(Written originally in 2021)
Reconciling the Male Psyche
The myth, the story, that is presently being presented to the citizens of the World (seen and unseen), I think is very familiar to all here. It is one of rejection of nature, the very ground we stand on, biological, vegetative and mineral and a drive to a virtual existence; literally, in the now poisoned sky.
Just as it is desirable to re-connect physically to the Earth so too I suggest, it is in the psychological sense; but let us be conscious of what we do lest we suffer more. Individual striving is of such value it can really change a World.
So I ask the reader to put away all religious and philosophical beliefs and without prejudice, think in terms of individual and collective trends (expressed psychologically and energetically) in the unseen interaction between the opposites as they manifest in the World.
Carl Jung observed through his extensive work on dreams and other manifestations of the unconscious, a drive towards equilibrium for which he used the term 'enantiodromia'. This phenomena is often observed where dreams compensate for a too one sided conscious attitude. Dark dreams will often introduce us to our own rejected Shadow side which in my experience cries out for attention. Indeed Jung said how, lest we make our own darkness come to the light of consciousness, no amount of dreaming of figures of light will banish this dark twin; indeed it will become stronger to the point of manifesting as an outside event in our lives. As in the individual so too in the mundane outer World where the see-saw effect enacts itself ad infinitum.
Look to the Collective world we experience now and see how the rejected, banished and hidden becomes something very dangerous for want of acceptance. The 'work' is to integrate these rejected aspects of the Personal and Collective Unconscious of humanity which cries for the light. This starts with the very important individual work within ourselves.
Acceptance of who we are in totality, dark and light, reduces our tendency to project evil on to others. To be aware and accept our own Shadow is in my opinion the greatest act of service, not just for oneself but for our fellow travelling companions on Earth. To achieve a sense of wholeness and authenticity orientates the individual to be grounded, he looks to the stars but has a deep respect for Earth and his reward is a sense of anchorage with access to both; one might think of Logos and Eros as representative.
Here, I am concentrating on masculinity because I think the integration of the chthonic Earth God is well overdue , rejected from the time of Noah. I was inspired particularly by the young men who have had some successes in Austria with their Gnostic Takeover//Gnosis Unity initiative. I particularly like their use of Earth and Sky energy and their level of awareness and their acceptance of violence, a taboo subject in many ways.
So now to think of Noah's story in terms of a psychological dynamic or a dream. I have the text of a very good lecture delivered by Jungian Analyst Jim Fitzgerald entitled 'The Father's Shadow and the Source of the Masculine' (1995) to thank for this which I will paraphrase and simplify.
Noah's achievements made him the leader of his tribe, a 'patriarch'. A man of light who all looked up to. The story goes that his son Ham walked in to his father's tent and observed him lying naked after having imbibed alcohol. Ham called to his two brothers Shem and Japhet, to come and see but they covered their father's nakedness and backed out.
When Noah found out what his son had done to him (exposing his natural self), he cursed his son Ham (a name that means black) and his progeny.
'Accursed be Canaan,
he shall be his brother's meanest slave.
He added, Blessed be Jahweh, god of Shem,
Let, Canaan be his slave!
May God make space for Japhet, may he live in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his slave!'
Noah could not accept his personal Shadow, even that of drinking a little too much, instead of owning it he projected it upon his son, and banished it to darkness for generations to come.
Noah represents Earth and Spirit in that he was a man of the soil, he planted and was the first to grow the vine; also a man of Spirit because of his interaction with God when he was chosen to be saved from the Flood. 'He was a good man, an upright man among his contemporaries, and he walked with God.' Noah came at a transition from one Age to another 'it is the beginning of the Patriarchal Age, when all traces of an older system have been swept away. In this time of beginnings, each act is exemplary, a paradigm for the future'.
What Jim Fitzgerald suggests is that Noah's drunken nakedness in the story, exposes his masculine nature beneath the persona, 'What does nakedness mean? That a secret source of his masculinity lies, not in his persona adaptation to the outer World, nor even in his identification with the upper creative Self, but in the dark chthonic depths of the Unconscious and Nature, to what drunkenness opens us up. It is the Shadow that keeps us fertile, potent, masculine, and we need to free ourselves from the restraint of directed consciousness to experience this'. Jung commented that within the Shadow is much gold.
It is the result of the misuse of this 'directed consciousness' that is I suggest, the so hated and derided patriarchy of the current 'woke' culture and not masculinity per se. In itself I see it as an over emphasis of the Sky God aspect of the dual nature of the archetype of god that casts its shameful (as perceived) , natural side to the unconscious depths.
Noah's banishment of Ham into the dark unconscious for the past thousands of years is enacted in every father/son relationship. The son who exposes or rails against his father's unconscious Shadow is either banished or scapegoated within the family dynamic.
'What was silent in the father speaks in the son, and often I found the son the unveiled secret of the father.' (Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra)
These are the black sheep in the family whose task if they don't go under, if they are hero enough, is to reconcile the wounded psychological split.
Bill Gates
Read the Bill Gates biography and you will see a man of light, a philanthropist and son of a philanthropist as depicted in the public arena. Successful son of a successful father etc.. Did any member of the Gates clan ever sense the family Shadow and rebel? I don't know. I think Gates is conscious regarding what he is doing but the fact he does not learn tells me, he really does not know on the deepest level. 'Forgive them Father for they know not what they do'.
I observe Bill Gates and see the pinnacle of the present problem expressed in what I suggest is and unconscious acting out of Shadow from a man obviously very good at 'directed consciousness' unfortunately amplified by monetary wealth and influence. Because of a total focus on the external, the internal Shadow grows and presents itself in the form of the external horror we are witnessing today. No doubt many, many of the architects of this peak moment, suffer from the same split from their own rejected Shadow which crying for attention, manifests as an outer reality, something objectified 'out there' for which they do not take responsibility but try to fix with the same state of consciousness that caused it. The Transhumanist Movement favoured by many in these circles, represents the rejection of the natural human and nature herself (Eros). .
How fascinating to see this comes in the quality of Earth-matters, biological, ecological crimes so extreme that the Earth God now is becoming conscious by presenting us with an epiphanic realisation that something is very wrong and our rage is palpable, violent even?
Justifiably so considering the attacks upon nature, the living man and woman, on relationships, family unity, our very history and language and traditions and to add insult to injury, presented with a cynical veneer of caring. The lies designed to induce a sense of nothingness devoid of passion, creativity and love. Absent of any humanity. Whoever, whatever pulls the strings of these architects of dystopia, are worried for it seems the prisoners are waking up to the bars and locks in the cell.
However in this I particularly address the long orchestrated attacks upon men whose rage is being manipulated to the point of a pyroclast eruption. On this I would say if it comes let it be done with a conscious owning of the right to defend oneself and others whose very lives are under threat. Use the power of the Earth god with wisdom rather than an unconscious acting out. Owning violence is different to acting out. Strangely enough an interesting phenomena occurs if we 'own' and integrate violence and other Shadow qualities and that is, our energy field changes, detractors weaken and sometimes stand back or even slink away. It starts by giving yourself permission. Anyone who has overcome bullying knows this, they don't come back.
This is the power of a conscious man with one foot on Earth who also looks to the stars and stands at the intersection of the opposites, rather like the centre of the symbol of the Cross. Suffering but fully conscious of why. This reconciliation is a transcendent experience from which alchemically, a third higher level of consciousness is achieved..
[It should be mentioned that our experience as related above is relevant to all of us, particularly as within each of us is our unconscious contrasexual opposite, for women 'the Animus' and for men the Anima'.]
So I intuit that the return to the vital energy of the Earth God and the resulting empowerment of authentic masculinity is coming. As in all matters 'whose time has come' you will see it being addressed more and more in the 'market place' and from many sources as the epoch transforms. I don't know how long this will take but I do know that all darkness passes as the inevitable dawn rises.
I have always liked the final scene from The Truman Show film which seems relevant to this topic, I like the fact that Hero’s conscious choice completely disempowers the 'Christof' character; he indeed becomes a True Man.