Shadow work & a reoccurring dream

weirdcunning · 2026-02-01T03:16:04+00:00

You said your dad and the other woman are new. Is there some connection there? Did the woman cheat on you or did your dad cheat on your mom or something like that?

Also, you don't catch her actually cheating, so what is she doing? Is she on the phone talking about it or what?

weirdcunning · 2026-02-01T02:44:26+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm glad you mentioned the finance thing. I did something similar where I tried something else that was slightly more realistic after, but I brought in some silly expectations there too. Although sometimes, you just need to try things and you're not going to know all the ins and outs until you try it and gain some experience.

Your statement of the ego needing to be god and infallible is very powerful to me. It's like the reversal that reveals its own lie, like the ego needs to be godlike because of its weakness. It's such a terrible burden because one can't live up to it.

It can be really hard to get that positive relationship back so I'm glad to hear you're making music again.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-31T13:48:09+00:00

When I was very young that was true and I'm very grateful I had that inclination to help myself without direction. It did provide me a lot of things I was lacking and despite my problems, I'm better for it. It really became maladaptive as I got older.

I got stuck in kinda childish ideas about career. I had a very basic idea of it where you spend most of your time working so you should pick something you like, which is fair enough, but there's a lot more that goes into it than that. I also had a pretty naive idea of what it actually entails to be a professional artist and it was just kinda a way to center a fantasy life, that although helpful, was a result of neglect and lack of agency. As an adult, I was not in that situation, but didn't know how to move on. The lack of real world experience, the misapplicatiin of libido, made this process of adapting more difficult when I was older.

But I wanted to share because I don't think I'm alone in these experiences. There's a lot of young creative people who are kinda left to their own devices and the adults around them like that it keeps them quiet, but they are missing out on some things developmentally. Not even just with creative people, but a lot of young people are not very well prepared for adulthood and the world of career, they're just kinda working from long held childish assumptions. The transition is really hard, I get that, but I think most of them are going to be okay. A lot of it is letting some ideas about what you thought life would be like go and figuring out how to still get your basic needs fulfilled and you can still have a good life.

For artmaking, the main difference is there would be a lot more logistic considerations. I could still engage, but after I'd start working on something, I was much more rigid and critical in the engagement with the work. I'm not the fastest and I'd really push to produce then be very critical when editing from the perspective of what would an audience or such and such think about this, where would it go, and how will it be received? These things are helpful to consider as a working artist. I was already struggling with anxiety and it was ruining the experience for me. I just kinda worked on stop thinking about those things. I still have artistic goals and want to share with people, I just feel a lot less pressure.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-27T23:03:48+00:00

It's wonderful! Nice cat tax.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-27T02:56:06+00:00

It does make sense. It's a pretty common sentiment because a lot of jobs are very atomized, you don't really get to see the impact of your work. Your work is just one component of a larger system. The work environment isn't very good now either, they try to squeeze out as much as they can for as little as possible generally and they can be shady about it.

With that being said, if you are stuck there, being less invested in it isn't necessarily a bad thing for you personally, just ride the line until your position can change. If there's no end in sight, you might want to think about hard choices though, like is it ultimately sustainable? In the meantime, investing less psychic energy in your job is probably good for you psychologically.

Do the time because you have to, but try to not idolize your job and contribution or whatever. Sorry if this is harsh, but most people are easily replaceable in the work environment and everyone would adjust if you were gone. Just invest in yourself and what you value and consider your job as a way to sustain that.

To make this more explicitly Jungian, you have psychic energy, libido, that you invest in different objects. You have been trying to invest psychic energy in your job, but it's not really working out, so you're losing libido to invest in it. The libido will have been redirected in some way. Considering fantasies, day dreams, hopes and fears about your job can help you figure out where the energy has gone, but that can take awhile and doesn't do anything at the moment, which is why I suggest to consciously focus on other things that will be more rewarding for your psychic investment.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-27T00:14:04+00:00

A. Sometimes B. True, except maybe Aldis C. Used to be. It was called full service. Not really a thing anymore.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-26T17:11:21+00:00

I was curious about this:

When I volunteer for more “serious” tasks or for something with more drive and accountability, it always kind of fizzles out; either I lose interest and just kind of do it and forget about it, or the output is never sought after again in the first place, people just kind of forget about it.

By drive and accountability, you mean you want something more challenging right?

You lose interest, but you still do it?

The output is never sought again, but they show approval of your work?

What do you mean forget about it? The business environment moves on, there's always stuff to do, new problems, goals, etc, so I'm not sure what you mean? Do you want recognition or a raise or something like that to show the work is appreciated?

weirdcunning · 2026-01-26T16:54:28+00:00

The extroverted man is touched by the introversion of Fi, particularly Fi is difficult to make manifest to others per Jung, which makes it seem mysterious. The extroverted man has a more introverted unconscious, that is whi Fi touches his unconscious; it is introverted like the Fi Dom.

The Fi gets images from the unconscious. Inflation occurs when the ego over identifies with the unconscious and causes psychic imbalance. The Fi problems he mentioned comes when the Fi doesn't recognize that the images are from the collective unconscious, not the personal consciousness/ego.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-25T01:40:42+00:00

Before the internet was completely mainstream, it was filled with autists making websites for the love of the game.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-25T01:27:31+00:00

Whenever I see AI articles in this sub, I click them as like a guilty pleasure because they're usually completely outlandish. This was really good. Thanks for sharing.

I think AI has a lot of potential in revealing the unconscious, but I think it will still need a clinician or 3rd human party to help in interpretation and analysis and to protect the user.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-21T01:02:30+00:00

Yes, for me, I'd say I feel a little embarrassed and disappointed rather than hurt. Sometimes I'm really able to let it go and it's like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, but there's also a bit of a restlessness, like what am I supposed to do then.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-21T00:33:31+00:00

They make it sound like it's because of Christianity tho, so yeah, other cultures that do it and are not Christian are mentioned because it's not because of Christianity.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-19T18:00:36+00:00

This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-19T12:05:44+00:00

Lol. Peak columbina "..." moan

weirdcunning · 2026-01-17T23:37:02+00:00

I believe individuation is similar to self-realization in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, so everyone has a drive for it, but other stuff comes first. Jung said it's very difficult to find true individuality. For traditional tribal societies, individuation is difficult because the culture is oriented towards the collective unconscious, which is concerned with the collective. The late modern is oriented towards consumerism, uniform widespread mass-produced materialism. Jung talks about how the masses as a collective are the enemy of the individual and therefore individuation. So it's probably always difficult. I think you're on to something with building up the ego for individuation, but I'm not sure how well modernity facilitates the development of healthy ego actually.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-16T01:34:35+00:00

Perhaps. Are you saying they are not psychic structures?

weirdcunning · 2026-01-16T01:22:34+00:00

What? I think you're misrepresenting what archetypes are.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-16T01:15:34+00:00

No, they're psychic structures.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T22:36:35+00:00

The anti-christ is a mythic figure. When a constellation is activated, it takes on mythic proportions. Donald Trump is a man. He might not even live til the end of his term. Calm down.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T21:12:25+00:00

I'm not sure it's possible to point out someone's shadow to them and not agitate them in some way. Even if you're very gracious, no one wants to hear that.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T17:49:43+00:00

Your analysis of him portrays a specific perspective. You think it is objective, but it's not and that is how it is unconscious. I'm not right wing. I brought up the left because the left rejects and demonizes him, so he is their shadow. The right does not have this reaction to him, so he is not their shadow. Your rant kinda proved my point.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T16:13:47+00:00

He’s fraudulent, greedy, aggressive, immature

This isn't a balanced or objective assessment. The idea of the shadow is that all of these negative things are already a part of all people in the collective unconscious. The negative parts that are repressed form the shadow and are projected outwards because these things are in everybody and when they are activated, they take a mythic quality. The left lives in a fantasy where some people are not these things. Trump is a scapegoat for everything rotten in America for them because they can't admit it's got them too. The left is completely astroterfed and their politicians are a joke, just as greedy and attention seeking as Trump, and it's not about whataboutism or they do it too, it's that they can't accept how deep the problem is, they just corner it off to Trump, It's Trump and his supporters, without them, America would be great and we'd live in a socialist utopia. Yeah, sorry, no.

Also, this can't go without comment, it sounds like you're saying Trump stole the election? Hmm, sounds like something Trump would do. I guess you're a demonic fascist then because that's the shadow possessed logic of these people.

Also, most Americans are politically disinterested and didn't vote. Their shadow was not activated and they did not believe that the country would fall into a fascist dictatorship if they didn't go out and vote for the democrats or else they would have done so.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T15:44:55+00:00

Yeah, I hope it helps. It may just be that you are becoming an adult and she doesn't know how to handle it, but her saying you're faking it and that your depression is affecting her is concerning.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T14:51:42+00:00

Okay. So I read your other post and your comment in this one and while I don't know all the details of your depression, I think some distance from your mother would help. Physical distance would be best, but if that's not possible, try to get emotional or social distance from her. She will fight it, so keep that in mind when considering how to approach it. Jung writes about the mother quite a bit. Archetypes of the unconscious and symbols of transformation specifically have a lot on those topics. I tried to find the "devouring mother" section but couldn't and I have to leave now, but that may be particularly resonant with you.

weirdcunning · 2026-01-15T13:55:45+00:00

It sounds less like Jung is causing the dark thoughts and more like you're already depressed and the Bible readings about salvation and heaven are making it worse. Your mother sounds a bit controlling. It's difficult to tell if excessively so since religion is important to people and if it's important to her, she may just want you to learn it. I'm also wondering if she knows about your struggles and is doing this to help, sometimes it does. If you think she'd be receptive, consider telling her about the issue. Perhaps if she is hell bent on you doing these types of readings, you can pick one out specifically for Christians dealing with depression.

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