I am relieved and hopeful for the future of the World.
This is a country that had almost lost its way. We are a democracy and what democracy means to me is that each individual has a vote and that is who won this recent election. US!
I started to sense that an ‘enantiodromia’ was taking place and told my friends that by text a few days before the election. We were at the tail end of the transit of Pluto in Capricorn and I had been waiting for years for something BIG to happen.
The following is an excerpt From A Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis, by Andrew Samuels, Bani Shorter and Fred Plaut
ENANTIODROMIA = ‘running contrary-wise,’ a psychological ‘law’ first outlined by Heraclitus and meaning that sooner or later everything turns into its opposite. Jung identified this as the principle which governs all cycles of natural life, from the smallest to the greatest.
See — Carl G. Jung, Collected Works 6: Psychological Types, par 708
The ubiquity of his references to enantiodromia (clinical, symbolic and theoretical) emphasize that, for Jung, this was not a formula but a reality, not only of personal psychic development but of collective life as well. Over-emphasized therapeutically, it could lead, of course, to always looking on the bright side of things or, conversely, expecting the worst. Jung’s recognition of the inevitability of enantiodromic change helped him anticipate psychic movement and he believed it was possible both to foresee and also to relate to it, such an attitude being the essence of consciousness.
He applied the term to the emergence of unconscious opposites in relation to the points of view held or expressed by consciousness. If an extreme, one-sided tendency dominates conscious life, in time an equally powerful counter-position is built up in the psyche. This first inhibits conscious performance and then, subsequently, breaks through ego inhibitions and conscious control. The law of enantiodromia underlies Jung’s principle of compensation.
The following is an excerpt from my Shadow Dance & the Astrological 7th House Workbook: pg 40
Destructive and Dangerous
The possibility of the dark side’s taking over a person is more prevalent and common in those who do not take the time to question themselves and evaluate their behavior in daily interactions with others. People who are overly identified with how “good” they are can be the most vulnerable because they become lopsided. No one can be good all the time. It’s humanly impossible. As Jung explains, it’s actually dangerous.
For example, we’ve all heard stories or read in the newspapers about a person who murdered a lot of people or committed some horrific crime that was uncharacteristic of him or her. The people who knew this person say, “This was such a good person in the community! He or she was the valedictorian in high school or a very loving member of our church.” No one who knew them in their daily life would have thought them capable of their unexplainable crime. What has happened is that this individual has repressed their dark side so much that the unconscious overwhelmed them. They do something out of the ordinary precisely because they have denied and suppressed their own dark side.
The truth is we’re actually more vulnerable to our Shadow if we don’t know about it. Our Shadow becomes hostile only when it is ignored or misunderstood.
Another common example is the devout, pro-life Christian who flips to the other side and is charged with murdering a doctor they believe is an abortionist. They have committed murder themselves, but they can’t see that they have done the same thing they are fighting against. Another well-known example is the powerful evangelist preacher Jimmy Swaggart, condemning sex from the pulpit, while cavorting with a prostitute. Any area we are overly identified with is subject to an experience of enantiodromia. We are more in touch with our wholeness when we do not become lopsided in one extreme or another.
Jung also said that we do not always know what the unconscious is planning. Sometimes this “flipping” is necessity to bring a person back into a state of equilibrium. In the end, the unconscious is striving for our wholeness and will bring it about in any way that it can. Sometimes, that can mean we will go through some kind of outer-world crisis such as an illness, an accident, a job loss or a divorce, that leads us to the inner world, which is the only place to resolve our problems and heal our splits.
As there are many still unable to comprehend the election, I felt it was important to describe from a Jungian perspective what has taken place which can happen to any one of us if we choose to remain lopsided. Knowing about enantiodromic change helps us understand the need for “Shadow Work for ourselves and with our partners.
The Celestial God of Transformation, Pluto moved into the Sign of Aquarius on November 19, 2024 where it will remain until 2043.
This too is a major event as the planet Pluto is the archetype inside us that transforms the collective consciousness of the whole. Pluto describes the death and rebirth process so it inevitably starts with decay and destruction before renewal and rebirthing takes place. The transits of Pluto are a long and slow process as Pluto urges us or better yet, grinds us down individually and collectively to dig deep and bring to light all that is buried, hidden below the surface, destructive and corrosive in their abuse of power. Some things will die but they need to die. Healing and integrity for all of us can then be restored and given new life. That death although seemingly slow in its revealing is inevitable for our evolution to continue. As Pluto was in Capricorn since 2008 which rules governmental bureaucracies, oligarchic authorities and power structures, we watched as they became more extreme until they ran out of places to hide their nefarious agendas.
Pluto in Aquarius will activate our ideals about social fairness as we look to heal the corruption and divide that these power structures left behind. As a collective, our responsibilities are now to the group instead of to only the elite. As Aquarius rules revolutions and equality, brother hood of man and woman, we are also in for major changes to our relationships.
The Age of Pisces is over. Best friends is the new paradigm for relating in the Age of Aquarius.
We are headed for more conscious relationships as we each get to know more of our authentic selves, conscious and personal unconscious.
Aquarius as an air sign rules awakening, liberation, a wholistic or detached perspective, communication of ideas/ideals and objectivity for a rational perspective.
As we do with our friends, we can tell each other the truth no matter how painful that truth is as freedom to be and self-knowledge must be revered over the impossibility of perfection. It’s time to replace the fantasy of romantic love as being the only criterion for choosing or staying with a partner which has outworn its illusions. The unconscious chooses who we fall in love with anyway so it’s a good idea for this awareness to become common knowledge. To create healthier and more equality in our relationships, we can now become curious as to what in us was projected onto our partners in the first place. As we learn to communicate about shadow work with each other, we can strive for more balance — together. True love for each other must include seeing our darker selves come to light to be healed and integrated through conscious awareness of our opposites. As Carl Jung said, “I would rather be real than good.”
Rebeca Eigen
Rebeca Eigen, an astrologer for 25+ years and author of The Shadow Dance & the Astrological 7th House Workbook specializes in relationships. From every day decisions, to critical life-altering moments, Rebeca shares with you her practical wisdom and guidance for your life’s journey in becoming who you are meant to be.
https://www.shadowdance.com/