Le Quatrième Pentamètre

Bolligen

As Jung always emphasizes, the shadow is the moral problem par excellence.

This holds good for the personal as well as for the archetypal shadow: it is a reality which challenges the highest effort of consciousness. Consciousness of the shadow is decisive for the stability not only of the individual life but also in large measure of the collective life. To be conscious of evil means to be painstakingly aware of what one does and of what happens to one. 

If indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed; but if thou knowest not, thou art cursed, and a transgressor of the law. This is one of Jesus' apocryphal sayings. He said it to a Jew whom he saw working on the Sabbath.

Becoming conscious of the shadow sounds like a relatively simple demand. 

In reality, however, it is a moral challenge which is extremely difficult to meet. The task requires, first of all, the recognition of individual evil—that is, of those contra-values which the ego has rejected; and a simultaneous recognition of the conscious values of individual good; in other words, making the unconscious conflict conscious. 

This can mean : 

(1) that a moral point of view, previously based on tradition, is now supplemented by subjective reflection, 

or 

(2) that the rights of the ego are given the same authority as the rights of the "thou," 

or 

(3) that the rights of instinct are recognized along with the rights of reason. 

Becoming conscious of the conflict is naturally experienced as an almost irreconcilable collision of incompatible impulses, as a civil war within oneself.

The conscious conflict between good and evil takes the place of an unconscious dissociation. As a result, unconscious instinctive regulation is supplemented by conscious control. One gains the ability to estimate more correctly one's effect on other people, as well as to recognize the shadow projections and perhaps even to withdraw them. 

And, finally, one is forced to consider revising one's views about good and evil. One realizes that the secret of a better adjustment to reality often depends upon being able to give up "the wish to be good" and allowing evil a certain right to live. 

As Jung rightly remarks, it appears that "the disadvantages of the lesser good" are balanced against "the advantage of the lesser evil."

Contrary to the general opinion that consciousness of the shadow constellates and strengthens evil, one finds repeatedly that just the opposite is true: knowledge of one's own personal shadow is the necessary requirement for any responsible action, and consequently for any lessening of moral darkness in the world. 

This holds good to an even greater extent in relation to the collective shadow, to the archetypal figure of the adversary, who compensates the collective consensus of the time. 

Consciousness of the archetypal shadow is essential not only for individual self-realization, but also for that transformation of creative impulses within the collective upon which depends the preservation of both individual and collective life. 

The individual cannot detach himself from his connection with society; responsibility toward oneself always includes responsibility toward the whole. One can perhaps even risk the statement: Whatever consciousness the individual struggles for and is able to transmit benefits the collective. By coming to terms with the archetypal adversary he is able to sense collective moral problems and anticipate emerging values. 

But awareness of the moral conflict is not enough. 

Dealing with the shadow requires a choice between two mutually exclusive opposites as well as a realization in conscious life. 

There are three ways in which the individual can attempt to solve the problem. He can renounce one side in favor of the other; he can retire from the conflict altogether; or he can seek a solution that will satisfy both sides. 

The first two possibilities need no further discussion. 

The third seems at first impossible. How can contradictory opposites like good and evil ever be reconciled? According to the rules of logic, tertium non datur.

Reconciliation of the opposites, therefore, can only be achieved by "transcending" them; that is, by raising the problem to a higher level where the contradictions are resolved. 

If a person is successful in detaching himself from identification with specific opposites, he can often see, to his own astonishment, how nature intervenes to help him. 

Everything depends upon the individual's attitude. The freer he can keep himself of hard and fast principles and the readier he is to sacrifice his ego-will, the better are his chances of being emotionally grasped by something greater than himself. He will then experience an inner liberation, a condition—to use Nietzsche's phrase—"beyond good and evil." 

In psychological terms, the sacrifice of the ego-will adds energy to the unconscious, and leads to an activation of its symbols. This corresponds to the religious experience, in which the resurrection follows the crucifixion and the ego-will becomes one with the will of God. 

From either standpoint, the acceptance of sacrifice is the sine qua non of salvation. A transformation takes place in the symbols of both good and evil. 

Good loses some of its goodness, and evil some of its evil. 

As doubt of the "light" of consciousness increases, so the "darkness" of the soul appears less black. A new symbol emerges in which the opposites can be reconciled. 

I am thinking here of the symbols of the Cross, of the T'ai-Chi-Tu, and of the Golden Flower. 

For the individual, the emergence of such a symbol often brings a new understanding of the conflict, a neutralization of the opposites, and a transformation of the God-image. It always has a liberating effect on the soul; the conscious personality and the inner adversary both appear transformed. 

Whether it attacks us in the form of illness, external disorder, inner emptiness, or as a shattering invasion from within of an immoral demand, evil can finally prove to be a means of healing, which reconciles the individual with the central core of his being, with the self, the image of the Godhead. 

Whoever attains such a reconciliation will not only feel open to the creative, he will also experience again the tension of the opposites— this time in a positive manner—and so he will finally recover his powers of decision and action.

~ Liliane Frey-Rohn, "How to deal with Evil," Meeting the Shadow.