The Conflict Within

The term schizophrenic is often (wrongly) used to describe people exhibiting multiple personalities. In fact the human psyche is complex and we all house numerous, and often conflicting, traits under the umbrella of a single individual.

The psychologist C G Jung used the term "shadow" to represent our repressed characteristics. He describes it thus: "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is."

Our weaker characteristics are omnipresent and seek to express themselves. Although most times their dominant counterparts win the day, occasionally the shadow self takes control; eg a usually introverted person may go through a phase of making numerous casual friendships, and a usually cautious person may take an almighty risk. (more…)

Know Yourself

Self Concept, Self Awareness

beware the man behind the mask, he hides the truth behind the mask

It is said that a major purpose of life is to learn, and also that we never stop learning.

In most human societies learning is institutionalized from a very early age in the form of compulsory schooling. In developed countries formal education can eat up the best part of two decades of an individual's life.

Furthermore, we are constantly reminded that we live in the information age or knowledge economy. Multiple TV channels, cell phones, the Internet... These days we need to continue absorbing knowledge just to survive.

One of the main rules of witchcraft is "know thyself", but for all the knowledge that surrounds us how many of us can claim to REALLY know ourselves?

It might seem like a no-brainer; after all we ARE ourselves, so how can we not know what makes us tick? But very often human beings function on autopilot. Our decisions are conditioned by our upbringing, our peers, the expectations of others... (more…)