Today is a holiday Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung would have loved!
Everything we are reluctant to recognise within ourselves, what we hide in our subconscious, is displayed in one magnificent and symbolic projection:
HALLOWEEN
Our hidden urges and fears come in all different flavours – greed, arrogance, bullying, lust for revenge and many, many others. Despite our best intentions, our instincts have no problems jumping over our conscious barriers if the threats to our “survival” are strong enough. It is not only physical threats that kickstart our instincts; feeling emotionally unsafe has, as you know, the same effect.
A werewolf? …Me???!
The parts in us we want to deny, are afraid of or have problems controlling, we tend to give labels we can handle, and then we place them outside ourselves. By calling them vampires, monsters, witches, werewolves, and ghosts, we can pretend they have nothing to do with us.
These parts are hard for our ego to “own” and hard to accept within ourselves. Strangely enough, they are easily spotted and judged when we see them in others. Sigmund and Carl would say that we project them onto others to become aware of what we carry within.
On an unconscious level, these projections seem irresistible to us. We are drawn to them as entertainment in movies or books or as knowledge in psychology and philosophy. I think this attraction comes from a deep longing to understand ourselves better, the obscure corners in our minds, or what is beyond our control.
Music is also a powerful bridge that can move us into other layers of our awareness. I hope you will like what I have picked for you today.
Trick or treat?
To be on the safe side (!), I chose a double treat!
It was difficult to choose what to add to Magic Mittens’s magic playlist on this theme. The innate curiosity of the obscure, human darkness and overpowering emotions have always inspired artists, so there are a wealth of options.
My first treat is Demons by Imagine Dragons (from their first studio album Night Visions, from 2013). The fact that they started their band in Las Vegas is a fun fact that is suitable for today’s theme 🙂
My second musical Halloween treat is Maniac by the Stray Kids (a South Korean boyband). This song is the recent choice made by my “all-knowing K-pop-nerd-friend” Carolina. A title given to her with my deepest respect and lots of love!!!!
I usually spend my Sunday afternoons studying Korean with her and a wonderful group of other Hallyu enthusiasts. The learning process is delightful since we discover the language and Korean culture through the lyrics of songs or dialogues from movies or TV series. And this one has the perfect Halloween vibe.
Today’s post is unusually short, and the purpose was only to wish you a Happy Halloween. However, if you want to do some soul-searching, it might be interesting to think about what you fear and what makes you feel uncomfortable. It can be unsettling, but it will expand you.
If you have planned to dress up in a scary costume and threaten your neighbours to hand over the goodies, you are actually contributing to everyone’s expansion!
Happy Halloween!
May your baskets be filled to the brim (and don’t forget to brush your fangs tonight!).
See you next time,
Carin
