War Games
We have the capacity to be as aware of our basic drives as we are of our values, and we can use this awareness to benefit everyone’s team. But if our egos cannot see our shadows — our unconscious instincts, emotions, assumptions, and fears — we are easily overwhelmed by them and can unwittingly betray our noblest selves. Then potentially productive conflicts are transformed from games into wars.
Musings on the Death of a Terrorist
One morning in May of 2011 I awoke to screaming headlines, “OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!” This news, and the media frenzy that followed, elicited some complex feelings. Am I glad this obviously twisted mind with no respect for human life will no longer mastermind terrible disasters that kill innocent people? Absolutely. Unequivocally.
America's Dream of Our Emerging Queen
A new American conscience has been emerging for some time now. For my generation it began in the 60’s with President Kennedy who worked with Sargent Shriver to develop the Peace Corps because he dreamed of eliminating poverty and creating world peace. It hasn’t happened yet, but many lives have been changed for the better.
Dream Symbol: The King
Dream themes associated with our King address rules, crimes, morality, authority, order, leadership, and individuation. Two King dreams are especially auspicious. An old King dying to make way for a new one says we’ve outgrown our childish dependence on outer authorities and are assuming our personal authority. A wedding between a King and Queen suggests the conscious integration of our inner opposites.
The Queen: Lioness of the Psyche
Life is about change; so is the feminine principle. When we start noticing that we and others are suffering, it gets harder to tell the difference between right and wrong. This leads to a time of questioning and challenging the old Queen’s ethic to make way for improvements.
Healing Arizona: Embodying the Queen's Light
The tragedy in Arizona last weekend has us all wondering. Why did this happen? Why were good, innocent people victimized by this senseless violence? How could it have been prevented ? As one who always looks for a psychological reason, I’d like to share what I know about the King and Queen archetypes. As symbols of humanity’s universal striving for lawful order and moral virtue, they hold the answers to these questions.
Beauty and the Beast
The killing fields of Cambodia are worse than I imagined. You pull into a parking lot. You walk under a stucco arch identifying this as a site of genocide. You get it. In your mind. But you are utterly unprepared for the impact it makes on your emotions.
Invoking Mother Justice
No religion, nation, or era has ever been free of the influence of the shadow or ever will. The shadow is our unconscious psychological underbelly which continually thwarts our every effort to purge ourselves of all hardness and heaviness, all uncaring and mean-spiritedness, all selfishness, immorality, prejudice, hatred, and unforgiveness.
No More Toxic Air Waves, Please
The scariest thing of all is that this gleeful, blatant, conscienceless lying and fear-mongering is beginning to seem normal. And our children and grandchildren are exposed to this toxic unkindness every day. I can tell you from long experience that the massive, invasive, unrelenting presence of irresponsible journalism, advertising, and political campaigning is neither normal nor healthy. This is very bad news for our souls, for America, and for the world.
Righting Injustice in God's Name
My cause is to right the injustices of psychological ignorance and spiritual brainwashing. I began my solitary arm-chair crusade thirty years ago this year. Since nobody else understood me or knew how to fix the injustices I experienced and inflicted on others, I decided to understand and fix myself.
