The election of Barack Obama has led me to contemplations on the integration of the shadow in the history of the United States.
The shadow was held externally in the manifestation of the process of slavery. People were ripped form their homes and natural way of living in Africa, transported across the seas, sold, and owned by slave masters in a new continent. Translating this experience as a dream, the slave owner represents the super ego, the part that holds the rules and controls us. The slave is the natural, instinctual part that is lost in the process of adapting to family and culture. This part is closer to the Self, the place of mystery deep within that tunes us to the intelligence of the universe. During the time of slavery the collective field held so much primitive, aggressive energy resulting in the external manifestation of the slave trade and human ownership.
The first integration happens with the civil war and Lincoln’s resultant emancipation proclamation, freeing the slaves. Symbolically the civil war signifies internal conflict around whether the instinctual self should be enslaved. The Self manifests through the image of the president, taking positive action to free the natural instinctual self. Externally there is backlash resulting in an inferior status for blacks (who are holding the projection of the shadow). Even though slaves are freed, there is violence and repression, especially in the South. Internally this reflects the repression, often in a violent manner, of one’s natural, instinctual self. This can manifest internally as mental illness, physical symptoms and suicide.
The second integration happens during the civil rights movement where the inferior status of the instinctual self is transformed. Important people of this time can be contemplated as dream figures helping us understand our individual psychodynamics. Dr. Martin Luther King represents the shadow’s change into spiritual advisor. George Wallace symbolizes the counter forces of violent repression. Each of us have an inner Dr. King and George Wallace.
The next integration happens with a seemingly impossible event, the election of Barack Obama. In dream translation the shadow is integrated, transformed and elevated to the position of highest authority. The natural self, that was enslaved, then treated as inferior, now can guide and direct your life. It us up to you whether you claim this energy, project it onto others or react against it.
- Rod Birney MD 2010
