by Jeff Allen
Many of you who have attended our seminars, especially recently, have heard the term ‘collective unconscious’. Jung did a lot of work in this area of the mind demonstrating how we are all connected at a deep level. Mostly this part of the human mind is well repressed and seldom shows itself in the conscious world. However with many of the events in the Middle East recently an aspect of what is hidden is showing itself.
Mostly the collective unconscious shows up as natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes but recently it has shown up in human behavior with people acting collectively in a way that is driven by collective fear and guilt. While there are a number of examples it is in the state of Israel where it has been most obvious.
Recently a study in Israel showed that 95% of Israelis supported the war against Hamas even when it resulted in the significant loss of life of woman and children. In fact when a journalist suggested there might be another way members of the Israeli cabinet wanted him charged with treason. I should imagine before the conflict Israel was a country which tolerated debate, looked for solutions and applied human values and yet when the collective fear and guilt came to the surface all that seemed to have been lost as the dark side of the collective has overcome reason, kindness and compassion.
This is not about judgment but about a call for healing and the understanding of the levels of guilt and fear we all carry. There have been a number of calls for collective peace prayers and that is brilliant. Yet I suggest that on a personal level it is for us to look to what life situation could arise that we would make the choice for attack and logical justification to support our ego driven actions.
The power of the unconscious is awesome; but that is also the power of our own minds and once the veneer of our civilization slips away do we have the awareness and power to make the choices for love and oneness? I, for one, recognize I have a little way to go yet. I also recognize this is what we are called to heal for us to have the capacity to embrace the coming renaissance and all it means.
In facing our repressed fear, guilt and pain we actually have no choice; the only choice is “when” and I think the time is now for the sake of our children and the Child of God that is all of us.