The Shadow of the National Psyche

From: Deepak Chopra |
Posted: Friday, September 5th, 2008

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City . By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barrack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of 'the other.' For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)

I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

--Small town values -- a denial of America 's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.

--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America 's image abroad.

--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.

--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.

--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.

--'Reform' -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from 'us' pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of 'I'm all right, Jack,' and 'Why change? Everything's OK as it is.' The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

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The Hundredth Monkey: Ten Tools for Chaotic Living

By Rev. Debra Redman

(This article excerpted from Rev. Debra’s forthcoming book, Fall Down, Go Boom!)

The Hundredth Monkey

Chaos is going to look like your world falling apart. In the coming years, it’s going to look like the world is falling apart. It’s all necessary and happening for a reason. These ten ways outlined below of living successfully with chaos are going to be the difference between emerging as a butterfly at the end of the process or getting stuck in the chrysalis stage of your spiritual evolution.

This is true on a personal level and on a global level. Every time someone deals successfully with chaos, change, evil, and fear, that experience enters the Universal Consciousness where it becomes knowledge available to everyone. People with whom you come in contact will learn from your example. They will be inspired to deal with chaos more positively and productively. This may sound utopian, but this is actually the application of a scientific principle known as the Hundredth Monkey Theory.

The Hundredth Monkey Theory found that when monkeys in the wild learn a new methodology for doing something, such as using a stick to pull ants out of an ant hill or washing dirty fruit in the river, that information is eventually picked up by other monkeys. When enough monkeys know about and start using the new tools, there seems to be a knowledge transfer that occurs to monkey populations all over the world. The knowledge has achieved critical mass.

With that idea in mind, think of the following ten ways to live with chaos as tools.

Ten Tools For Chaotic Living

What can you do to be comfortable living with chaos? First, accept that chaos and change are not out to hurt you. C.H.A.O.S. and C.H.A.N.G.E. are a necessary part of your spiritual evolution. Acknowledge, accept, and allow chaos and change to happen.

Second, use the traditional concept of fear to motivate you to some extent; however, remember that fear used wisely allows you to flow easily, allowing rebirth (F.E.A.R.). Your panic response will almost always block your highest good and make you miss the signs of what is the right action. Sometimes you are lead to do something, but a lot of the time you will probably be Told to Sit Your Ass Down (S.Y.A.D.)!

Third, stay present and grounded as much as possible. This helps you to not panic and lower your energy reserves anymore than they already are. It also helps you to identify when you are attracting the energy vampires that want to take advantage of your weakened condition. Energy Vampires and Energy Vampire Incognito as Light are discussed in the chapter called Transforming Traditional Evil into Light and Love.

Fourth, practice Trust and Faith. Remember that Trust is your conscious response to the appearance of less than ideal circumstances. Faith is the subconscious thought that all is well, regardless of what it looks like. Faith counterbalances the Shadow.

Fifth, take stock of what tribal belief systems are coming up for you. These subconscious and conscious belief systems are blocking the true condition of your situation. Figure out which ones still work and which ones need to be released in Light and Love.

Sixth, review your affirmations and denials. See if you can identify how the destruction of current circumstances may be leading you toward your goals or helping you achieve healing. Did you know you needed to heal a particular part of your life before you could receive the abundance of the Universe? Revamp old affirmations or create new ones. Use denials whenever necessary.

Seventh, don’t beat yourself up when you realize that you aren’t at your peak potential. Most likely, your energy will be depleted from fighting to keep chaos from happening. This low energy state is what allows the Universe to minister to you without your resistance. It’s also what allows energy vampires and Energy Vampires Incognito as Light (EVIL) to enter your life. So, if you realize that you are in a low energy state, allow the process to show you how to get back into a fully funded state of personal power as quickly as possible.

Eighth, practice Faith and Trust, compassion, awareness and patience when the EVILs, energy vampires, and P.I.G.S (People in Great Stupidity!) enter your life. They are there to help you heal whatever it is that no longer serves you.

Ninth, follow the catalytic hunches that are arranging your new growth experiences as much as possible. You are being advanced in your spirituality whenever you enter C.H.A.O.S. C.H.A.N.G.E is actively moving you on your path.

Tenth, have compassion for yourself. Forgive yourself for any reactions that may appear to be less than stellar, learn from the mistakes, and make the adjustments that are needed to keep you on the right track.

This is how the global spiritual awakening that is occurring now is happening. So, your individual response to chaos, change, fear and evil makes a critical difference to the world. Are you the Hundredth Monkey?

The Shadow Knows

“Accepting a larger level of anxiety is the price of growth. The failure to grow will produce either depression, or such fixated adaptation as we find in our daily neuroses.”

James Hollis, Why Good People Do Bad Things, pg. 70

Defining Traditional Chaos

James Hollis applies the Jungian philosophy that your ego consciousness is splintered and therefore you have what Jung called the Shadow. Some of these shadowy facets of your personality or ego are unconscious to you and it is these aspects of the personality that can control your thought processes, feelings, emotions, and actions. He advocates searching out these hidden parts of your ego consciousness because until you heal and accept them, they will cause you to behave in ways that deny your Highest Good. When this happens in your life, you go into chaos. The Shadow creates the chaos.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the Goddess of Chaos, also called Strife, has two sides which have opposite effects on your human life. The Goddess of Chaos is of The Light, regardless of how she appears to you. Strife can be a motivational energy that causes you to work harder to achieve your dreams or she can bring destruction for what seems to be no good reason at all. In whatever form she appears in your life, you can be assured that nothing will be the same when she’s gone.

Chaos causes the disintegration of old paradigms, out-dated institutionalized reactions and systems, and all things that no longer serve you. Chaos forces you to release old tribal belief systems inherited from the societal, cultural and family environments you were exposed to growing up.

Chaos shines the light on things that you haven’t dealt with in your life that are holding you back. Sometimes you consciously know what those thoughts and emotions are. Sometimes they remain subconscious and you are asked to move to a new level of Trust and Faith that everything that is happening is in your Highest Good. When you get on a roller coaster, you do so with complete Trust and Faith in the company who built the track, the safety harness, and the computer systems that run the ride. Allowing Chaos into your life is like riding a roller coaster.

Re-defining Chaos, Change, and Fear

When Chaos shows up, your response could be “hold on! The ride has begun!” Go on the roller coaster with her. OK – here you go- you’re ramping up to the top of the first hill. The car hesitates for just a moment – AND YOU’RE OFF! The car is shaking, hair is flying everywhere. You are screaming your lungs out! Here comes the Loop de Loop. You are upside down! And look – you haven’t fallen out of the car. Sometimes it felt like you could fall out during that ride but, you reach the platform all in one piece. Every time. Regardless of what happens on that ride, you always come out in one piece. You may be dead, but honey, you will be all in one piece wherever you land!

Did you tense up or relax while on that ride? If you relaxed into the ride, you probably weren’t scared much at all – a little concerned, maybe, but not terrified. That’s healthy. If you can realize that CHAOS is exactly like that roller coaster ride, the FEAR OF CHANGE practically disappears. When you can reach that state of balance, CHAOS moves out of the Darkness, into the Light to become CATALYTIC HUNCHES AWAKENING OUR SPIRITUALITY. Change becomes CATALYTIC HUNCHES ARRANGING NEW GROWTH EXPERIENCES. Fear becomes FLOWING EASILY ALLOWING REBIRTH. Do you see the beauty in that? The Goddess of Chaos never comes without bearing gifts.

You may have to walk into your Dark Night of The Soul. You may have to face terrible hardship. You may have to do it all by yourself. You will have to walk through the swamps before you reach your destination. You will have to face your illusions – False Evidence Appearing Real – before you are able to use the catalytic hunches that lead you out of the Forest of Darkness. You will have to learn how to Flow Easily Allowing the new growth experiences arranged specifically for your Rebirth.

What are you going to release in order to create space for the abundance and prosperity that’s waiting for you? CHAOS gives you that ability to achieve what you desire. Embrace her. Rejoice when the Goddess of Chaos enters your life or someone else’s. Someone lose a job, get fired? Call them up and tell them Congratulations! Relationship ending or changing? Congratulations! Don’t know what you are doing with your life? Hurray! Move into chaos with faith and trust that all is right and perfect in your life, even if it doesn’t look like it.

Chaos gives you a unique opportunity to practice looking at it from a higher perspective. This is where you begin to learn what it means to be in the human experience with a spiritual awareness. When you see what is occurring as simply an indication of the larger energies manifesting around you, you have an ability to relax into the human experience regardless of whether the human experience is judged “good” or “bad”.

When observing Chaos from this view, it becomes possible to read the clues that are given to you that show you where you are and what the next right action is going to be. Strife is doing her job to motivate you out of complacency and into action. However, action may not be what you think it is. Sometimes the right thing to do is to simply S.Y.A.D, as in “SIT CH’OR ASS DOWN!” Sit your ass down. Don’t move. Don’t DO anything. Not doing anything is doing something. The Universe will tell you when to move, what to do, and usually how to do it. If you stay present and aware, the signs will appear.

At this point is helps to remember that chaos and change are most likely happening in response to an affirmation or denial you put out into the Ethers. Affirmations create chaos. Denials create chaos. The Universe is setting up the conditions required to give you what asked. The old saying “Be careful what you asked for!” probably came from someone who was experiencing chaos and realized that what was happening was answering his prayer.