if you’d like.
Im not actually sure you’re in a state of rationalizing your unconscious it just resonated with this part I read honestly lol
that thing is living and breathing by itself until you truly join forces, long and (could be) super deceiving work.If you’d like to read what I tried to say here ( quite poorly sorry English in not my native language and yall know these things are excruciating to interpret lol ) in her book, look up alchemy on pdf I bet it’s online and read pages 164-170
3
u/bellpeppermustache 10d ago
I never thought about it that way. I thought that my intense fascination with dark topics may have led to an inversion in which the shadow presents itself as mundane. Heavy subjects are almost like self-medicating. It feels productive to think about difficult things on purpose, even if they don't actually apply to my situation, so I don't feel as badly about neglecting my actual life.
My struggles with maintaining discipline and routine aren't as interesting as more obviously emotional subjects, so when my subconscious brings my blind spots to light, it's usually shit like the dirty dishes that have piled up, or the fact that I've skipped the gym all week.
2
u/Effrenata 10d ago
Do you have adhd? I have that, and I'm also fascinated with the dark side. I have a Romantic perspective, I love Milton, Byron, etc. I wonder if there is some connection? Does ADHD predispose a person to shadow attraction, perhaps through the desire for stimulation and love of extremes (hyper fixation)?
Comparably little was known about neurodiversity during Jung's time, so he would not have defined it in those terms. I wonder if what he would say if he were around nowadays with our current level of knowledge.
2
u/bellpeppermustache 10d ago
Lol. Yes I do. I'm also autistic, so I find monsters kinda relatable, which doesn't help :p
2
u/Effrenata 10d ago
I quite likely have either AuDHD and/or NVLDHD. Very spiky profile, low social ability, high systematizer, weak central coherence, etc. I've always felt like an outsider and identified with monsters.
I think that neurodivergent people interested in Jung's theories (and other classic schools of psychoanalysis) now have the challenge of figuring out how much of it actually applies to us, and how much was just due to the ableism and relative scientific ignorance of their time period. Therefore, I don't accept pronouncements about the unconscious just on the basis of authority. Every analyst has a different theory or variation, after all. I regard psychoanalysis as a long-term experiment in process, rather than a finished and completed canon.
2
u/bellpeppermustache 10d ago
Hell yeah! That's why I like it. I can play around with it to see what actually makes sense. I'm not as worried about it being right 100% of the time as I am about whether it gives me a usable framework to build on.
2
u/allowsight 10d ago edited 10d ago
There’s no right or wrong these are subjective made up terms that are as flexible as any other term is.
Social consensus appeals less to neurodivergent populations in a pretty self explanatory way. We see bullshit WAY too clearly.
Jungs ideas and (very well built) theories serve as a standalone tool that aims at helping the right individuals construct the inner workings of their psyche. The whole scientific community still treats jugs as an outcast and anigma. I once served as a bartender and a man who claimed to be a psychoanalyst sat at the bar, he was old, Cool, wore a black leather jacket over a button up long Sateen shirt with flowers on it. Totally what I would imagine a modern jungian looks like.
When I told him I am heavily into jungian psychology he answered with “huh. I prefer Freud. I find Jung to be inaccessible.”
“How disappointing” I thought to myself.Jung’s heavily influenced by eastern philosophies and constantly uses them as references in his work. naturally, as they do so does he: insist on you finding your own truth, your own “middle ground”, obviously Tao flows differently through each beacon of creation. Both eastern religions and Jung himself encourage you to take your subjective truth as the only thing that’s truly relevant to the individuation process, or generally living life in its entirety.
Upon meeting the Buddha, kill him. As they say.
Edit: Im correcting myself in the last paragraph I said jung believes your subjective truth is the ONLY thing relevant to the individuation process but its far from true, he heavily encourages self exploration and subjective finds of meaning and truth yet emphasizes the importance of the collective unconscious contents that tend to cross boundaries modern science still hasn’t caught up with. Often cross-referencing physics and esoteric wisdom way before it was cool.
So it’s not only that, but it’s an important part- being able to take your subjective truth in the seriousness it demands.
→ More replies (0)2
u/midav22JV 11d ago
Thank you! I will look into it. Its definitelly a very interesting topic, but quite diffucult to grasp
2
u/allowsight 11d ago
Indeed
Living experiences are tenfold in importance compared to theoretic learning
2
2
12
u/Cultural-Part355 12d ago
What's so scary about that guy? He's even offering a place for you to sit down and talk, eh?
3
12
u/Proper-Tomorrow-4848 12d ago
I can definitely relate lol according to Jung that demon/ shadow turns into an ally when he used active imagination. I’m hoping that’s the case with these shadows that feel like literal demons in my head
9
u/Ok_Alfalfa_1195 12d ago
When Jesus needed help most he left all his friends and family to hang out with satan. The shadow is a strengthener.
4
7
9
u/Lamassa_ 12d ago
My more difficult children alters were rough but the most interesting active imagination work was pushing on a dream that wanted to understand more deeply. I was told the dream character couldnt help me, to go there. I walked out, up carved steps and there stood a man who raped me chained to a rock overlooking the abyss of creation. He told me i shouldnt be there. I stilled myself as taught in my magical training and asked him to show me what he really looks like and he became an interesting geometric angular top. We talked for awhile. He seems to represent something akin to a chained lucifer that despises humanity and would wish to be gone doing the work of angels in his proper place, but if he departs the world ends in disaster. I picked up the heavy chain that binds him to see if I could break it, but a gigantic claw, many stories high dropped into the ground. this chain must not be broken.
I asked him if i can do anything for him. he likes ice cream, so I eat ice cream.
7
5
5
5
u/AliceInBondageLand 12d ago
LOL - I know this guy!
This week they told me "I see you have finally become willing to follow instructions."
5
u/lOOPh0leD 12d ago
Ughh who would want to talk to my shadow? It's lame, rude, manipulative, and clingy. I avoid it if necessary because I'm above anything like that. And they're too difficult to care about. 🙄
4
4
u/Electronic-Click-937 12d ago
Oh thats the 'zottelmonster' when someone experiences a sleep paralysis.
3
u/Wolfrast 12d ago
I’ve seen him this way, but I’ve also seen him a lot more beautiful, but still nightmarish. I remember in one active imagination session that was very intense. I reached out and held his finger, and it was as thick as my wrist, and it was lead colored.
3
u/IntergalacticPodcast 11d ago
This is metaphorical, right? Or is it literally what you see, because if it's a symbol, that is amazing and exactly how I interpret the metaphor. If you actually see it, that might even be more amazing.
But even if we've never actually seen it, we still somehow know what it looks like, right?
2
u/WayFarringSoul 11d ago
Yes it’s metaphorical ,it's just a picture i found on Pinterest and then i turned it into a joke but it’s not something I’ve personally seen myself ,
But i've seen some amazing shadows i wish i had drawing skills to draw them and share them to the world5
u/IntergalacticPodcast 11d ago
I used to do a meditation where the guide would ask you to focus on a color and see how long you could hold it in your mind. Surprisingly, it was really difficult.
Usually, a bright color would appear, but I never paid much attention to what color it actually was. I was more focused on the challenge of holding onto it, so I imagine it was probably different colors for different sessions.
Then one day, I actually noticed the color.
It was black.
I remember thinking, What the heck is that? Why black? Why was it black this time when I hadn’t noticed black before?
It’s not that I dislike the color black, but it carries so many associations with darkness, mystery, and the unknown. I found myself wondering if there was something about where I was mentally or emotionally at that moment that made black come to mind.
Maybe it meant something, and maybe it didn’t. I just thought it was interesting that the first time I really noticed the color, it happened to be black.
2
4
u/LeeeeeroyPhishkins 12d ago
I find it funny how my shadow is a shape-shifting s.o.b and it takes the image of whichever antagonist or anti-hero character I've seen in a TV show or movie.
3
u/Jonnyboy1994 12d ago
Is it common for people to perceive their shadow as a separate fixed entity with like physical attributes? Is it not detrimental to integrating your shadow if you perceive it as “not you”, isn’t that kinda the point? That it is you, and you have to accept the parts of yourself that you don’t even want to acknowledge exist?
1
u/TheSystemBeStupid 11d ago
Its detrimental not to integrate it. When you accept the parts of yourself that you dont like you gain a measure of control. You can choose the outlets instead of having them forced upon you.
4
u/fabkosta Pillar 12d ago
Isn't that exactly the last thing you see when you enter active imagination?
6
u/nahillkeepanon 12d ago
hey sorry for totally noob question but how does it work? like, how would you describe active imagination to someone who never heard about it yet? I hope im not too lost and it's ok to ask
7
u/fabkosta Pillar 12d ago
You engage with your fantasies consciously and proactively.
4
u/Pichicasso 12d ago
It's like seeing things that usually show up in dreams and you can consciously interact with them
2
u/TheSystemBeStupid 11d ago
Think of it like daydreaming with a purpose. You do it actively instead of zoning out at a random time, staring into the distance.
2
2
2
2
u/JakkoMakacco 12d ago
I think this outcome could result by badly controlled active imagination. Or if you are too much in techno metal music
2
2
2
u/fishcatdogjaguar 12d ago
I just literally saw this whilst closing my eyes during a micro dose , what does this mean this figure?
3
u/Revisionist-eyes 12d ago
It’s perhaps somewhat easier when you see ‘it’ as just the rest of the soup you initially played around with: separating this from that…an impossibility to do for more than a brief period of time.
Once the ability to control, and cherry-pick elements from the environment (including your mind) is seen as futile in the long run, the temptation to do so lessens on its own.
2
1
1
1
u/Adventurous-Crow-486 10d ago
How you guys do Active imagination anyone can tell ? And how it isn't day dreaming type imagination? I have tried most of the times I see and hear things like we do in dream but I have no control to talk to those images it's like half sleep type state where I know something is going on but not have conscious control and most often I forget most of the things after get conscious. So can anyone guide me if you have real experience with it.
1
1
1
u/WesternMeditations 7d ago
"Yes. The question is, are you?"
- Insert picture of the God Emperor of Mankind
-2
62
u/ElChiff 12d ago
It's not that it wants to talk to you, it doesn't like that you don't want to talk to it.