Ch. 1 "The Concept of the Shadow" (9/1 – 9/7)

[Hannah]

93,

I will be moderating chapters one and two. Here are some questions to help spark discussion, feel free to answer, one, two, or as many as you like!

• 1. What alchemical processes might correspond to what von-Franz calls the "three steps" of awareness of the shadow? (pgs. 3-4)

• 2. How might personal and collective shadows interfere or support our True Will? (pg. 6)

• 3. How does the subversion of taboos reveal to us our own shadow? (pg. 10)

• 4. What is your interpretation of "The Two Travelers" story? Whose shadow is illustrated?

Looking forward to hearing your responses!

93 93/93

[zeph]

@Hannah said in Ch. 1 "The Concept of the Shadow" (9/1 – 9/7):

1. What alchemical processes might correspond to what von-Franz calls the "three steps" of awareness of the shadow? (pgs. 3-4)

There are various ways to regard the stages of the alchemical process: usually a 12, a 7, and a 3, in accord with classical astronomy and the Hebrew alphabet that pervades Western occultism. I think the 3 stage process of nigredo, albedo, and rubedo aligns quite well with Von Franz’s three steps of awareness of the shadow.

Von Franz’s first stage is an approach to the unconscious. She writes, “the shadow is simply a ‘mythological’ name for all that within me about which I cannot directly know.” This is a vast realm. The unconscious contains the personal and collective shadow, as Von Franz discusses, but also the whole of everything else outside of our tiny little circle of self-awareness. We are unconscious of everything we are not conscious of. There is only One Thing; humans are microcosms of that One Thing. In Qabalistic terms, the unconscious is both Nephesh and Neshamah, the unknown below and the unknown above — the hang ups as well as the gods. This is a lot to deal with, so probably we should set aside Neshamah for now and focus on Nephesh.

The first stage, then, is a confrontation with the seemingly personal aspects of our self which we have cast aside, probably unconsciously and unintentionally. Von Franz gives sufficient examples of this before she goes on to insist that the really courageous thing is not to simply recognize that shadow, but incorporate it back into our self.

This encounter with the shadow is akin to negredo, the blackening work of alchemy in which the material is made to decay, putrefy, dissolve, and otherwise be broken down. When we encounter our shadow with courage and determination, seeking to incorporate all these qualities back into their proper position within the self, we will necessarily begin the process of breaking down old egoic structures which stand in the way of incorporating these missing elements. It is not the shadows which we attempt to putrefy, but rather the ego in order to rearrange it such that it incorporates the whole of who we are, rather than a select portion of who we are. Von Franz discusses the unappealing side effects of this process in her examples, especially when we do not apply “great care and reflection [in order to avoid] a disturbing effect.” Sometimes we have to do the unappealing thing.

If this process of confronting the shadow is approached in this courageous way, with the intent of reintegrating that which has been cut out, then Von Franz writes that we will encounter the anima or animus, which she writes “represents feelings, moods, and ideas, etc.” These often appear to us in symbolic form or can be intentionally worked with in symbolic form, e.g. astral tripping, active imagination, etc.

If the shadow is a more personal aspect of our consciousness, the animus is transpersonal. It is a bridge to the collective unconscious. Nigredo causes us to confront that which we deny within ourselves. Albedo, the next alchemical stage and the one correspondent with this anima/animus stage of Von Franz’s outline, opens ourselves to even greater depths of the unconscious. Here we will learn that the symbolic can sit very easily upon the actual, obscuring it. These archetypes will tend to reveal themselves as “projections onto the screen of reality,” as Brugh Joy put it.

The process of withdrawing those projections necessarily involves coming to terms with those aspects of the personal and transpersonal consciousness which we have not yet embraced. That withdrawal provides a reality with greater clarity, one that is no longer burdened by the symbolism which our own psyche has thrown upon it. Thus this stage is a “whitening” stage after the preliminary “blackening” stage: we cleanse and purify, filtering out illusions and general nonsense. We begin to integrate that which was lost.

Von Franz’s final step is a confrontation with the Self, now made possible by the alleviation of psychic crud upon the landscape. All the disparate parts are now integrated, leading to individuation. In Thelemic terms, it is often the step which reveals our True Will: now that we have all our pieces, we can see what kind of instrument we are. This is the rubedo, or reddening work, as it sets our volition (Geburah) in order, in alignment with cosmic will.

On the Tree of Life, the black work is Malkuth, the white work encompasses the lower triad of Yesod-Hod-Netzach, and the red work encompasses the middle triad of Tiphareth-Geburah-Chesed. In Malkuth we are locked to matter, and the elements hold sway over us. In the first triad we begin to exert influence over those elements. In the second triad we express primacy over those elements.

It’s a lot of work.

[Hannah]

@zeph I appreciate how clearly you illustrate the continuity of the shadow with (in Thelemic terms) our HGA. It seems the animus/anima is perhaps equated with the HGA?

Not to diminish what Von-Franz states is delicate work (lifting up the rejected aspects of ourself)... as what society deems "taboo" tends to be centered on regressive and potentially destructive behaviors to group survival. Oftentimes taboos are meant to restrain the animal impulses that are very prescient in humanity. Yet, in my opinion, repression tends to increase the potency of that which is feared, like in the sexual taboos of the last hundred of years. So, perhaps in some cases taboos prevent social mayhem but in other cases, increases its deviancy?

Additionally, most humans I know (myself included) require a rupture of self to identify how animal we are. From what I hear you are saying, we have to first acknowledge the extent our animal nature directs our life, before cultivating awareness of what it means to be human?

I am curious to learn more about what the distinction is between our ego vs. shadows putrefying. Does this relate to the shadow being dependent on the object and light source which made it, i.e. the ego?

[anael_lucis]

2. How might personal and collective shadows interfere or support our True Will? (pg. 6)
3. How does the subversion of taboos reveal to us our own shadow? (pg. 10)"

I'll attempt to answer the second and in part the third question - I've gone on a bit of a tangent but this is such an important subject and I feel it may be helpful to go deep.

On the most fundamental level, Shadow is something that is either totally unconscious or is on the fringe of consciousness, and how much of it is brought into our awareness depends largely on our capacity for 1. radical honesty and 2. self-awareness; furthermore, both of these are entirely dependent upon our capacity for self-compassion (as they can be either blocked or expanded by this capacity); so if we want to set ourselves up for success (as making unconscious material conscious can be a rather tricky business) we ought to really train in Agape.
And here I use Agape and compassion interchangeably - for the two are interconnected and inseparable.

Here is why compassion is fundamental.
If we don't have self-compassion, it is difficult if not impossible to admit, forgive, let alone accept our mistakes, transgressions, fixations, imperfections, delusions, illusions, unconventional fantasies, taboos and other dark aspects of our being. In reality, all of these elements are entirely natural parts of our humanity, and we all have them to a greater or a lesser extent (until we transmute them). Yet, most of us harbor a great deal of judgment, guilt and shame about such things, and in order to protect the integrity of the ego, our self-protective mechanism kicks in causing them to become pushed into the unconscious. For so many of us, the sum of our Shadow content is too difficult to bear, so repression is a way to protect ourselves from excessive pain and/or total break in the psychic system.

The thing with the Shadow is that we are not only hiding things from others, we are (more importantly) also hiding things from ourselves - specifically from our conscious awareness. Shadow material threatens our idealized self-image, so it is regularly hidden and swept under the rug - and this is an automatic function of our survival mechanism. We don't get to simply decide: "oh I'm just going to stop doing it!" What we CAN do instead, is remove that which triggers the repression impulse: judgment, guilt, shame; and the only way to really do away with these is to develop the antidote—self-love or self-compassion. When we love ourselves in a healthy way, we are able to tolerate the garbage aspects of our being, for if we cannot do so, our ego (idealized aspect of ourselves) will never allow us to see them. We will basically remain totally oblivious and ignorant of the entire dimension of our being. We become absolutely blind to it. And furthermore, when we see any aspect of our Shadow elements in others, we experience aversion - this is how we distance ourselves from our Shadow; ego convinces oneself that "I am so pure and not at all so profane, dirty and disgusting like all of those people out there" (and this is why cultivating compassion for others weakens this projection mechanism that keeps us stuck).

If we have not yet found the philosopher's stone in our virtues and all the purified parts of ourself, then it is logical to note that we need to look elsewhere - knee-deep in the sewer of our being—the domain of the Shadow.

And from here it's pretty obvious why this is so relevant to the Great Work (including the realization of one's True Will, which is the stepping stone to the Summum Bonum). We can't change something that we can't even see or know is there. To see clearly, we must remove the obstacles that jumpstart the self-protective survival software that brings about repression. Then we can dive into that pool of excrement and work with the raw material of prima materia - there is no way out, but through.

Why is our "survival software" implicated in this process? Survival is not only about escaping physical danger and death, it's also about remaining accepted by our tribe, our society. Back in the day, when human life depended on being in the group, we developed mechanisms that ensured we remained reputable and accepted by our tribe, as being banished guaranteed a definite death - we could not survive on our own in the wilderness. Therefore, securing our reputation and cultivating the need to be accepted and validated is very much a part of the survival mechanism, and it is absolutely ancient and hardwired, and that much more difficult to break/interrupt/adjust. So hiding and suppressing our problematic, inconvenient parts into our Shadow pool has definitely ensured our good standing in society - so clearly the Shadow had its place in our life up to a point; but it cannot remain as it is.

A preliminary to realizing the True Will is to know ourselves, not merely our facade, but what is deep inside - our biases and things we do not like or are ashamed to admit even to ourselves. When we suppress aspects of ourselves, they do not disappear but rather exert influence on our perception of reality, hijack our motivations, passions and efforts - and thus directly interfere in our capacity to realize True Will - because with this predicament we do not reside in reality, but are drowning in illusions.

The key here is to not overidentify with our Shadow material. It contains thought patterns emerging from our prehistoric software, as remnants of our ancestors (collective unconscious). Other parts of our shadow are developed in childhood, because we didn't know any better as children, or we learned negative behaviors from our parents, or got burnt by traumatic experiences. The key is to remember that every thought, impulse, tendency, obsession, aversion and the like, is generated with some type of positive intention, yet, because it lacks wisdom, it comes across as unskillful and problematic. Instead of shying away from it with disgust (which makes it more loaded and we get ourselves more stuck), we should approach it with curiosity; attempt to understand ourselves - why is this coming up for me?

For instance, none of us will ever admit we are jealous of someone; on the surface, it will appear to our mind that the person we are jealous of is somehow problematic, and we wish to remove ourselves from them. But at closer inspection, when we behold a quality in another that we wish we possessed (due to the ego always comparing itself with others), we might feel less than them, it might trigger an old wound of feeling inadequate, not good enough. Naturally, we'd never admit this to ourselves. But if we have enough self-awareness to recognize our aversion as jealousy or envy (or whichever other hidden quality it conceals) it is crucial to not fall into the trap of guilt, shame and judgment. This is our inner child communicating something, pointing to a wound that has not been properly addressed and healed. It's an opportunity to relate to this inner child that feels inadequate with love and compassion, instead of generating self-loathing or distracting ourselves by hating on the unsuspecting person who was (unbeknownst to them) kind enough to serve as a mirror into our soul.

The vast majority of our Shadow is generated in childhood, even infancy (babies can recognize things like angst and depression in a caretaker's face, which can trigger fight or flight mode, and lead into automatic compensatory responses for the purpose of self-preservation, which accumulate as Shadow material). Our inner child is always innocent and pure, and deserves complete love, kindness and compassion. Every time we self-flagellate with guilt and shame, we not only reactivate our wound, but deepen it further. Treating our inner child, our skeletons, etc. with Agape can transmute the greatest of Shadows. In the same way, when we project the Shadow out onto others, we are really projecting our wound, or inner child, out, and by generating disgust, we harm ourselves directly (it is like seeing a reflection in a mirror and expressing aversion for it; deep inside this part of us knows aversion is directed at it.) If we generate compassion for what we see, we heal ourselves, as well as creating an opportunity to heal others.

Self-compassion and other-compassion are interconnected, and there is a study that shows the correlation between the two. (Important detail: Agape does not mean idiot-compassion and letting people walk all over us; Agape is an attitude from which we act; we still need wisdom to act appropriately. At times, this means being wrathful when necessary, but we can entirely do so from the place of compassion).

In my work, people regularly come to me with what they think is the most shameful, shocking sexual fantasy ever, though the incessant obsession to play it out overpowers the shame. I assure them, as my experience showed, that most everyone has some form of unconventional fantasies, at one time or another. It's just that no one discusses it openly, and certainly not in mainstream conversations. Seeing the transformation and the relief in people after they have had a chance to let it all out within a safe space, and be seen in this light and accepted, is truly its own reward. I've had an honor of working directly with people's Shadows in sessions for the past 20 years, and have learned incredibly from this experience - not only about them, but about myself, and human mind in general. I find that sexual fantasies and taboos are more often than not generated by the unconscious to work something out symbolically. They can be roleplayed in a pretend-manner, using imagination, acting and speech to make them feel realistic, without them playing out fully in reality - and I find that this functions well to saturate and satisfy the fixation. Fantasies can be crumbs that, if we dare follow, could bring about major balancing of the dark archetypes yearning to find expression (which are typically suppressed and imprisoned in daily life, but can at times burst free in undesired, destructive ways). This can allow one to release a great deal of psychic tension and release great deal of vitality/psychic energy - which can then be used for other things, rather than for self-suppression.

[Hannah]

@anael_lucis wooowwww thank you!! So much important stuff here!! Personally, I needed to read your post right now. I have been more blue the last couple of days and being a new mom, have been holding some unconscious shame around my darker emotions bleeding out on my baby. But what I am hearing from you is that shame only interferes with my ability to locate the emotion, define it, and move through it. For example, feeling blue makes me want to cry but I feel ashamed that crying might be selfish and damaging for my baby.. so, I push the emotion down into the shadow which then makes the cause for the blue mood hard to define. So, I start to interpret other things, unrelated to the original feeling, as being cause for my sadness, yet frustrated because that only makes things worse! But if I withhold the shame, I am not a bad mother for having feelings, then I can let it bubble up... realizing that in fact, I feel grief for my self before having a child, I miss her and feel kind of lost now that I do not value the same things as I once did. Likewise, I am very tired and perhaps frustrated that I can't have one rest day and have to always be "on." Having these feelings do not make me a bad mother and it is okay to cry every now and then.

But I think your point that it is important not to over-identify with shadow contents is very important too... if I wallow in shame for having selfish thoughts as a mom to the point where I am overtaken by concern for this, then I relinquish autonomy to unconscious impulses. Instead, giving space for myself to have those feelings then putting my attention elsewhere keeps the flow moving. For example, now that I have defined feelings of being lost without my previous identity, I need to discover what my values are now! I need my energy to explore how I am different and find new ways to grow into this self.

Thank you so much for the clear and insightful post, it was very helpful!

[jjones]

2. How might personal and collective shadows interfere or support our True Will? (pg. 6)

The Shadow is the container and substrate that contains the True Will. Whether or not the individual is aware of their True Will, there will always be some aspect of True Will within their Shadow. An individual may have even discovered how to pull a living symbol or word out of the Shadow that they feel perfectly encompasses their True Wil, but unless that individual knows every variety of application of their True Will, there will always be some application or aspect of it obscured by the Shadow. This is inherent in the definition of Shadow, as it contains all of which we choose not to identify as, whether consciously or unconsciously. The Shadow will always take up more psychic space than our regular consciousness. This means that the Shadow does not "go away," so instead we learn to live in harmony with the Shadow, as she points out near the end of the chapter. Ideally, an initiate is aware of the definition and functioning of their Shadow, chooses what goes into the Shadow, and can express the Shadow in a sublimated way (assuming that the initiate aspires to something higher). This is rarely the case, as it is all too easy to deny or ignore that which we don't like within ourselves. Rather than make any progress in terms of handling some personality aspect that was shoved into the Shadow, denying and ignoring aspects of personality just give them free reign to run our lives through subconsciousness. Since the obstacle is the path, we can use those moments where we find ourselves resisting some aspect of personality as a marker for the Shadow. When we choose to allow the resistance towards some personality aspect to overcome us, we are choosing to use the Shadow to obscure our True Will. (Notice I did not say that the Shadow can obscure True Will, but rather that we can use the Shadow to obscure True Will. I feel this subtle change in language is extremely important, as it disempowers the complex of difficult thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that von Franz says is all too easy to develop as a consequence of mythologizing the Shadow. Giving the Shadow your own autonomy only encourages splitting in the psyche, whereas by acknowledging our conscious/unconscious role in using the Shadow, we affirm the proper relationship between waking consciousness and Shadow). It also means that as we get more comfortable with our own Shadow, we are able to perceive more of the True Will.

Von Franz also points out that we are incapable of perceiving the Shadow on our own. This is one of the most important pieces within the chapter. We can only perceive the Shadow when we are relating to another person, place, or object, and even then, it is still at the outskirts of our perception. Depending on your level of comfort with the Shadow and what may or may not be in it, our ability to accurately identify and receive what is in the Shadow may vary exponentially between objects. I have found, in my own experience, when I think I'm hiding something in my Shadow, others can see whatever I'm trying to hide as clear as day and I am the only one who is choosing not to look at it. In other words, although we can't see our own Shadow, others who are trained to look out for the Shadow CAN and WILL see it whether you like it or not. If that doesn't give you a healthy dose of paranoia, props to you!

This may seem as if we are at a disadvantage since the Shadow is inherently bigger than waking consciousness and we are not even capable of perceiving it without the interactions of others, however, it is one of the most essential aspects of the human psyche. We could not have True Will without the Shadow, as the Shadow is the container of waking consciousness and often appears as the dividing line between the finite and infinite. We could not have finite awareness without the Shadow, and therefore we could not perceive our own unique True Will without the Shadow. To subtract the Shadow from the equation would destroy the mechanism by which we can even have a distinct and differentiated True Will from anyone else, since without division, Creation would simply look like a massive blur of Light.

If we add to this the idea that other people's Shadows interact with our own, it is not hard to see how the collective Shadow can also reveal things to us. With collective Shadow projections, von Franz makes the point that these stem from societal and cultural repression. Naturally, we will have our own relationship to our societal and cultural repressions. I tend to liken cultural and societal repressions as perceptual deficiencies. The things we repress as society atrophy our ability to adequately perceive and understand those psychic objects being repressed. If these repressions relate to our True Will (as they more often than not do) then these repressions just serve to obscure our view of our True Will, adding another layer we must remove to complete the Great Work. But when we interact with others, depending on their own levels of awareness of their own Shadow, we might trigger within them a state of awareness they are uncomfortable with by pointing to some aspect of their Shadow within the collective.
Since we all like to use the Shadow to hide, no one likes it when we point directly to the thing we are trying to hide. Whether these are cultural or personal aspects of someone's Shadow, this implies a level of risk or danger in the initiate who has done some level of Shadow Work since they will naturally be more comfortable and more likely to express ideas that others may not be able to hear. An aspect of an initiate's waking consciousness that is totally normal to the initiate may seem incomprehensibly Lovecraftian to a non initiate who is not even aware of the Shadow. By knowing our cultural and societal aspects of the collective Shadow, the initiate is able to navigate some of these interactions more easily and enact their True Will with less obstruction. It can also backfire by triggering people who have not done that work, making it more difficult to express the True Will (though the argument could be made that the initiate's True Will in that situation is to learn precisely that they are making it more difficult for themselves).
As initiates, and because we have done some level of Shadow Work, we can use this knowledge to create containers that allow non initiates to engage in Shadow Work. In many instances, the most difficult thing in Shadow Work is the shift in consciousness necessary to make the individual aware of some Shadow aspect. When an initiate interacts with someone who lacks experience of their own Shadow, the non initiate more often than not experiences something energetically that they cannot explain. By interacting with a non initiate without projecting the Shadow onto them, a seed is planted in the non initiate's subconscious that contains potential for modes of expression detached from Nepheshic impulse. With any luck, this may inspire the non initiate to accept the aspect of the Shadow that was being expressed once they realize that there was nothing to be afraid of. This is one of the greatest expressions of True Will I have experienced thus far in my journey, and is incredibly healing for both myself and others. Hopefully, as we evolve as a society, we can discover a way for collective Shadow Work, as these perceptual deficiencies create psychic disadvantages the same way that systemic oppression disadvantages citizens.

4. What is your interpretation of "The Two Travelers" story? Whose shadow is illustrated?

I had never heard this story before, but I absolutely loved it. The idea of the Tailor being an archetype of Mercury gave me a lot of food for thought, especially since archetypes are most commonly studied on a cosmological level rather than a "lower" level like that of fairy tales. I had not considered fairy tales as a separate genre or even plane of being different than mythology prior to reading von Franz's analysis. It is significant to me that von Franz even warns against interpreting fairy tale as mythology and cosmology as it is all too easy to force a text into a hypothesis.

One of many perspectives one could take to interpret this story is to look at the three characters as Mars, Sol, and Jupiter. Although von Franz suggests a different assignment of the archetypal energies to the forces, they seemed to me to be more in line with the Moral Triad on the Tree of Life. In my interpretation, I saw the Tailor as Sol, the Shoemaker as Mars, and the King as Jupiter.

Since the King is the easiest explanation, I would like to start there. Von Franz identifies the King with "The Dying God," which naturally would've associated him with Sol. The King does not, however, act in anyway as the Dying God in this story. Certainly, the King will die eventually, but I felt that "The Dying God" interpretation was doing the exact thing that von Franz warned against, fitting the story into a hypothesis (that whenever there is a king in a story, it must be a symbol of the Dying God). Instead, the King is a relatively static character who does not experience much change. He symbolizes the status quo and the heritage of his kingdom, remaining perched upon his throne throughout the whole story. He is also the one who bestows blessings upon the Tailor and the Shoemaker (whether that be employment, marriage, or otherwise).

I identified the Shoemaker with Mars, as opposed to Saturn like von Franz had chosen to do. The Saturnian analysis von Franz gave was fantastic, and I loved the idea of the Shoemaker being a symbol for worldview, however it is the Shoemaker who gives the story any type of dramatic impetus or motion. Rather than Saturnian, the Shoemaker is precisely what determined the Tailor's volition and carried the story forward. The Shoemaker is motivated by fear, which is the lowest form of Geburah, and demonstrates a self righteous sadism towards the Tailor. He is fearful of the Tailor when the two of them are in the King's favor causing him to lie about the Tailor and create discord. Furthermore, his anger at the end of the story is more akin to Mars.

Finally, the Tailor corresponded with Sol in my interpretation. Von Franz identifies the Tailor with Hermes and Mercurius and does not distinguish between planetary Mercury and Alchemical Mercury (the latter being related to Sol). I would like to specify that it is Alchemical Mercury that I identified the Tailor with. This is because it is not the King who acts like the Dying God, but rather the Tailor. It is the Tailor who starts off the story totally naïve. It is the Tailor who is constantly forced to die and be reborn in each ordeal (as evidenced by the Tailor's rumination at each ordeal that he won't be able to overcome said ordeal). This interpretation also explains why the Tailor does not actually become King. In the alchemical literature, it is the Red King who marries the White Queen. The Tailor inherently cannot become King because then he could no longer be Alchemical Mercury. The son that the Tailor receives for the King could in fact be the Red King (though we won't know), because it is Alchemical Mercury's reconciliation of Mars and Jupiter that births the Red King. In that regard, the Tailor does not become King because he is incapable and it is not his function.
I also chose to interpret each character as having their own Shadow, rather than seeing any one character as a representation of Shadow (whether that be the reader's or another character's). The Tailor's Shadow is illustrated in his rumination and lack of faith. The Tailor has a fantastic network of beings that he ends up relying on to help solve his ordeals. Although the Tailor has no reason to believe he couldn't overcome the ordeals provided to him or even find someone who can, he instead chooses hopelessness. This to me means that the Tailor's sense of volition is being held within his Shadow. This is why the Shoemaker's ordeals are so impactful, they are directly pointing to the fact that the Tailor lacks volition (another reason why the Tailor is not the Red King). With each ordeal, the Shoemaker points to the Tailor's Shadow again and again, and with each new ordeal, the fearful Tailor confronts this lack of volition and lack of self confidence that comes from the Martial drive inside of the Shadow.

The Shoemaker's Shadow is that he is sadistic and tyrannical. While the Shoemaker and the Tailor are traveling, the Shoemaker chooses not to give the Tailor a reasonable amount of nourishment. The Shoemaker, acting self righteously rather than justly (as Mars is the sphere of Justice), chose to punish and bully the Tailor for his light heartedness, which the Shoemaker perceived as reckless abandon and lack of preparation. When they finally sit in the court of the King, the Shoemaker fears the Tailor, further bullying him by sadistically lying to the King. It may be tempting to say that being light hearted is in the Shadow of the Shoemaker, and it certainly is (since opposites are contained within themselves), but if we are to make assumptions based on what is actually contained and portrayed within the story (rather than speculate about all of the other things that are also in the Shoemaker's Shadow) the Shoemaker views his actions with self righteousness and is ignoring the fact that he is acting sadistically when he punishes the Tailor, illustrating that the Shoemaker's Shadow is sadistic and tyrannical.

The King's Shadow is much too merciful. His Shadow is slothful, blind to the situation at hand (therefore ineffectual as a leader), and overly tolerant towards the Shoemaker. The King does not confront the Shoemaker as to why he "snitches" on the Tailor, instead tolerating that the Shoemaker is actively undermining the unity of the kingdom by wishing ill on a fellow citizen. The King cannot even provide a biological son, instead asking the Tailor to present one for him, being perhaps the most obvious instance of impotence as a King.
It is only by the interactions between the three characters that their Shadows are shown and forced to transform. By the end of the story, the King has received an heir by finally taking action and delegating tasks to his court. Having confronted his fear, the Tailor is wedded and bestowed an even higher place in the King's court (since the King has received an heir by the aid of Mercury), even being given shoes by the Shoemaker (further emphasizing that because the Tailor walked the path of Mars, he has attained new heights). The Shoemaker, because he holds onto his sadism and anger (another sign of Martial energy out of balance), goes crazy and falls into exile.

This culminates as a very Thelemic theme. The Tailor is given pride and joy for following his True Will, the King is given a successor for working with the Tailor, and the Shoemaker is exiled in madness for following his fear. I find this to be interesting because the Shoemaker is the only one who is actively banished, whereas the other two characters evolve. The King and the Tailor find a way through their Shadow, whereas the Shoemaker is a failure and is consumed by his Shadow. I am reminded of the Book of the Law, "Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth or under the earth. Nu is your refuge as Hadit your light; and I am the strength, force, vigour, of your arms." (chapter 3, verse 17). If this is illustrating a path through the Shadow, then perhaps the biggest takeaway is that fear is the enemy of Shadow Work.

[Hannah]

@jjones I appreciate the way you connect True Will as being contained within the shadow, yet I am curious about the definition of shadow being "all of which we choose not to identify as." I wonder if there are aspects of our shadow that are not part of our True Will, things we do not identify with and no longer serve us. Sounds like tricky business! Because on the other hand, I agree with you that "there will always be some aspect of True Will within [the] Shadow." You bring up an excellent point that even for those who can state their True Will in words, life is an ever-evolving dynamic motion and how our True Will is best expressed changes across a lifetime, even more. So, there will always be blind spots... which, you know what, I think I see your point now. Makes me think of the Masonic legend of the rejected stone! Perhaps many of us have unconsciously thrown out our True Will into our Shadow, and now we have to dig through that deep to find it again?

In your next paragraph, I definitely relate. It reminds me of the Emperor with no clothes... for some reason it is so embarrassing to think of other people seeing my shadow before I see it myself. Especially when I first started this kind of introspective work, I was aware of how big my blind spots were, yet I hadn't built the skills to see myself clearly, it was so frustrating!! And, I knew other people were more skilled in this than I, and could definitely see that shadow all over the place. I was mortified. Luckily, as I grow in self-awareness, I feel more at peace with my younger self because as I can see mine and others' shadows more clearly, I have much more compassion. Likely, the people I worried about the most were also the least judgmental. Also, I think humor really helps. I know that if I can laugh at myself, then I am free from that aspect of my shadow. It is quite silly to attend a parade with no clothes on, very serious-like, and puffed up... if only the emperor learned to laugh at himself! There would be much less violence in this world if people learned how to laugh.

I also really appreciate how you say "the things we repress as society atrophy our ability to adequately perceive and understand those psychic objects being repressed." This makes me think about the power of naming something... how if we collectively repress it, we no longer have the power to define it. We forget about its existence while it remains active and churning in our lives. There is something here about history, how important stories are in defining the ego of a culture.

Later you talk about the way initiates have an almost irritating effect on non-initiates, which I believe is especially the case for adepts. I think people who have integrated their shadow and exist simply in a state of certainty and truth can be very disquieting to others. I'm not sure but I wonder if this is perhaps the "red powder of projection." Adepts have a way of, just by being in proximity to others, increase the rate of putrefaction and, ultimately, transmutation. Sometimes this looks messy at first. I think it sparks a sense of unease, wondering why they aren't so clear, leading them to question just how much they know of themselves and the world. I think this happens to those who are primed to search. I really love how you describe the state of being an example for others by not projecting your Shadow on them as "one of the greatest expressions of True Will I have experienced thus far in my journey." That is beautifully said! And now thinking about it, it is safe to say that this is an aspect of every person's True Will, imho... something to practice living everyday!

I so so appreciate your alternative interpretation of the story!! I agree that Von Franz seems to do the thing she warns against, trying to fit a rigid model to the story... your correspondences to the three planets makes a lot of sense. I especially like your association of the Tailor to the Sun. Honestly, I did not like the story or her interpretation... but using your analysis, especially discovering that it is a Thelemic parable, makes me like it much more! While reading this section of your post, I thought of how cool it would be to write fairy tales using the tarot trumps and court cards to highlight the nuances of their energy, for example, their ego, superconsciousness, shadow, etc.. like how you uplift those layers in the characters of this tale. Very cool!

Your ending statement, so solid and inspiring. Fear being the enemy of shadow work is deeply resonate, thank you for sharing!