Psychedelics and The Shadow

[radiometer]

I've been reading a lot of material about Jung's concept of "The Shadow" lately, especially as approached via the psychedelic experience. I'd like to share the following few paragraphs from an article written by Myron Stolaroff and published in the anthology Hallucinogens - A reader.

Psychedelics and the Shadow

As Jung indicated, the Shadow holds all the material that we have pushed aside so we can hide from ourselves. Unfortunately, it also contains much of our energy, and as long as it is unconscious, it exerts a powerful influence on our behavior without our knowing it. Furthermore, Shadow material is responsible for most of the difficulties humans create in the world. We project our Shadow onto others, believe those others to be the source of our difficulties, and seek refuge from them rather than take responsibility into our own hands. Consequently we must resolve Shadow material if we are to develop. If this were accomplished on a wide-spread basis, it would be a major benefit for the world.

Jung describes human development as the process of "making the unconscious conscious." Psychedelics, particularly in low doses, can be an extremely effective tool in this process. The bulk of my experience is with the phenethylamine compounds, which remained legal longer than the standard psychedelics such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Whereas a full dose of a phenethylamine like 2C-T-2 or 2C-T-7 might be 20 milligrams, a low dose would be ten or twelve milligrams, or roughly equivalent to 25-50 micrograms of LSD.

The most infallible guide to Shadow material is our uncomfortable feelings. Many do not like to use low doses because these feelings come to the surface. Rather than experience them, they use larger doses to transcend them. But these uncomfortable feelings are precisely what we must resolve to free ourselves from the Shadow, gain strength and energy, and function more comfortably and confidently in the world. By using smaller amounts and being willing to focus our full attention on whatever feelings arise and breath through them, we find that these feelings eventually dissolve, often with fresh insight and understanding of our personal dynamics. The release of such material permits an expansion of awareness and energy. If we work persistently to clear away repressed areas, we can enter the same sublime states that are available with larger doses - with an important additional gain. Having resolved our uncomfortable feelings, we are in a much better position to maintain a high state of clarity and functioning in day-to-day life.

Is there anyone here thinking along these lines, who would like to discuss this? If not, I hope I have at least provided some food for thought and a good book recommendation.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Interesting subject, thanks for posting
	great post
	Interesting
	thanks for helpful post http://www.drugs-forum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=56312
	great thread!

[illume.]

hi, swim would definitely agree with this. from personal experience. swim has found that the more we uncover and deal with these uncomfortable feelings the more wise and knowledgeable we become, simply because we approach life with a more open mindset. swim finds that ones sensitivity to drugs also increases somewhat.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Please capitalize the first letter of each sentence when you write something. It makes your posts easier to read.
	nice avatar

[Expat98]

The concept of becoming aware of and dealing with unconscious negative thoughts and emotions is a cornerstone of many schools of psychology, and psychedelics can certainly be used as a tool in this pursuit.

Stolaroff has written extensively about his personal use of low doses of various psychedelics to explore his Shadow side and resolve unconscious issues in his book, Thanatos To Eros, 35 Years of Psychedelic Exploration. It is available online at the MAPS website, and I highly recommend reading it - it's a great read.

http://www.maps.org/t2e/

BTW, not to steer this in a political direction, but when I read the first paragraph of the Stolaroff quote above, I immediately thought of a certain person sitting in the Whitehouse.

[radiometer]

Mr. Stolaroff is a great writer, I am lucky enough to own the original hardback of Thanatos to Eros.

Here is a link to a great panel discussion with Mr. Stolaroff and the Shulgins, which started my current personal momentum on this topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO9A7...eature=related

If I could ever figure out how to make new entries/threads to the video/audio forums here, I would add this... [edit] and I did - first part added to forum, click along for the rest ...[]

[Expat98]

Originally Posted by radiometer

If I could ever figure out how to make new entries/threads to the video/audio forums here, I would add this...

It is actually pretty easy. Just select the "Add Video" option under the Quick Links menu at the top of this screen. Then enter the URL of the video, add a brief text description of it, and pick a category for it. That's about it!

Thanks for the video link, I will take a look.

[illume.]

thanks for the link, although swim had seen segments of that particular interview a while ago. its later discussed that rather than have several consecutive psychedelic experiences one should try to fully grasp the teachings of each in turn for furthering development. Thoughts?

[Panthers007]

While everyone engages in the projection of unconscious material onto others, this is usually of a benign nature: "Jody is certainly a gossip. Did you hear about what she said to Ralph at the party?" And such. But some times this is not of a benign nature.

Hitler and his crew denounced the Jews as being out to take over the world. He claimed the Jews are thieves and liars. That they murder innocent children as part of their religion. While this is an extreme example of projection with horrific consequences, it is going on as we speak.

"We had to destroy the village to save the village."

[RaverHippie]

The bulk of my experience is with the phenethylamine compounds, which remained legal longer than the standard psychedelics such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Whereas a full dose of a phenethylamine like 2C-T-2 or 2C-T-7 might be 20 milligrams, a low dose would be ten or twelve milligrams, or roughly equivalent to 25-50 micrograms of LSD.

SWIM can attest to being a witness of such an event. During his time at college there was an extremely odd student. He came from a very poor area in Albany, NY. He was Indian and hindu and acted in a stereotypical "ghetto" fashion. He got a full ride on an arts scholarship otherwise he would never be able to afford such an expensive college (NYU). SWIM and this person (SWEIM) were hanging out one night while SWEIM was waiting to pick up $500 worth of powdered cocaine. SWIM expressed that he was going to use 2C-T-2 later that night and told SWEIM all about it. SWEIM was extremely bored waiting for the cocaine to come and agreed to participate in the 2C-T-2 and consumed about 7mg of 2C-T-2. Over the course of the night the self-proclaimed cokehead never even touched his massive pile of coke. He had an existential analysis of himself including coming to terms with watching a friend get shot in front of him and also having his best childhood friend die while he was at college. for SWEIM to this day he thanks SWIM for the mind-clearing effects the 2C-T-2 had for him and he was able to confront various unhealthy habits as well as understanding his drives and goals in life.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good story, thanks

[Lobsang]

Yes this is very interestig. I will say that there is also great benefit in the higher doses of LSD. Not done often but a couple of times in a lifetime or occasionally. I have had dreams where I have taken large doses of LSD and dreams where I have taken museum doses. The most important states in these dreams came from the high doses when propelled into a peak state of consciousness. They were flash glimpses. Then I had to process them sometimes for years. But I can well appreciate what you are saying about the lower doses as well.

[Expat98]

I watched the video of the panel discussion with the Shulgins and Stolaroff that Radiometer mentioned. Ann Shulgin mentioned that she'd done a lot of psychotherapy work related to the Shadow. The following books on this subject were mentioned in the video:

1. The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford

Here's an editorial review from Amazon:

We know the shadow by many names: alter ego, lower self, the dark twin, repressed self, id. Carl Jung once said that the shadow "is the person you would rather not be." But even if you choose to hide your dark side, it will still cast a shadow, according to author Debbie Ford. Rather than reject the seemingly undesirable parts of ourselves, Ford offers advice on how to confront our shadows. Only by owning every aspect of yourself can you achieve harmony and "let your own light shine," she explains. "The purpose of doing shadow work, is to become whole. To end our suffering. To stop hiding ourselves from ourselves. Once we do this we can stop hiding ourselves from the rest of the world." As threatening as shadow work may seem, it is often very effective in creating transformation. Ford's step-by-step guidebook is modeled on a highly successful course she developed about embracing the shadow. Ultimately, she helps readers illuminate the gifts and strengths that lie within the shadows. Although this works sound vague, clouded in dark metaphors, Ford manages to make it clear and specific. She has the writing gifts of a successful seminar leader--inspirational, trustworthy, and able to convey murky material with grace and ease.

And here is an excerpt from the book:

Excerpts from “The Dark Side of the Light Chasers” by Debbie Ford (pp. 39-54)

Projection is a fascinating phenomenon they failed to teach most of us about in school. It is an involuntary transfer of our own unconscious behavior onto others, so it appears to us that these qualities actually exist in the other people. When we have anxiety about our emotions or unacceptable parts of our personalities, we attribute these qualities -as a defense mechanism- to external objects and other people. When we have little tolerance for others, for example, we are likely to attribute the sense of our own inferiority to them. Of course, there's always a "hook" that invites our projection. Some imperfect quality in other people activates some aspect of ourselves that wants our attention. So whatever we don't own about ourselves we project onto other people.

We see only that which we are. I like to think of it in terms of energy. Imagine having a hundred different electrical outlets on your chest. Each outlet represents a different quality. The qualities we acknowledge and embrace have cover plates over them. They are safe: no electricity runs through them. But the qualities that are not okay with us, which we have not yet owned, do have a charge. So when others come along who act out one of these qualities they plug right into us. For example, if we deny or are uncomfortable with our anger, we will attract angry people into our lives. We will suppress our own angry feelings and judge people whom we see as angry. Since we lie to ourselves about our own internal feelings, the only way we can find them is to see them in others. Other people mirror back our hidden emotions and feelings, which allows us to recognize and reclaim them.

We instinctively draw back from our own negative projections. It's easier to examine what we are attracted to than what repels us. If I am offended by your arrogance it is because I'm not embracing my own arrogance. This is either arrogance that I am now demonstrating in my life and not seeing, or arrogance that I deny I am capable of demonstrating in the future. If I am offended by arrogance I need to look closely at all areas of my life and ask myself these questions: When have I been arrogant in the past? Am I being arrogant now? Could I be arrogant in the future? It would certainly be arrogant of me to answer no to these questions without really looking at myself, or without asking others if they have ever experienced my being arrogant. The act of judging someone else is arrogant, so obviously all of us have the capacity to be arrogant. If I embrace my own arrogance, I won't be upset by someone else's. I might notice it, but it won't affect me. My arrogance outlet will have a cover plate on it. It is only when you're lying to yourself or hating some aspect of yourself that you'll get an emotional charge from someone else's behavior.

We project our own perceived shortcomings onto others. We say to others what we should be saying to ourselves. When we judge others we are judging ourselves. If you constantly beat yourself up with negative thoughts, you will either beat up on the people around you - verbally, emotionally, or physically - or you will beat up on yourself by destroying some area of your own life. What you do and what you say is no accident. There are no accidents in the life that you create. In this holographic world, everyone is you and you are always talking to yourself.

As long as we deny the existence of certain traits in ourselves, we continue to perpetuate the myth that others have something we don't possess. When we admire someone, it is an opportunity to find yet another aspect of ourselves. We have to take back our positive projections as well as our negative projections. We have to remove the plugs we've attached to others, turn them around, and plug them back into ourselves. Until we are able to retrieve our projections it is impossible for us to see our full potential and experience the totality of who we really are.

There is an old saying, "It takes one to know one." We see in others what we like and don't like in ourselves. If we embrace these parts of ourselves we will be able to see others as they are, not as we see them through our cloud of projection. There is another saying that the three greatest mysteries of the world are air to birds, water to fish, and man unto himself. We are able to see everything in front of us in the outside world. All we have to do is open our eyes and look around. We cannot see ourselves. We need a mirror to see ourselves. You are my mirror and I am yours.

2. Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions by Frances Vaughan


3. Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research by Stanislav Grof

This one seems very relevant to the subject of low-dose use of psychedelics. Here's a quote from an Amazon customer review:

Since this book focuses on the low-dose LSD psychotherapy (which developed in Europe during the 1960s), and low-dose LSD therapy more consistently brings up childhood traumas than does higher-doses, it may be of special interest to Freudian psychoanalysts and psychodynamic-minded psychiatrists who want to be guided gradually from their current understanding to a more comprehensive view of the unconscious mind. It may also be of particular interst to anyone involved in low-dose or low-medium dose psychedelic therapy, since it is Grof's only book about low-dose therapy. (Grof's later book LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY focuses more on the medium-high dose therapy he eventually developed.)

4. Dark Night, Early Dawn: Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind by Christopher Bache

Stolaroff called this one, "Probably the most powerful book written about psychedelics. An amazing book."

[radiometer]

Dark Night, Early Dawn: Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind

I'm finding this book quite challenging to read. I think I need to better understand Jung before proceeding with much success.

But my buddy Eddie and his unconscious had a little chat a couple of weeks ago, and were able to come to a friendly agreement about a couple of important things nevertheless.

[Expat98]

It certainly sounds interesting from the reviews at Amazon and the few pages of the book that I read online there. Any work dealing with trying to integrate the insights gained from non-ordinary states of consciousness into our normal understanding of life has got to be difficult. I added this to my reading list...hopefully will get around to reading it some time.

BTW, have you ever read anything by Ken Wilber? I see that his work is mentioned in the Table of Contents of this book. I've got some of his books on my wishlist too.

[radiometer]

I've renewed my attack and am making better progress this time around.

I'm noticing the references to Wilber but I hadn't heard of him previously.

[seeingred]

Originally Posted by radiometer

I've been reading a lot of material about Jung's concept of "The Shadow" lately, especially as approached via the psychedelic experience. I'd like to share the following few paragraphs from an article written by Myron Stolaroff and published in the anthology Hallucinogens - A reader.



Is there anyone here thinking along these lines, who would like to discuss this? If not, I hope I have at least provided some food for thought and a good book recommendation.

It's pretty fascinating. This "shadow" concept is somewhat out there to me or hard to wrap my mind around. I have been having sever bouts with sleep paralysis in which I am always in contact with this "shadow" which is more like a negative entity or projection. Just last night I had a very intense bout with sleep paralysis. I had fallen asleep with the light on, was looking out through my eyes into the couch where I was sleeping and saw very vibrant colors and hypnogogic hallucinations.
Then there was a shadowy being present, which brought disturbance to me and even tortured me with physical pain. I was fully conscious but this paralysis seems to be creating a lot of psychological stress. I am not sure if this shadow could be similar to the shadow Carl Jung talked about. But this shadow seems to be evolving, collecting all this darkness for no real reason...

The main cause of this happening could be a sleep disorder. But, it also seems that even when I am awake and not dreaming there is this shadow of things in my life. Also, the collective unconscious seems to me to be something I experience because I find myself connecting more and more to thoughts that aren't in the realm of physical expression.

[HorseBucket]

Highly interesting stuff to say the least. Swims always said that 1 mushroom trip is the equivalent of 50 sessions at the psychologist. It forces you to solve all these problems you didn't consciously know you had. That Shadow theory makes complete sense to me.

[Burnt]

whats with jung anyway? why does anyone take what that guy sais seriously?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Please see site rule #19: "Explain yourself. Your opinion is of no use if you do not explain why."

[lostmente]

I dunno if this is the same shaddow that some spiritualists refer to...but I'll offer an analogy

If ones state is zero...then ones effect is zero. If ones effect is zero then one is not noticed. Shadow is a lack of noticeable action. True shadow, merely a inability to percieve action is a foolish assumption that things happen in the shadow. For something to act, it must move, for it to move it will vibrate if you vibrate then chances are you reach a point of excitement or resonance when u are in a state of resonance you tend to want to get out of it. so, you restabilize. You shoot off some of that energy...for an atom that would be a photon.

What I'm saying is any action causes a visible effect

lostmente added 0 Minutes and 56 Seconds later...

Now...whats good about NO effect. Well its well rounded for one, its potential is universal

[Panthers007]

If you want to know about the works of Carl Gustav Jung, get the last book he wrote - Man And His Symbols. He wrote this based on a dream he had. It told him if he didn't make what he knew and was saying understandable to everyone, he would have failed in his life. So he wrote the first 100 or so pages and died.

It is an excellent overview of his work. I studied Jungian psychoanalysis for many years. It is the basis of what I use in the Western tense.

[Lobsang]

I find Tarot cards very interesting. Not for spiritual reasons but for the symbolic entry they can provide into the human mind. Not many people understand the concept however.

[Panthers007]

Tarot Cards = Blank white screen.

[poorleno]

or I Ching? Got to say the whole LSD as therapeutic tool sounds like a good idea in theory but probably unusable in practice in a clinical fashion although I may be wrong. That said, wholeheartedly agree with the bit about just being able to confront those issues you never talk about to yourself, it's the only way forward in life. The longer you leave them, they heal over with psychic scar tissue which remains uncomfrtable forever. Funny, sure I was talking about Shadows earlier...spooky!

[Lobsang]

Got to say the whole LSD as therapeutic tool sounds like a good idea in theory but probably unusable in practice in a clinical fashion although I may be wrong.

Well actually it is very valuable as a "therapeutic" tool clinically. And back when it was allowed to be used it showed great promise. But therapy has consisted of everything from dosing people very very high and chaining them to their beds in a room to intelligently designed sessions. So it really depends on the person giving the therapy. And I really do not see how one could really be fully qualified to give the therapy without a good amount of psychedelic experience themselves. I think that Sandoz use to recommend that therapists take it themselves if I remember correctly. But it is a very valuble clinical tool in the right hands. But I imagine that in the hands of a quack it could be a real joke.

[sgurrman]

Yes, it appears that, until the mid-1960s, therapy was one of the main contexts for LSD use. Most of us, who only know of LSD in its post-legal status, are not very aware of its historic context, and might find it difficult to believe how it was regarded 50 years ago. Knowing something about this has altered my own view of LSD and other psychedelics. Some of the history of therapeutic use can be found in 'Storming Heaven' by Jay Stevens, a great read in my opinion, the best resume of the history of LSD and related substances that I have come across. Low-dose therapy (psycholytic therapy) took place alongside one-off high-dose psychedelic therapy.

In Jung's system, shadow integration is just one phase or aspect. He also writes of anima integration, then of the archetype of the wise old man, typically as a progression as one grows older. I see no reason why, in theory, psychedelics could not be skilfully used in all these aspect of ones life. I also suspect that, in the 'high dose or low dose?' question, it is not an either/or situation, but more that the one could complement the other. High dose can be important in revealing the overall vision/gestalt/context within which low dose psychotherapy can operate. Without some kind of greater vision, personal psychotherapy can lack direction, just going round and round in circles, getting nowhere in years apart from lining the therapist's pocket. Conversely, high-dose vision without any more down-to-earth mind work can create, at worst, folk who think they are enlightened or god, but are a total psychological mess - again, in Jungian language, unable to integrate the experience.

[passer-by]

Then there was a shadowy being present, which brought disturbance to me and even tortured me with physical pain. I was fully conscious but this paralysis seems to be creating a lot of psychological stress.

I once saw this figure also. The only thing altering my consciousness was meditation before sleeping to silence my mind. Before I even had time to realize it I was "consciously sleeping", feeling sensations normally felt during sleep, (REM, decreased circulation, numbness of limbs, involuntary twitches, etc.). Eventually my eyes open and the shadow-figure was before me, (lights off, but there was moonlight), immediately I related it to fear, (maybe because that was my first hallucination), and there were signs of physical stress from this experience.

That was the last time I meditated before sleep; I doubt I would be able to accomplish the "conscious sleep" again anyway. It's just so unnatural-feeling to be worth it.

passer-by added 0 Minutes and 52 Seconds later...

Then there was a shadowy being present, which brought disturbance to me and even tortured me with physical pain. I was fully conscious but this paralysis seems to be creating a lot of psychological stress.

I once saw this figure also. The only thing altering my consciousness was meditation before sleeping to silence my mind. Before I even had time to realize it I was "consciously sleeping", feeling sensations normally felt during sleep, (REM, decreased circulation, numbness of limbs, involuntary twitches, etc.). Eventually my eyes open and the shadow-figure was before me, (lights off, but there was moonlight), immediately I related it to fear, (maybe because that was my first hallucination), and there were signs of physical stress from this experience.

That was the last time I meditated before sleep; I doubt I would be able to accomplish the "conscious sleep" again anyway. It's just so unnatural-feeling to be worth it.

[humdroid]

Y never used psychedelics until middle age, but he used the low doses. Partly because he was scared of intense tripping, and partly because of what the first post covers.

Ages ago Y surfed the web, and heard the term 'low dose mind f*ck", although unable to find the link now, his experience of low doses was this:

They put you on the threshold of how it is now, and what the drugs can help you see in your unconscious. A foot in both worlds. Uncomfy, - a bit, but a little self honesty, and self gentleness at this time meant Y also found the expereience beautiful visually, scientifially, and perceptually.