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.
Quote:
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.
06-05-2008, 09:51
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