Dance with your shadow

[Mysteryhunter]

Thomas Moore in The Care of the Soul states that, "The person we choose to be, ... automatically creates a dark double -- the person we choose not to be." Dr. Carl Jung recognized the danger of repressing ones shadow side, and recommended confronting the nether-regions of our psyches. primarily through dream work - was a way of achieving healthy psychological equilibrium. Has anyone tried to notice, or work with & dance with your own shadow while Lucid dreaming. "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions." [excerpt from EMBODYING SPIRIT, pg. 131-133]

[seeker28]

Different people use LDs for different things. Lots of people use LDs for killing, sex, and wild adventure, all of which could be seen as dancing with their shadow self. I think many people naturally seek out ways in which to express their "darker" selves and desires. LDs are a great place to express repressed desires and drives.

[Mysteryhunter]

Lately I have explored my own reactions like: When we allow ourselves to be irritated out of our wits by something or illusion and projecting of personal wrongs onto the other. Even how I was acting & reacting this way in Dreams. I have noticed that when examining the source all the bad qualities which irritate you in others should belong to you. It is not an easy task, to come out of one\s dream and face yourself in the mirror (and even better yet to do it in Lucid dreaming!) It truely is not a comfort to meet & accept your dark double at first, but necessary on some level to become whole again It has taken I long time but now I know why Jung wrote the following: Jung: "The consequences for our psychology, too, can scarcely be imagined: we would no longer have anybody to rail against, nobody whom we could make responsible, nobody to instruct, improve, and punish! On the contrary we would have to begin, in all things, with ourselves; we would have to demand of ourselves, and of no one else, all the things which we habitually demand of others." Lucid dreaming is such a powerful method to meet your own dark double.

[Abra]

I don't think I've encountered my shadow yet. The only major opposing force in my lucid dreams are my parents. Always telling me I'm awake, telling me to get back to reality and not to chase such silly dreams. I don't dance with them, but fly away. Could they be the shadow? They don't seem very instinctive or wild.

[ray]

i guess i'm naturally an evil person...thats an odd thing to say,but i used my lucid dreams to find my light.

[seeker28]

I like to use my LDs as a chance to talk to my subconscious mind directly, well as directly as I can get... Every time I actually feel like I've successfully done this I am surprise by what I learn. I think the subconscious can truly be considered our "shadow self." I am trying to become a more "whole" person, to understand and allow outlets for all of my drives, weither I let them out in waking life, in my writing and art, or in dreams. I think I've become more of a mentally healthy person since i decided to no longer hate parts of my own psyche. Is this the kind of thing you are talking about, Mysteryhunter?

[Robot_Butler]

I have never directly tried to confront an evil part of myself. Like everyone else, I have dreams where I do things I would consider wrong in real life. I've never really judged my actions in my dreams as either good or evil, right or wrong. Then again, I am pretty comfortable with who I am. I don't have many thing about my personality that I would like to change. It might be interesting to try and confront my dark side in a dream since I can't imagine anything about myself that is particularly dark. On a purely superficial level, I think it would be fun to interact with your actual shadow in a lucid dream. Like Peter Pan.

[psychology student]

Thomas Moore in The Care of the Soul states that, "The person we choose to be, ... automatically creates a dark double -- the person we choose not to be." Dr. Carl Jung recognized the danger of repressing ones shadow side, and recommended confronting the nether-regions of our psyches. primarily through dream work - was a way of achieving healthy psychological equilibrium. Has anyone tried to notice, or work with & dance with your own shadow while Lucid dreaming. "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions." [excerpt from EMBODYING SPIRIT, pg. 131-133] A doppelganger, or adolescent tails of an evil twin come to mind. I am the evil twin, and my fellow person was killed a month ago.

[Mysteryhunter]

Now how did that term “evil” sneak its way into thread I wonder? To clarify I am discussing the term alter ego, lower self, the dark twin, repressed self, id. But the most common way to refer to Shadow material is anything we once were but then pushed away A doppelganger, or adolescent tails of an evil twin come to mind. I am the evil twin, and my fellow person was killed a month ago. I was wondering why you had that "ghostly” look lately. For ray, substitute “shadow” with “light”, or “bright” twin instead of dark twin. I think it would be fun to interact with your actual shadow in a lucid dream. Like Peter Pan. Curiously, yet interesting that you bring this reference up I have always found that scene intriguing. While often viewed as being simplistic by its very nature children’s literature “touches the core of what it means to be human. Hook is Pan’s alter ego (and also the of author J.M. Barrie's) Hook is the shadow that Peter lost in the initial sections of the book and had to have sewn back onto his body. I don't think I've encountered my shadow yet. The only major opposing force in my lucid dreams are my parents. Always telling me I'm awake, telling me to get back to reality and not to chase such silly dreams. I don't dance with them, but fly away. Could they be the shadow? They don't seem very instinctive or wild. For Abra: The key is not averting our gaze from what our dreams present to us, journey begins by not turning away, and in your case (very much like Pan) you are flying way. Perhaps you are feeling disconnectedness from what your parents are telling you & how you feel about the subject (Being a Dreamguide in a dream forum and all) Interesting Read: Jung, the Shadow and Dreamwork by Richard Catlett Wilkerson http://www.improverse.com/ed-article...ung_shadow.htm Is this the kind of thing you are talking about, Mysteryhunter? yes you have created your own way for integration of the shadow and express it, For it is only from living out of the still Centre that one can remain in touch with the swirling dance of the Circumferential Whole. "…. to own one’s shadow is whole making. No one can be anything but a partial being, ravaged by doubt and loneliness, unless he has close contact with his shadow. The shadow consists of those aspects of your character that belong to you but that have not been given any conscious place in your life. ... Assimilating one’s shadow is the art of catching up on those facets of life that have not been lived out adequately. H Coulter, ‘Exploring the Shores of Neverland’, in Psychoanalysis Down Under, 4, 2003, p. 3.

[Robot_Butler]

Sorry, I got distracted by the good/evil thing. To clarify, I honestly don't think I repress anything. Is it just a given that all humans repress by making choices of what to do and not do? I think the only force keeping me from doing everything I want is time. I feel limited by time, so I have to chose what I want to do and not do. Other than that, I pretty much do and say exactly what I want. Can you point me towards an article that explains this concept in more depth? I feel like I understand the general concept, but don't get how I can apply it to my life.

[psychology student]

I was wondering why you had that "ghostly” look lately. . Oh, you. You noticed, I am flattered.

[seeker28]

Wow, insightful post, Mysteryhunter. From the link you included: "Also, as mentioned, when its time for a person to begin to deal with the Shadow, it may begin to stalk the dreamer, which is that part of the psyche's way of saying, "Hey, you've neglected me too long and we need to talk." I've had the experience of my subconscious self steping forward and smacking me upside the head to get me to listen a few times. Unpleasant, yes, but always illuminating. I was surpried how closely my own experiences dealing with DCs and other dream symbols matched the things said in that article on Jungian psychology. I currently have a whole group of recurring DCs who started out as antagonists, but now are my friends and alies in the dream world. Makes me want to learn more about Jung and his ideas.

[Robot_Butler]

Oh, you already posted a link I swear I'm half retarded today.

[seeker28]

Robot_Butler Gah! I do that too, more often than I like to admit.