Thanks Michael! I’m so glad it resonated! Yeahh, the thought just popped into my mind when I was on the plane and it all made so much sense. It also made me feel better about really enjoying the lyrics, especially as an adult! Haha
I’m glad to find another Eminem/Jung fan out there too! I’d love to know your fave Eminem album and when you discovered Jung?
Both these guys hold a special place in my heart even though they literally come from different time and space realities. I love it! Thanks for the share as well! I really appreciate it :)
It’s too hard to pick a favourite Eminem album, but I still have vivid memories of rocking ‘Lose Yourself’ out of my Sony disc-men on the bus to high school.
And I found Jung through studying philosophy years later in my late 20s - I still have much more of Jung to explore.
I have similar memories too. I remember being on a road trip with my best friend's family listening to Eminem on my friend's disc-man. We were sharing a pair of headphones and giggling like crazy in the backseat haha. It felt like our little secret lol! Gonna go listen to Lose Yourself now haha.
Also, that's pretty cool, I heard of him while studying psychology at uni but didn't fully get into his work until a few years ago. I feel like there's ALWAYS going to more of Jung to explore... His work is dense and fantastic! Was there anything in particular that drew you to his work?
Hahaha yeah there was definitely something about listening to Eminem as a kid/young teen that made it feel like mischievous or that it was a secret my parents were not privy to (even though they probably bought me the album).
Yeah, there’s always gonna be more Jung. There were certain people (whose names escape me) who mentioned things he said that drew me to his work. And I kinda just really appreciate that he wasn’t afraid to discuss the side of the human experience that is more mystical and that doesn’t map onto science that well. Because I think for an academic, like him, to do so is really gutsy.
This is an awesome piece, and I also grew up with Eminem. I can still rap many Em songs beginning to end (who born before 1995 doesn’t know every word to Lose Yourself?)
I always felt this way about him as an artist, but you articulated it so well. The persona he created to live out his darkest thoughts -- I always admired that.
Since I’ve begun publicly sharing my own writing, I think a lot about the type of “artist” I’ll be. Sinking into depths of “The Shadow” sounds exhilarating, and excited to continue to explore edges of my own art.
Thanks for this write up, super thoughtful and inspiring.
Totally agree that Eminem’s fearless embrace of the shadow is super inspiring for all kinds of artists! The shadow can be confronting but it’s good to know what’s in there and express it without causing too much chaos. And if we’re called to go there, we gotta go there (as healthily as we can!). Keep me posted on how the exploration goes! What’s been your experience with the shadow so far?
P.s. also have every word of lose yourself (and many others) in my mind forever. And that makes me feel so happy!
Excellent article - thanks. I was just researching Jung's shadow and Eminem for writing my own experience on Substack and this came up, bring me right back to Substack. Very cool. The difference for me is that I did not have Eminem in my teen years (too old) and when my son listened as a teenager I could not get it or relate at all. ("Turn that dreadful noise down" yelled up the stairs etc). It took my Shadow emerging brought on by Menopause - Hence writing an essay on How Eminem got me through the Menopause - to discover Slim Shady and my own Shadow. My son was delighted and so was I - imagine discovering an artist you LOVE who has a back catalogue so huge. I was unable to listen to anything else except either Eminem or Beethoven for quite a long time, ha ha. He has enabled me to start exploring my own Shady (it's okay - just Anarchy Poetry as I'm calling it!!). It is about being WHOLE you are quite right. I was so nice and suppressed all the other stuff. Now? Less 'friends' and much happier. Strange world!
Hi April, thank you so much for your comment. I am glad I'm not the only one who thought about the Eminem/Jung relationship! And it's so heartening to hear that Eminem helped you through menopause and it's helped you be with your shadow. It takes a HUGE amount of courage to do so. Love that you're going deep and getting the rewards! I also read your article and thank you for the shout out. I'm so happy you seem to be finding your way back to yourself. Any age is a good time to start unpacking this stuff. I was also the 'good girl' for most of my childhood/teens/20s (kid of first gen migrants). I also thought anger was an immoral emotion. How shocked I was when all those suppressed emotions emerged! Congrats on letting go of the 'friends' who probably aren't interested in seeing the whole you. Happiness sometimes comes from strange things indeed! Sometimes in the guise of vulgar/hilarious rap lyrics :)
Great comment. Thank you for reading my article too. It is a shock to get in touch with our darker side but I believe that it has much to offer us once we can find our 'whole' and balanced way of being. I have been on another rap binge since writing the article which has been fun! Best wishes. Keep exploring
Hi April, no problems at all, it's always nice to meet people on a similar journey. It certainly is a shock when we discover those darker parts of ourselves but I've found it's strangely made me a calmer person.
P.s I also went on another Eminem binge after reading your article :)
Yes me too (calmer person!!) Also, to listen to his lyrics and then ask my son "What does he mean by this?" "What does that mean?" has brought me and him closer together because it is something he is an 'expert' on and me the 'novice' - this has brought a more horizontal relationship rather than being in a continuous vertical relationship illusion of parent/child.
Now I am feeling I have to watch '8 mile' again too - love that movie!
Thanks Jon! What was it that triggered this realisation? You are the third person that's told me they made this same connection then found my article! Glad you enjoyed it!
Pleasure! Thanks for writing it! My wife and mother both hate Eminem’s music — too violent, too angry, etc, which I understand. Got me wondering why I enjoyed it so much. I really relate to Em, yet I've never been a violent person... And poof — it hit me. He appeals to some part of me. I had become somewhat familiar with the Jungian concept of the shadow from Jordan Peterson years ago.
You're welcome Jon! Yes, I understand why they might not like Eminem. Some of his lyrics are downright confronting. But for some reason they drew me in as well — from a very young age too! (Maybe we are all born with the shadow?) And like you said, it's funny how deeply we can resonate with ideas or concepts that we'd never dream to carry out in real life! There is a part of us that needs the darker aspects of life recognised. Have you heard Eminem's most recent song release?
Absolutely. Interestingly, even though Eminem/Shady has been rapping such horrible things all these years, he's never done any of them! For the same reason you and I haven't. It's his shadow talking - not his intention.
Yes! I love it. I can't wait for the return of Shady.
Exactly! Sometimes thoughts will pop up and you'll wonder, 'where did that come from'? But it's just our shadow talking, making us aware of another side of ourselves. No need to act them out.
I am also excited for the album too! Thanks for commenting Jon. Enjoy the album when it comes out.
I love the connection you make here. I was in middle school when my classmates all loved The Real Slim Shady; I wasn’t allowed to listen, so it wasn’t until college when I finally investigated Eminem’s catalog. I was a “Lose Yourself” guy—I’d play the song on repeat before big exams to psyche myself up—but the idea of exercising and managing that lurking shadow we each have elevates my “The Real Slim Shady” appreciation.
My piece for this coming Sunday focuses around reinterpreting an old favorite song and extracting new meaning from it, so it was encouraging to read your analysis as well. I feel like I finished reading this and will never hear “Slim Shady” the same way again in the best way!
Thanks Michael! Yes, I also wasn't allowed to Eminem or watch the Simpsons growing up. Haha but I managed to sneak listen here and there until I was old enough to get an ipod nano (remember those?). I'm also a big fan of Lose Yourself. It's such a good one!
Oh that's so cool your next post is about a favourite song too! I'll be sure to check that out. I'm already so curious about what that old favourite song is!
Hello, Renee. Nice to meet you. April Whalley brought me here from her substack article about Eminem (Slim) and her menopausal shadow work. Great stuff! Such a huge act of courage and heart! And as you mentioned, too late to start doesn't actually exist.
And I enjoyed your article. Thank you for making that connection with Eminem, someone who I have not ever actively listened to.
I've been studying Jung since 1976, initially in dream work via Jungian writers, not Jung himself. I had horrific dreams, serial dreams, lucid dreams, etc and intuitively or synchronistically all the dream books I bought 'at random’ were Jungian. So great. And it was his interpretation of another medical doctor's client’s bizarre dream about a mastodon that told Jung that the other doctor’s client was suffering from a spinal ailment that turned on my deep dive into Jung . So for me, the Eminem connection to the shadow is not 'out-there' and yet that you made the connection is wonderful and delightful. Loved it, beautifully done.
I wonder if you would like this shadowy song? It is playing now as I write this from the playlist I finished creating this morning for my latest substack, which is a shadow exploration. I'll publish it early tomorrow morning, which is my weekly publication deadline. That I would come here and read about the shadow while writing about the shadow is an odd synchronicity. And then that gets compounded in another very odd synchronicity that my essay includes a picture of Jung, the one used on ‘The Portable Jung’ cover. And a comment Jung made about the Book of Job in the Bible. You may enjoy it. Here is the song. "AroarA - #2" https://youtu.be/FyOw0wymZoc?si=TAOffh9Uv61seBXJ
(And the playlist for my essay, if you get curious, because you obviously like music. Although before you jump in and check it out April’s linked Slim Shady video is, I repeat, the first Eminem video I've actually attended! And I really enjoyed it, so thank you April and Renee. Anyway, proceed with caution. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF1p1oStAl4n5ndUtTQ_E4osjLeaQnoks&si=-tTwJjMZcKJZxywL)
Regarding the psychological map. It would be great if you included the key to its structure. As it looks now, without what all the letters mean, it looks like the shadow is wholly within the collective unconscious. That is, to my understanding, not correct. I am a bit dubious about this representation, even with the connectors between the personal and the collective unconscious. That distinction is important, and was the single biggest reason Freud discarded Jung, who went into a bad depression for a number of years (ten?) following that traumatic split that shook the analytic psychology world at the time.
And here are two more synchronicities. Which is the main reason I’m writing this. I use synchronicities to guide and direct my actions. So, five of them got me here, so here I am writing! LOL. Life really does have a sense of humour.
The first was the shadow, the 2nd was the picture and the 3rd the anthology. The 4th synchronicity is that while I was doing my latest essay writing I was remembering my first pure Jung anthology and reading *Answer to Job* for the first time in it. Yup, the Portable Jung edited by Joseph Campbell was my first Jung anthology in my library, that very edition you have in your reference list. And the third synchronicity is that that my Monday essay is a deep and subtle exploration of the shadow that made itself known when I was triggered during a metaphysical comment thread following my other shadow substack shadow work essay about what is the meaning of life, looking at duality, materiality, spirit, Gautama Buddha’s ideas and quite a bit more.
And I will likely sound like a bit of a downer here. Yes, people like Slim Shady help others to become aware of something shadowing within that *may* exist. Unfortunately, the people like April and yourself who really seriously and heartfuly and courageously take full ownership of their shadow and are able to use people like Slim to help them is relatively rare. More typical is addiction or addictive behaviours of various sorts, which include things like reading books, which was a huge shadow avoidance addiction for me for 30 years. Your list of popular activities are more accurately a reflection of how much the shadow is being denied than reflecting people working on it actively. IMO, anyway.
My last substack is a letter to my dead mother. I wrote it because of several related synchronicities and some chronic physical discomfort that is related to some part of me and my body hanging on to trauma, which are unprocessed events of a physical, psychological or emotional shock. Trauma as shadow. My epistle is a look at my shadow and how some of it was created by the circumstances of my childhood. To suppress my shadow I became addicted to books as the best way for me to keep my anger under control. Except when it wasn’t, of course.
Societally we tend to look at drug addicts - alcohol, prescription and street — and may say there before the grace of God go I and when we get home we watch Anime, read books, listen to music, eat food, shop too much, do yoga, become vegan, and all the other compulsive behaviours we have and which we do without a clue that all those *can be* (and mostly are) the addictive behaviours of anxiety and the associated energies of suppressing our shadows.
It’s fantastic and important that you and another commenter here have been inspired by Slim Shady’s honesty to become honest with your own shadows. I commend you with a deep bow. That is the act of real true courage. Amazing. It has been a great pleasure meeting you here, out from under the shadows and into the light of Jung's astute observations and pragmatic solutions.
All the best, with peace, respect, love and gratitude.
Hi Guy, lovely to meet e-meet you too. Thank you for your in depth and thoughtful comment. Very glad you found me through April. Funny how two (or more) people can come to the same conclusions completely independently.
Very interesting to hear you've been studying Jung since '76. I always feel pangs of remorse that we were not alive in the same time period, oh what it would have been like to have a conversation with him! I came across him several years ago through studying psychology and went into a deep dive after I encountered my 'unconscious'. Very interesting to hear how you started with dreams... I'm glad the connection between Eminem and Jung wasn't a stretch for you too. And happy you got to listen to Eminem for the first time too!
Also appreciate the song recommendations. I'll check them out along with the article you mentioned you're writing. Funny how reading about the shadow and listening to songs about it too. Very odd synchronicity indeed.
Regarding the psychological map, I am still working my way through the Jung anthology and getting myself acquainted with the original writings. So I'd have to do a little more reading to be sure (or unsure) of it's complete accuracy. What I enjoyed was that it was a simplified visual representation of the basic components that I'd been reading about in great detail. It is certainly on my list to do a deep dive and explore all those different components. (And keep working through the collected works, there's so much ground to cover but I love it!!)
I loved hearing about all the synchronicities that brought you to my article. It's funny how these things happen. I was very interested to hear your idea of 'book addiction'. I may have to look into that myself!! Books bring me great comfort and I have been an avid reader all my life. I agree with you, most humans are addicted to something. Some are just more 'socially acceptable' than others. I also agree it takes a lot of courage to actively confront the deeper parts of ourselves that are linked to these addictions and not everyone is ready. But I do believe that one person at a time can have a ripple effect bigger than that person could ever imagine. Look at my substack, I started writing for myself after years of writing for other people. And now I've got this beautiful growing community of people along for the ride.
I appreciate the time you took to read and comment on my work. And I also commend you for what seems a lifetime of dedication and discovery of a 'higher truth'. What ever that means to you. It's been a pleasure to meet you and I'm looking forward to reading your articles and following your journey. Well wishes from another deep diver.
I have spent a LOT of time trying to suppress the dark alter ego so to read a piece promoting a healthy relationship with our duality was thought-provoking and very interesting. I agree with your sentiment that we have to speak our truths, but jeez this is often so hard. You even made me want to check out Eminem (who I have never ever listened to, if anything it was all grunge and rock for me).
Same here Poodle Chef! (If that’s your real name🕵️♂️) I also spent a A LOT of time trying to be ‘good’ but in the process accidentally repressed a lot of feelings that had to come out in my mid-late 20s.
I’m glad you found the piece thought provoking too. It is important to speak our truth, even though I agree it can be really hard!
Can highly recommend The Eminem Show if you wonna start listening to his music. I’d love to hear how you find it as an adult with less nostalgia. What kind of grunge/rock were you into? I feel like a lot of that music is also potentially a healthy expression of the shadow too.
Poodle Chef is the name of my dark & shadowy alter-ego....it sounds quite dangerous and subversive, no? Actually, I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started substack but never gotten round to changing it.
I enjoyed guns and roses - the Use your Illusion albums as a teenager, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. A few years ago I started writing my own music but was immediately appalled by the lyrics and sounds that surfaced and I kept trying to sanitise it, but now I just accept it. It is so much healthier to just accept that I am a dog (a poodle in fact). :)
Ah yes, the dark-alter ego... should have known! Very dark and subversive indeed. Oh nice, I also enjoyed Pearl Jam, Tool, and Nirvana growing up too. That's so interesting you were initially repelled by what came out (I experienced something similar with my art) but I love that you're now able to accept it! I agree it's much healthier to just let that stuff come out! Is the music you make now still in the grunge/rock genre now?
I actually stopped making music for a long while for various reasons but have recently gone back to these old demos with the aim to completing them as they were meant to be....leaving it half done for all these years it ended up tearing on my psyche (perhaps I have to finish this mission before I can continue on the main quest?)...If you want to listen there are a few songs out there in the dark corners of the web
It so interesting how we find the resources and the resonances for the things that concern us at the exact right time.
Hi Simon, I was browsing through old comments and realised I had missed your last reply from last year! Sorry about that. How has your music demo mission been going? Those side quests are sometimes just as important in the moment as the main quest. I would love to listen to some of your music! Which parts of the net can I find them? Looking forward to it!!
It's funny how the creative itch that never leaves right? It just grows and morphs and sometimes I feel like I am just along for the ride! I've definitely found that with my art as well. I like to draw and paint faces. People have always fascinated me. I'm actually in the process of updating my website which will have a section all about art! I can let you know when it's ready if you like.
Thanks Michael! I’m so glad it resonated! Yeahh, the thought just popped into my mind when I was on the plane and it all made so much sense. It also made me feel better about really enjoying the lyrics, especially as an adult! Haha
I’m glad to find another Eminem/Jung fan out there too! I’d love to know your fave Eminem album and when you discovered Jung?
Both these guys hold a special place in my heart even though they literally come from different time and space realities. I love it! Thanks for the share as well! I really appreciate it :)
It’s too hard to pick a favourite Eminem album, but I still have vivid memories of rocking ‘Lose Yourself’ out of my Sony disc-men on the bus to high school.
And I found Jung through studying philosophy years later in my late 20s - I still have much more of Jung to explore.
I have similar memories too. I remember being on a road trip with my best friend's family listening to Eminem on my friend's disc-man. We were sharing a pair of headphones and giggling like crazy in the backseat haha. It felt like our little secret lol! Gonna go listen to Lose Yourself now haha.
Also, that's pretty cool, I heard of him while studying psychology at uni but didn't fully get into his work until a few years ago. I feel like there's ALWAYS going to more of Jung to explore... His work is dense and fantastic! Was there anything in particular that drew you to his work?
Hahaha yeah there was definitely something about listening to Eminem as a kid/young teen that made it feel like mischievous or that it was a secret my parents were not privy to (even though they probably bought me the album).
Yeah, there’s always gonna be more Jung. There were certain people (whose names escape me) who mentioned things he said that drew me to his work. And I kinda just really appreciate that he wasn’t afraid to discuss the side of the human experience that is more mystical and that doesn’t map onto science that well. Because I think for an academic, like him, to do so is really gutsy.
This is an awesome piece, and I also grew up with Eminem. I can still rap many Em songs beginning to end (who born before 1995 doesn’t know every word to Lose Yourself?)
I always felt this way about him as an artist, but you articulated it so well. The persona he created to live out his darkest thoughts -- I always admired that.
Since I’ve begun publicly sharing my own writing, I think a lot about the type of “artist” I’ll be. Sinking into depths of “The Shadow” sounds exhilarating, and excited to continue to explore edges of my own art.
Thanks for this write up, super thoughtful and inspiring.
Thanks Bryce! Glad you enjoyed the piece!
Totally agree that Eminem’s fearless embrace of the shadow is super inspiring for all kinds of artists! The shadow can be confronting but it’s good to know what’s in there and express it without causing too much chaos. And if we’re called to go there, we gotta go there (as healthily as we can!). Keep me posted on how the exploration goes! What’s been your experience with the shadow so far?
P.s. also have every word of lose yourself (and many others) in my mind forever. And that makes me feel so happy!
Renee this was amazing!
I loved every bit of it.
I had never drawn the connection between Eminem’s Slim Shady and Carl Jung’s Shadow - that is brilliant.
I am also a 90s baby and I rocked Eminem like so many others. And I am also a big fan of Jung, so this piece resonated with me in so many ways.
Great read - thank you.
Excellent article - thanks. I was just researching Jung's shadow and Eminem for writing my own experience on Substack and this came up, bring me right back to Substack. Very cool. The difference for me is that I did not have Eminem in my teen years (too old) and when my son listened as a teenager I could not get it or relate at all. ("Turn that dreadful noise down" yelled up the stairs etc). It took my Shadow emerging brought on by Menopause - Hence writing an essay on How Eminem got me through the Menopause - to discover Slim Shady and my own Shadow. My son was delighted and so was I - imagine discovering an artist you LOVE who has a back catalogue so huge. I was unable to listen to anything else except either Eminem or Beethoven for quite a long time, ha ha. He has enabled me to start exploring my own Shady (it's okay - just Anarchy Poetry as I'm calling it!!). It is about being WHOLE you are quite right. I was so nice and suppressed all the other stuff. Now? Less 'friends' and much happier. Strange world!
Hi April, thank you so much for your comment. I am glad I'm not the only one who thought about the Eminem/Jung relationship! And it's so heartening to hear that Eminem helped you through menopause and it's helped you be with your shadow. It takes a HUGE amount of courage to do so. Love that you're going deep and getting the rewards! I also read your article and thank you for the shout out. I'm so happy you seem to be finding your way back to yourself. Any age is a good time to start unpacking this stuff. I was also the 'good girl' for most of my childhood/teens/20s (kid of first gen migrants). I also thought anger was an immoral emotion. How shocked I was when all those suppressed emotions emerged! Congrats on letting go of the 'friends' who probably aren't interested in seeing the whole you. Happiness sometimes comes from strange things indeed! Sometimes in the guise of vulgar/hilarious rap lyrics :)
Great comment. Thank you for reading my article too. It is a shock to get in touch with our darker side but I believe that it has much to offer us once we can find our 'whole' and balanced way of being. I have been on another rap binge since writing the article which has been fun! Best wishes. Keep exploring
Hi April, no problems at all, it's always nice to meet people on a similar journey. It certainly is a shock when we discover those darker parts of ourselves but I've found it's strangely made me a calmer person.
P.s I also went on another Eminem binge after reading your article :)
Yes me too (calmer person!!) Also, to listen to his lyrics and then ask my son "What does he mean by this?" "What does that mean?" has brought me and him closer together because it is something he is an 'expert' on and me the 'novice' - this has brought a more horizontal relationship rather than being in a continuous vertical relationship illusion of parent/child.
Now I am feeling I have to watch '8 mile' again too - love that movie!
I came to the same realization! Googled the idea and came across your article. Well written!
Thanks Jon! What was it that triggered this realisation? You are the third person that's told me they made this same connection then found my article! Glad you enjoyed it!
Pleasure! Thanks for writing it! My wife and mother both hate Eminem’s music — too violent, too angry, etc, which I understand. Got me wondering why I enjoyed it so much. I really relate to Em, yet I've never been a violent person... And poof — it hit me. He appeals to some part of me. I had become somewhat familiar with the Jungian concept of the shadow from Jordan Peterson years ago.
You're welcome Jon! Yes, I understand why they might not like Eminem. Some of his lyrics are downright confronting. But for some reason they drew me in as well — from a very young age too! (Maybe we are all born with the shadow?) And like you said, it's funny how deeply we can resonate with ideas or concepts that we'd never dream to carry out in real life! There is a part of us that needs the darker aspects of life recognised. Have you heard Eminem's most recent song release?
Absolutely. Interestingly, even though Eminem/Shady has been rapping such horrible things all these years, he's never done any of them! For the same reason you and I haven't. It's his shadow talking - not his intention.
Yes! I love it. I can't wait for the return of Shady.
Exactly! Sometimes thoughts will pop up and you'll wonder, 'where did that come from'? But it's just our shadow talking, making us aware of another side of ourselves. No need to act them out.
I am also excited for the album too! Thanks for commenting Jon. Enjoy the album when it comes out.
thank you - likewise!
I love the connection you make here. I was in middle school when my classmates all loved The Real Slim Shady; I wasn’t allowed to listen, so it wasn’t until college when I finally investigated Eminem’s catalog. I was a “Lose Yourself” guy—I’d play the song on repeat before big exams to psyche myself up—but the idea of exercising and managing that lurking shadow we each have elevates my “The Real Slim Shady” appreciation.
My piece for this coming Sunday focuses around reinterpreting an old favorite song and extracting new meaning from it, so it was encouraging to read your analysis as well. I feel like I finished reading this and will never hear “Slim Shady” the same way again in the best way!
Thanks Michael! Yes, I also wasn't allowed to Eminem or watch the Simpsons growing up. Haha but I managed to sneak listen here and there until I was old enough to get an ipod nano (remember those?). I'm also a big fan of Lose Yourself. It's such a good one!
Oh that's so cool your next post is about a favourite song too! I'll be sure to check that out. I'm already so curious about what that old favourite song is!
Hello, Renee. Nice to meet you. April Whalley brought me here from her substack article about Eminem (Slim) and her menopausal shadow work. Great stuff! Such a huge act of courage and heart! And as you mentioned, too late to start doesn't actually exist.
And I enjoyed your article. Thank you for making that connection with Eminem, someone who I have not ever actively listened to.
I've been studying Jung since 1976, initially in dream work via Jungian writers, not Jung himself. I had horrific dreams, serial dreams, lucid dreams, etc and intuitively or synchronistically all the dream books I bought 'at random’ were Jungian. So great. And it was his interpretation of another medical doctor's client’s bizarre dream about a mastodon that told Jung that the other doctor’s client was suffering from a spinal ailment that turned on my deep dive into Jung . So for me, the Eminem connection to the shadow is not 'out-there' and yet that you made the connection is wonderful and delightful. Loved it, beautifully done.
I wonder if you would like this shadowy song? It is playing now as I write this from the playlist I finished creating this morning for my latest substack, which is a shadow exploration. I'll publish it early tomorrow morning, which is my weekly publication deadline. That I would come here and read about the shadow while writing about the shadow is an odd synchronicity. And then that gets compounded in another very odd synchronicity that my essay includes a picture of Jung, the one used on ‘The Portable Jung’ cover. And a comment Jung made about the Book of Job in the Bible. You may enjoy it. Here is the song. "AroarA - #2" https://youtu.be/FyOw0wymZoc?si=TAOffh9Uv61seBXJ
(And the playlist for my essay, if you get curious, because you obviously like music. Although before you jump in and check it out April’s linked Slim Shady video is, I repeat, the first Eminem video I've actually attended! And I really enjoyed it, so thank you April and Renee. Anyway, proceed with caution. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF1p1oStAl4n5ndUtTQ_E4osjLeaQnoks&si=-tTwJjMZcKJZxywL)
Regarding the psychological map. It would be great if you included the key to its structure. As it looks now, without what all the letters mean, it looks like the shadow is wholly within the collective unconscious. That is, to my understanding, not correct. I am a bit dubious about this representation, even with the connectors between the personal and the collective unconscious. That distinction is important, and was the single biggest reason Freud discarded Jung, who went into a bad depression for a number of years (ten?) following that traumatic split that shook the analytic psychology world at the time.
And here are two more synchronicities. Which is the main reason I’m writing this. I use synchronicities to guide and direct my actions. So, five of them got me here, so here I am writing! LOL. Life really does have a sense of humour.
The first was the shadow, the 2nd was the picture and the 3rd the anthology. The 4th synchronicity is that while I was doing my latest essay writing I was remembering my first pure Jung anthology and reading *Answer to Job* for the first time in it. Yup, the Portable Jung edited by Joseph Campbell was my first Jung anthology in my library, that very edition you have in your reference list. And the third synchronicity is that that my Monday essay is a deep and subtle exploration of the shadow that made itself known when I was triggered during a metaphysical comment thread following my other shadow substack shadow work essay about what is the meaning of life, looking at duality, materiality, spirit, Gautama Buddha’s ideas and quite a bit more.
And I will likely sound like a bit of a downer here. Yes, people like Slim Shady help others to become aware of something shadowing within that *may* exist. Unfortunately, the people like April and yourself who really seriously and heartfuly and courageously take full ownership of their shadow and are able to use people like Slim to help them is relatively rare. More typical is addiction or addictive behaviours of various sorts, which include things like reading books, which was a huge shadow avoidance addiction for me for 30 years. Your list of popular activities are more accurately a reflection of how much the shadow is being denied than reflecting people working on it actively. IMO, anyway.
My last substack is a letter to my dead mother. I wrote it because of several related synchronicities and some chronic physical discomfort that is related to some part of me and my body hanging on to trauma, which are unprocessed events of a physical, psychological or emotional shock. Trauma as shadow. My epistle is a look at my shadow and how some of it was created by the circumstances of my childhood. To suppress my shadow I became addicted to books as the best way for me to keep my anger under control. Except when it wasn’t, of course.
Societally we tend to look at drug addicts - alcohol, prescription and street — and may say there before the grace of God go I and when we get home we watch Anime, read books, listen to music, eat food, shop too much, do yoga, become vegan, and all the other compulsive behaviours we have and which we do without a clue that all those *can be* (and mostly are) the addictive behaviours of anxiety and the associated energies of suppressing our shadows.
It’s fantastic and important that you and another commenter here have been inspired by Slim Shady’s honesty to become honest with your own shadows. I commend you with a deep bow. That is the act of real true courage. Amazing. It has been a great pleasure meeting you here, out from under the shadows and into the light of Jung's astute observations and pragmatic solutions.
All the best, with peace, respect, love and gratitude.
Hi Guy, lovely to meet e-meet you too. Thank you for your in depth and thoughtful comment. Very glad you found me through April. Funny how two (or more) people can come to the same conclusions completely independently.
Very interesting to hear you've been studying Jung since '76. I always feel pangs of remorse that we were not alive in the same time period, oh what it would have been like to have a conversation with him! I came across him several years ago through studying psychology and went into a deep dive after I encountered my 'unconscious'. Very interesting to hear how you started with dreams... I'm glad the connection between Eminem and Jung wasn't a stretch for you too. And happy you got to listen to Eminem for the first time too!
Also appreciate the song recommendations. I'll check them out along with the article you mentioned you're writing. Funny how reading about the shadow and listening to songs about it too. Very odd synchronicity indeed.
Regarding the psychological map, I am still working my way through the Jung anthology and getting myself acquainted with the original writings. So I'd have to do a little more reading to be sure (or unsure) of it's complete accuracy. What I enjoyed was that it was a simplified visual representation of the basic components that I'd been reading about in great detail. It is certainly on my list to do a deep dive and explore all those different components. (And keep working through the collected works, there's so much ground to cover but I love it!!)
I loved hearing about all the synchronicities that brought you to my article. It's funny how these things happen. I was very interested to hear your idea of 'book addiction'. I may have to look into that myself!! Books bring me great comfort and I have been an avid reader all my life. I agree with you, most humans are addicted to something. Some are just more 'socially acceptable' than others. I also agree it takes a lot of courage to actively confront the deeper parts of ourselves that are linked to these addictions and not everyone is ready. But I do believe that one person at a time can have a ripple effect bigger than that person could ever imagine. Look at my substack, I started writing for myself after years of writing for other people. And now I've got this beautiful growing community of people along for the ride.
I appreciate the time you took to read and comment on my work. And I also commend you for what seems a lifetime of dedication and discovery of a 'higher truth'. What ever that means to you. It's been a pleasure to meet you and I'm looking forward to reading your articles and following your journey. Well wishes from another deep diver.
I have spent a LOT of time trying to suppress the dark alter ego so to read a piece promoting a healthy relationship with our duality was thought-provoking and very interesting. I agree with your sentiment that we have to speak our truths, but jeez this is often so hard. You even made me want to check out Eminem (who I have never ever listened to, if anything it was all grunge and rock for me).
Same here Poodle Chef! (If that’s your real name🕵️♂️) I also spent a A LOT of time trying to be ‘good’ but in the process accidentally repressed a lot of feelings that had to come out in my mid-late 20s.
I’m glad you found the piece thought provoking too. It is important to speak our truth, even though I agree it can be really hard!
Can highly recommend The Eminem Show if you wonna start listening to his music. I’d love to hear how you find it as an adult with less nostalgia. What kind of grunge/rock were you into? I feel like a lot of that music is also potentially a healthy expression of the shadow too.
Poodle Chef is the name of my dark & shadowy alter-ego....it sounds quite dangerous and subversive, no? Actually, I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started substack but never gotten round to changing it.
I enjoyed guns and roses - the Use your Illusion albums as a teenager, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. A few years ago I started writing my own music but was immediately appalled by the lyrics and sounds that surfaced and I kept trying to sanitise it, but now I just accept it. It is so much healthier to just accept that I am a dog (a poodle in fact). :)
Ah yes, the dark-alter ego... should have known! Very dark and subversive indeed. Oh nice, I also enjoyed Pearl Jam, Tool, and Nirvana growing up too. That's so interesting you were initially repelled by what came out (I experienced something similar with my art) but I love that you're now able to accept it! I agree it's much healthier to just let that stuff come out! Is the music you make now still in the grunge/rock genre now?
I actually stopped making music for a long while for various reasons but have recently gone back to these old demos with the aim to completing them as they were meant to be....leaving it half done for all these years it ended up tearing on my psyche (perhaps I have to finish this mission before I can continue on the main quest?)...If you want to listen there are a few songs out there in the dark corners of the web
It so interesting how we find the resources and the resonances for the things that concern us at the exact right time.
What sort of art is it that you make?
Hi Simon, I was browsing through old comments and realised I had missed your last reply from last year! Sorry about that. How has your music demo mission been going? Those side quests are sometimes just as important in the moment as the main quest. I would love to listen to some of your music! Which parts of the net can I find them? Looking forward to it!!
It's funny how the creative itch that never leaves right? It just grows and morphs and sometimes I feel like I am just along for the ride! I've definitely found that with my art as well. I like to draw and paint faces. People have always fascinated me. I'm actually in the process of updating my website which will have a section all about art! I can let you know when it's ready if you like.