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More or less monthly posts about Transformative Healing Dolls

Coming Out From Under a Collective Shadow...

8/13/2021

2 Comments

 
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​We are living under a poisonous shadow during this divisive time. The weight of this shadow hangs heavily on all of us, no matter our political or personal beliefs. It might be helpful to look at one of the founders of psychology, Carl Jung’s, concept of the collective shadow to understand more about what we as human beings are facing right now. Jung saw each of us as having a shadow, a sort of internal dungeon, where we throw all the experiences and feelings we don’t want to face. The shadow doesn’t go away but instead weighs us down and influences us from below, influencing everything we do and say. 
 
The collective shadow
Just as this personal shadow weighs us down, we are also affected by collective shadows.  Whole groups of people within a culture reject painful feelings and uncomfortable experiences and throw them into a collective shadow dungeon. Whatever this first group doesn’t own, gets projected onto an “other,” usually another group within the culture. The other then becomes seen as not human, not worthy of the same care and empathy, becoming a two-dimensional symbol of everything that is wrong with the world. 
 
An extreme example of a collective shadow from Jung’s time
In Jung’s time, and in an extreme example, it was the rise of the Nazi party, which represented the dangerous effects of a collective avoidance of the shadow. A charismatic leader can take advantage of the suffering of one societal group by claiming that another group is to blame. This targeted group becomes the collective scapegoat, allowing those within the first group to have someone to blame for their suffering. 
 
What gets lost, our ability to empathize with the “other”
What gets lost is the ability to empathize with what becomes the “other.” Whole groups of people, or living beings are seen as not human, or not real, not deserving of empathy. This can happen not only with other humans but also with other living beings, such as animals, trees and protected land. The mind wants to make sense out of a painful reality, to find someone or something to blame. This can make it easy to grasp onto an explanation, especially when it seems to be held by many others.
 
Collective shadows can take all forms
Climate denial, racism, homophobia, sexism-all of these can turn into collective shadows, but so also can the tendency to reject people or groups who hold these beliefs. Not to say that climate denial, racism and all these collective shadows are not extremely dangerous. But it can be easy to see those who embrace climate denial and other shadow beliefs and throw them into the shadow as well. Finding a balance can seem extremely difficult, even impossible. 
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​How do we as individuals resist the pull of the collective shadow? 
How do we as individuals, resist the pull of this powerful dynamic to throw whatever we reject into a collective shadow? We are creatures of community; we need each other and we need the company of others. When the communal atmosphere is poisoned by judgments, rejection and other negative emotions, how do we find a place for compassion and kindness? We need to be able to resist dangerous and destructive forces, from a place of inner strength and integrity, rather than from a place of hatred and judgment. As much as we can, we need to reject the temptation to react from a place of shadow, and instead find ways, however small to connect with our common humanity and aliveness. 
 
How can shadow doll work help?
In the shadow doll work, we start with ourselves. We begin to befriend this “other” within ourselves and to see that this part of ourself is worthy of love. We begin to see that rather than a strange and scary other, the shadow, like all parts of ourself, is part of a whole. We can reject it out of hand, or we can try to understand and find potential wisdom within it. And then, from this place of self-acceptance and integrity, we can look at the ways in which we might have joined a collective shadow, perhaps even a shadow inherited from our ancestors. Gradually we become stronger, fiercer and more whole. 
 
Deep and Important Work
The is deep work and important work. And it cannot be done alone. We need each other and we need to find those still places within us and within our society, to have the compassion and forgiveness to let go of beliefs that no longer serve us. 
2 Comments
Briana link
9/5/2021 07:18:54 pm

Wow, Erika, thank you for speaking so clearly to this!

An elementary school teacher who'd survived WWII in the Netherlands told us this, too: that the very idea of an "in" group with status CREATES the whole dynamic of blaming, dehumanizing, and other taboos that fester in the dark, which makes it only a matter of time before someone with enough charisma to pull it off, speaks to a powerful "in" group's unconscious tenets and makes war.

I like how you said it, too.
THANK YOU.

I notice that I am writing something for my clients, coming first FROM the shadow I share with them, just to fully empathize with it, and THEN I will edit the writing to be more like the tone you strike here. The process is throwing me for quite an extended loop on my path!

It's so good for me to read your wisdom at this very tender time. Thank you.

Reply
Erika link
10/18/2022 08:23:12 am

thanks so much, Briana for your kind words which I am only now seeing for some reason. I am glad this post had so much meaning for you.

Reply



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    Erika

    I've been making dolls for about ten years now. I believe that dolls serve as representations and reminders of the best part of ourselves. I am excited to share with you here my learnings about new methods and techniques for doll making and healing. So glad you are here!

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  • Welcome
  • Gallery
    • Flip Dolls >
      • Large Scale Flip Dolls
      • Shadow Flip Dolls
      • Alter Ego Flip Doll Exhibit
    • Healing Crone Dolls
    • Ancestor Dolls
    • Fairy Tale Dolls
    • Original Dolls
  • Workshops and Resources
    • Tending Your Inner Garden
    • Private Individual Sessions with Erika
  • About Erika...
  • Blog