DENISE GROBBELAAR - JUNGIAN ANALYST Clinical Psychologist & Psychotherapist
​0842433648
  • Home
  • About me
    • Upcoming talks & lectures
    • Publications
    • White Lion Dream Appreciation Retreat
  • Psychotherapy
  • Dreams
    • Dream course
  • Enneagram
    • Enneagram courses
  • Consulting
  • CONTACT ME
  • Blog

Siblings as Shadow partners

7/14/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Jung said that children inherit the ‘unlived lives’ of their parents. This includes the shadow aspects, both positive and negative, suppressed by the mother and/or father.  But what of often polarized sibling relationships  - the frustrating or alienating attitude of a same-sex sibling who has such an opposite way of being in the world that that it makes an authentic relationship almost impossible?  One partner in this shadow dance frequently recoils from the inevitable conflict, resulting in an estranged relationship.    
 
​Mythology is filled with examples of sister or brother pairs, one dark, the other light, who take diametrically opposed positions in society, representing the ego and shadow aspects needing reconciliation within an individual. Eve and Lilith, Psyche and Orual, Inanna and Ereshkigal are examples of sisters who hold different counterpoints to each other’s gifts - one living the upper world, the other in the underworld: one resonating with the world of matter, the other preoccupied with spirit and mind. “Forever separate, forever bound, in life these pairs are often torn apart by intense envy, jealousy, competition, and misunderstanding” (1).
 
Romulus and Remus, Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, Parzival and Feirefiz, represent the motif of the two ‘hostile brothers’ (2), where one may  ultimately murder the other.  However, if we are willing to value and integrate a trait from our hidden and denied (internal) shadow sister/brother – the thing we do not want to be - rather than trying to kill it off, we expand our sense of self and develop previously neglected skills – whether  boldness or quietness, gentleness or aggression, passivity or leadership.
 
In fairytales the stepsister represents the opposite and shadow aspects of the heroine , such as the hardworking Cinderella (who marries the Prince) and her lazy stepsisters.  In the fairytale ‘Mother Holle’ the diligent sister is rewarded with gold, while the lazy sister is covered in black pitch. People may long for illumination, but who dares to admit their own laziness when it comes to doing the hard work of exploring the Unconscious?

 
Sources:
1. Abrams, J., & In Zweig, C. (1991). Meeting the shadow: The hidden power of the dark side of human nature. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, p. 63 -72
2. CW 11, paras. 132-3
3. https://www.wisecronecottage.com/2016/08/the-story-of-frau-holle-further-analysis
 
Image credit:
Cain slaying Abel by Unknown c. 1900
 
A post I wrote for @jungsouthernafrica
 
#jung #carljung #jungpsychology #jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #analyticalpsychology #unconscious #consciousness #innergrowth #archetypes #individuation #shadow #darkside #darknightofthesoul #nightseajourney #katabasis #nekyia #nigredo #descent #initiation #death #depression #capetown #capetownlife #capetownliving #southernafrica

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Denise Grobbelaar

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020

    Categories

    All
    Active Imagination
    Alchemy
    Anima & Animus
    Animal Symbolism
    Archetypes
    Complexes
    Dark Night Of The Soul
    Dreams
    Enneagram
    Fairy Tales
    Gods & Goddesses
    Individuation
    Masculine & Feminine
    Mysticism
    Mythology
    New Beginnings
    Shadow
    Shamanism
    Symbolism
    The Impact Of Childhood Experiences
    The Living Earth & Nature
    The Other
    Trauma

    RSS Feed

Picture
Denise Grobbelaar 

Clinical Psychologist
                & Psychotherapist                                

Consulting Psychologist
​Individual, Team & Leadership Development 

            Enneagram Practitioner                                                 

              Cell: 084 243 3648                                                             
      denisegrobbelaar@gmail.com     
Picture