The Middle Pillar

by Israel Regardie

  Human beings, according to Freud, are motivated by vital animal instincts—primarily the sexual drive which he called the libido. Other principal elements of psychology uncovered by Freud were the ideas of the Oedipus complex and infantile sexuality.8

  Freud’s tools for exploring the human psyche included hypnosis, dream analysis, and a new technique that he termed “free association.” The goal of Freudian analysis was to release repressed memories and provide an increase in self-knowledge that would release trapped energies and result in a more satisfying existence for the patient.

  Jung and Spiritual Psychology

  The works of Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung (1875-1961) can be seen as part of the apex of the occult revival of the late nineteenth century. Using the new vocabulary employed by Sigmund Freud, Jung described that knowledge of the human psyche which mystics and magicians had gathered since ancient times. What had once been veiled in occult jargon and symbolism, and thus viewed as superstition and nonsense by the public at large, was now for the first time expressed in such a manner that psychologists and other intellectuals sat up and took notice. Jung’s exploration of psychology in conjunction with his study of the paranormal made his theories the crucial link between psychology and magic. However, his interest in occult matters was one of the primary reasons for his ultimate break with Freud.

  The difference between Freud’s and Jung’s approaches to psychology was primarily Jung’s view that the human psyche was a whole organism and Freud’s belief that it was not. Freud extrapolated a rather disorderly picture of the psyche wherein autonomous components of the mind battled for dominance. Jung saw the psyche as being complete in itself from birth, the various elements of the psyche attempted to work harmoniously together, and their natural inclination was toward unity. While both men recognized two basic halves of the psyche (conscious and unconscious), Jung further divided the unconscious into two levels—personal and collective. In addition, Freud was more concerned with his patient’s past, while Jung emphasized the patient’s future development.

  Whereas Freud referred to his method as psychoanalysis, Jung preferred the phrase analytical psychology.

  Heilsweg

  The psychology which Jung very gradually developed was described by him as Heilsweg, a German word which meant “sacred way” and a “method of healing.” Jung’s idea of the psyche was based on a separation between the conscious and the unconscious—the personal unconscious being a small tributary of the greater river of the collective unconscious. The pilgrimage of the “self” symbolized the bringing of unconscious content into the light of consciousness. Heilsweg was a method for differentiating the self from the collective unconscious that was the blueprint of individual existence. It was a way of individuation or the process by which a person becomes self-realized—a separate indivisible unity or “whole” which contains all aspects of the self. This was a radical departure from Freud’s view that people are enslaved to the drives of the id and super-ego which pressure them into conforming with society-sanctioned patterns of behavior. According to Jung, the ego’s formation of an identity was not only the beginning of true “personhood” but also the commencement of a natural polarity between the general and the specific.

  Several stages marked the process of Heilsweg or individuation. The first stage was the confrontation with the shadow—those unconscious aspects of the self which have been buried or ignored by the conscious mind. This begins with the dissolution of the false self, the mask, or the outer persona.The persona is a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, fittingly enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and, on the other, to conceal the true nature of the individual.9

  Next, the individual encounters his “soul image,” the anima or the animus. The final step is the manifestation in dreams, visions, or fantasies of appropriate archetypes—primordial images such as the wise old man, or the Great Mother, images that appear as themes in religion, mythology, and folklore.

  The process of individuation contains many particular aspects which collectively might be termed “outer psychology.” This category includes Jung’s separation of introverted and extroverted personality types as well as his organization of types in accordance with their conjunction of the faculties of sensing, thinking, feeling, and intuition.

  All of Jung’s ideas were of vital importance to modern understanding of the human psyche. However, the most notable contribution of Jungian psychology was the concept that individuation was a spiritual excursion and it is highly significant that this pioneer of psychology phrased his ideas in spiritual terms. Thus it is no surprise to find that Jung’s system complements the mystical Qabalah in so many ways.

  The Nature of the Psyche

  Jung’s definition of the psyche included not only that which we call the soul but also the intellect, the spirit, and the totality of all psychic processes. The psyche is as real as the body is real—all psychic phenomena are real, since the psyche is indistinguishable from its manifestations. The psyche expresses itself in images that are full of meaning and purpose—it creates reality every day. It has its own peculiar structure and form.For the psyche as it presents itself—as it is experienced by us—is inseparable from our physical being. But this by no means implies a biological ‘dependency.’ The psyche deserves to be taken as a phenomenon in its own right; there are no grounds at all for regarding it as a mere epiphenmenon, dependent though it may be on the functioning of the brain. One would be as little justified in regarding life as an epiphenomenon of the chemistry of carbon compounds.10

  The psyche consists of many parts, but there are two primary divisions that are interrelated—consciousness and unconsciousness.

  Unconsciousness

  The unconscious is not simply the absence of consciousness. It is that division of the mind containing elements of psychic makeup, such as memories or repressed desires, that are not subject to conscious perception or control but that often affect conscious thoughts and behavior. The personal unconscious is that unknown part of the individual human mind that is older than the conscious part of the mind. It is the primal portion from which consciousness arises. This unconscious (equivalent to Freud’s super-ego) is unique to the individual, and it contains suppressed, forgotten, or subliminally perceived contents originating from a person’s life. Whereas the mind can be trained, the unconscious cannot. It is a creative and autonomous psychic entity that is beyond subjective control.

  Jung concluded that the collective unconscious does not include personal characteristics distinctive to one’s individual ego but rather the sum of what is inherited from the biological and psychic structure common to the human race. They are those acts and mental patterns that are universally shared by all humanity. The primordial images of the collective unconscious are the result of thousands of years of human struggle and experience.

  Every great experience in life, every profound conflict, evokes the accumulated treasure of these images and brings about their inner constellation. But they become accessible to consciousness only when the individual possesses so much self-awareness and power of understanding that he also reflects on what he experiences instead of just living it blindly. In the later event he actually lives the myth and the symbol without knowing it.11

  Consciousness

  Consciousness is that component of waking awareness perceptible to a person at any given instant. It is a state of being mentally awake and observant, of having an awareness of one’s environment and one’s own existence, sensations, and thoughts. Consciousness is therefore the function which sustains the relationship between psychic content and the ego. Many mistake consciousness with mere “thinking,” when consciousness actually includes feeling, will, fantasy, and all other facets of waking life. Sentience is one of humanity’s defining attributes as stated by Jung: “Man’s capacity for consciousness alone makes him man.”12 Elsewhere Jung states:And yet the attainment of
consciousness was the most precious fruit of the tree of knowledge, the magical weapon which gave man victory over the earth, and which we hope will give him a still greater victory over himself.13

  Jung believed that the most important objective for any individual was the attainment of harmony between the two halves of the psyche, the conscious and the unconscious. In this manner, man would achieve the “greater victory over himself” (see Figure 5, p. 112).

  The Shadow

  If the repressed tendencies, the shadow as I call them, were obviously evil, there would be no problem whatever. But the shadow is merely somewhat inferior, primitive, unadapted, and awkward; not wholly bad. It even contains childish or primitive qualities which would in a way vitalize and embellish human existence.14

  The shadow represents the sum of all personal and collective psychic elements which, due to their incompatibility with the selected conscious demeanor, are refused expression in life and consequently unite into a somewhat independent splinter personality (a type of alter-ego) whose unconscious inclinations run opposite those of the conscious. It is our “dark brother” who is a hidden but undeniable part of our total psyche. The development of the shadow coincides with that of the ego—aspects that the ego rejects are repressed and have little or no outlet in a person’s conscious life. The shadow often behaves to counterbalance the conscious—which can be positive or negative.15

  Very much an archetypal figure, the shadow personality often appears symbolically in dreams as being the same sex as the dreamer. In addition, an individual will sometimes project his shadow, i.e., his own unwanted subconscious characteristics, onto another person.

  In keeping with his views on the unconscious, Jung proposed that there are actually two forms of the shadow, the personal shadow, composed of the individual’s cast-off psychic content, and the collective shadow, which embodies all the collective repressed memories of humankind.

  Figure 5: Jung’s Model of the Psyche.

  Confronting the Shadow

  Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is continually subjected to modificatons. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.16

  Throughout our lives, we are constantly having to suppress one attribute or another. Thus the shadow can never completely be assimilated into consciousness. However, it is essential that the most conspicuous aspects of the shadow be raised to consciousness. Instead of rejecting the shadow, its counterpart, the ego will be invigorated by it.

  If the shadow is not reckoned with, it runs the risk of becoming a vast dark forgotten expanse which blocks one’s inner creativity from being fully available to the conscious mind. This is why some people strive with Herculean strain to keep a tight lid on their shadows, concealing their private “demons” with a thin veneer of moral perfection. The spiritual fortress they construct around themselves is nothing more than a synthetic buttress held in place by force and ever in danger of structural failure should the wind change direction. “Mere suppression of the shadow is as little of a remedy as beheading would be for a headache.”17

  It is for this reason that confronting the shadow is the first step in Jung’s method of individuation. To do this means taking a starkly critical and objective look into the nature of one’s own being. Unconscious content is usually experienced in projection upon something that is outside of us. In the case of unwanted psychic content, some people will readily project their shadow onto someone else. Thus, we have a tendency to shift the blame onto an appropriate scapegoat—“the other guy did it,” or as a comedian once insisted, “the Devil made me do it!” It is extremely difficult for some analysands to accept the fact that they do indeed have a deep, dark side. The therapist, who tries to bring the shadow out into the open, often meets with enormous resistance because the client fears that the artificial structure he has carefully constructed to protect his ego will come crashing down. This is in fact the point at which many analyses fail and the client, incapable of facing his unconscious self, stops the process cold and withdraws into his comfortable old self-deceptions.

  All of us must face our shadow side. This is especially important for magicians who seek to delve into the inner recesses of the human psyche—the mind of the microcosm. No spiritual progress can be made without it. We must discover the distinct characteristics of our shadow (as opposed to other parts of the psyche such as the ego), and recognize it for what it is—a natural part of ourselves and nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. Guilt and shame often cause one to repress the shadow in the first place, allowing a small undesirable trait to grow into a huge unresolved conflict, compulsion, or neurosis. In some ways, the shadow is like a neglected and resentful child who, if shown kindness and understanding, can learn to play with the other children. Objective understanding of ourselves will make it easier to face the shadow and other parts of the psyche as well.

  REGRESSION EXERCISE

  Examining the events of one’s childhood is a prerequisite for determining how the shadow developed. An excellent method for recalling childhood memories is the following Regression Exercise:18

  Perform the LBRP. Perform the four-fold breath. (Breathe in the count of four. Hold the breath to the count of four. Exhale to the count of four. Keep the lungs empty to the count of four.)

  Sit in a comfortable position or lie down, eyes closed. Spend a few minutes inducing relaxation and rhythmic breathing. Visualize yourself within your present surroundings.

  As you continue the four-fold breath, see yourself going backwards in time. As you inhale to the count of four, think of last spring. Hold the breath for four counts and think of last winter. Exhale to the count of four and imagine last fall. On the empty hold to the count of four, think of last summer. Continue the exercise in this fashion going backwards into time, from spring to winter, fall, and summer, ever backwards, keeping pace with the four-fold breath.

  You may decide to go back in time in five-year intervals: five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years, etc. At any one of these intervals, stop and visualize yourself at that particular point in time. Observe how you looked, how your surroundings looked, the people around you at that time, how you felt about yourself, and how you saw your world. Examine significant events that occurred which shaped your view of the world and of yourself.

  When ready to end the exercise, use the four-fold breath to visualize time moving forward again. (Inhale—spring, full hold—summer, exhale—fall, empty hold—winter.) Move time forward again until you arrive at the present. End the exercise with the LBRP. Always record your observations.

  You should practice this exercise several times, deciding beforehand what time in the past you wish to examine further. If you become quite proficient in this technique, you can go back one year at a time, all the way back to birth.

  TRAUMA RELEASE EXERCISE

  Sometimes traumatic experiences or memories are responsible for creating parts of the shadow personality. In such cases, a trauma release exercise can help the analysand “let go” of the calamitous experience and begin to heal. The technique for this is as follows:

  Have the person lie on their back. Place your right hand on their forehead, and your left hand at the back of their head. (A breathing technique to further relaxation is helpful at this point.)

  Next, guide the person to slowly visualize the traumatic event in the reverse order it happened, to a time before it occurred. In other words, emphasize that the details of the event will look like a video tape running in reverse and in slow motion.

  Then have the person run this mental tape in its natural order, forward in time, until arriving at the initial point when the event began.

  Guide the person to repeat this backward and forward motion until they no longer feel an emotional connection to
the event.

  At the close of the session, have the person take a long deep breath as they reflect upon any stress or concerns, hold the breath for a few seconds, and then release it, letting go of any residual tensions. Repeat this three times.

  (It is usually recommended that the person do this exercise a number of times on their own over a period of a few weeks to be certain that it is effective. It can also be done entirely solo if preferred.)

  Anima and Animus

  The second step in the process of individuation is defined by the encounter with the animus or the anima. The anima is the embodiment of the reflective feminine nature of man’s subconscious, while the animus is the personification of the creative masculine nature of a woman’s subconscious. Both are “soul images” which usually manifest themselves in anthropomorphic form as “fantasy lovers” in dream and imagination. Animus and anima have a direct relationship with the persona or mask—if the persona is emotional, the soul image is rational, and vice versa. They are two of the most important archetypes, often influencing how we respond to members of the opposite sex. People often search out, and are attracted to, someone who symbolizes the attributes of their own psyche.