Ah Veronika! So much to connect on ego and self that I find my”self” rummaging through the naming of understanding in search of that nameless invisible elusive naked kiss of meaning. As usual your flow of writing is a gift to us readers.
Chapter 20 in your book would be as close as “I” get to that quest for meaning on self and ego. Both great friends and guides on this soul journey of “being” human. Re-reading chapter 20 is a light going off! Thank you!
Did or do I have an alter ego? We all do somehow. I often ask “What needs to be done” and …”who…must I Be to accomplish it”.
The Noctarine is a great map to the invisible. Consciousness seems to have more than one voice. Now that is another series.
Thanks for Being- Here. Another wow to read into the spaces of a few more times today.
You are a poet, Jamie! Of course you have an alter ego, all creative writers (or creatives in general) do. Or does is it the alter ego who has us? 😉 🙏 ✨
Totally! Was reading McGilchrist a bit today and trying to connect dots. Ego sounds like his left. Self the right. Just pondering. Consciousness watches regardless. Sleep well. 🙏❤️
I take your writing seriously and have decided to read Synchronosophy from the beginning. Chapter 1 resonates.
I wanted to reply at his substack a few days ago following Josh's latest poem, but have held the draft, which had turned out to be a fuller account than I attempted before of the key timing of a gift for me from friends of friends, co-incident with the telling of a legend of a mythical serpent in our local landscape.
I will have another ponder and keep reading your chapters.
PS I've noticed the words character and soul wander into this discussion, perhaps from our bookish past, and they still resonate.
Thanks for the needed clarification of ego, Veronika, which is our selves. It is us; it is our being human. Ancient philosophers understood the importance of ego; it is only during the modern age, and really since the New Age 1960s, where ego became a negative, something to be destroyed. Ouch!
There were rap sessions. There were psychedelic drugs. It led to all kinds of attempts of purification and other such riturals of self-denial. Some were indeed dangerous. Cults. To deny ego is to deny self. Ego death. Self death.
I love alter egos and have had quite a few in my life, including of female writers. It is playful and imaginative and quite fun. My current alter ego, my other self, is a bird-cat, having the characteristics of both spirit animals. It is a strange and rare combination. I have yet to give him a name.
Addendum: I came of age in the 1970s, when the counter-culture was still going strong. One book that I read in college was "The Greening of America," by Charles Reich. It was first published in 1970. In it, Reich discusses, among many issues of the day, Consciousness III, which is a move away from the conformist consumerist society of post-war America and Consciousness III, a restoration to spiritural harmony, including with Nature. I mention this because consciousness was a big deal 50 years ago.
I haven't heard of Charles Reich and his 3 levels (?) if consciousness. Counter-culture (or the rear guard of it in Europe, 70s-80s) was also the era of my student years, but I wasn't yet reading about consciousness until 20 years later. Thank you for bringing the book to my attention. 💚🙏 🌱 🪶
The question is, did Consciousness III fulfill its promises?
No, it never materialized in a major way, for many reasons, including the power of conformity, materialism and consumerism. Technology and the power of the State put an end to it. For now. The book is out of print, but if you happen to get your hands on a used copy, it is worth reading. I think some of the ideas will resonate with you.
As an introvert I consider my alter ego the seemingly
outgoing person who meets the world. I’ve mastered it so well few know how much an introvert I am. Of course many people master this as we must.
It also reminded me of lessons learned when I worked as an RN. I worked primarily in the operating room but I did time in almost every aspect of allopathic nursing. The ego death issue was something I thought occurred when I cared for adults who were at the end of their life and were in what was called a coma. I understood they weren’t in a coma but didn’t quite know where they went. Some were so afraid of dying that they hung on for long periods of time and I wondered what they were doing with their consciousness for so long. Fast forward many years when my mother was dying. She was 97 and was only ever in bed for the last two weeks of her life. The last 10 days she was in that “coma”. I never called forth the consciousness of patients but I did once call my mother from her deep sleep. She was so happy to see me but she was in great pain when awake so I kept it brief. Of course I told her how much I would miss her and love her and all the usual but I also asked her where she was when she wasn’t awake. She thought briefly then said she was watching a movie. It was a movie and she was the star and it was her biography and not altogether pleasant but necessary. She said I too would have this experience, which I did some years later. So I found that quite fascinating but I had heard it called a life review when I worked with hospice. Mother made it much more interesting in my opinion.
So we don’t have the death of our ego but we certainly have an adjustment.
I lived to understand that life review and recognized how beneficial it is and I’m grateful to have this time to be a more authentic self.
Life is a gift if we learn how to appreciate the now and not absorb everything going on in the world. I try to keep up but I take very little in to be absorbed. I keep it in a file, future possibilities.
Thanks for inspiring us to think and learn. I appreciate you.
Oh, thank you for this perspective on the 'ego death', Sammie! 💙🙏 🪶 It makes a lot of sense.
I have certainly experienced it in the so-called 'dark night of the soul' situation in my early 40s. Not in a coma, and not as the inner movie your mother described, but in the sense of 'shedding a skin' big time.
And I can totally relate to the introvert/ extrovert constellation. In a culture where everyone is expected to be an extrovert, that's what introverts do...
many years ago I had a conversation with a Japanese friend about this topic and (having never thought about it) was surprised to hear that in Japan it's the other way round. Japanese culture values introversion and expects individuals to display the qualities and characteristics natural to introverts. Because of that, extroverts have a harder time, always having to 'tone themselves down'.
(you and I might have felt right at home in Japanese culture 😊)
My apologies Veronika, after my rather windswept, bovine battling, sad week, I am late reading this last chapter. I was determined to find time however and finally time presented itself.
And wow, what an illuminating read, combined with the first and second I now have a clearer, more defined image of Ego - if indeed that is possible when speaking of what I now know to be such a diverse subject - what a multifaceted character!
I smiled at "We should be more self-aware less self-centered, more self-actualised less self-absorbed, more self-disciplined less self-opinionated, self-sufficient without being too selfish, etc…. no wonder our self gets lost and confused" where it feels like you read my thoughts from afar! Confused is me, or is that any one of those ego's you mention? I will think on this...
Thank you for guiding me in directions unknown but exciting.. 🙏🏼🌈🍃xx
you've had a tough few days blasting through your life and home... but even if you hadn't, reading each other's writes should be a joy, not an obligation.... well, you know what I mean.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it xxx 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌 with heartfelt wishes for a calmer continuation of springtime in le Paradis
The Symbiopaedia storytelling of words was fun to read, and is playfully subverting the Anthropocene. And from the various comments provides a much needed entry-point into greater self-understanding. Well done ... again. :) 💜
“Self and ego are loyal and reliable companions, offering their services for self-care, self-knowledge, and self-empowerment. They are not fixed, neither good nor bad, and definitely not as ugly as they have been portrayed.”
YAY 🙌 🙏
Thank you for tracing the path of the much maligned ego. I am enjoying the alter ego, self and ego thread you explore. My understanding is that the soul and the ego have a reciprocal relationship of love — this has been a significant aspect of the guidance I receive from the team. Ego is attached to the body and so is a necessary aspect of our soul’s creation — having a human experience. Our free will choices are attached to ego and in feeling into listening to my soul, ego has learned to pause when the impulse is to revert to conditioned mainstream responses. When the ego knows she is loved and part of something more expansive, she knows she is safe and imagined fears start to abate. Then we have the spiritual bypassing of ego by those who basically send the same messages as their mainstream counterparts — that the ego is a trickster. These teachings only reinforce negative perceptions of self and further separate ego from consciousness.
“In the new symbiocentric field theory of Synchronosophy, Self is defined as self-perception, and Ego as ego-identification. These definitions give a clue of the important roles this power duo can play within human Consciousness, if we stop abusing or vilifying them and interfering with their jobs.”
YAY 🙌 💚 for the healthy ego. As always, thank you 😊 🌳 🙏
"My understanding is that the soul and the ego have a reciprocal relationship of love" ~ Beautiful!
"Ego is attached to the body and so is a necessary aspect of our soul’s creation — having a human experience" ~ yes, in Synchronosophy a trusted companion to help with figuring out our identity.
"When the ego knows she is loved ... she is safe and imagined fears start to abate." ~ precisely!
"Then we have the spiritual bypassing of ego by those who basically send the same messages as their mainstream counterparts — that the ego is a trickster. These teachings only reinforce negative perceptions of self and further separate ego from consciousness." ~ Isn't it funny, how that happens all the time among people who claim to be 'mindful of and have empathy for all sentient beings'... completely missing the glaringly obvious fact that our ego is a sentient being too!!!
Oh, Simone, I just want to give you a big hug right now.
Thank you for your resonance, your recognition, your understanding, your experience, your wisdom a wholehearted THANK YOU 💗🙏
I always appreciate your deep-dives into words and their origins, Veronika. And sometimes, where humans have taken them to extremes until they no longer represent their true selves.
But tapping our own inner companions--that creative daimon--to accompany us along the road of life and consult when we are in a quandary. I think this is our birthright.
One question though: have we really lost the gift of shapeshifting? I see elected officials and others who shapeshift constantly, perhaps to the detriment of those they are appointed to serve.
Or are we talking here only about "shapeshifting for the good" - and how would you define that?
Well that's a very interesting perspective you are throwing into the alchemical cauldron here, Robin! 💜 🙏 🪿🪶
I totally agree, the creative daimon and our spirit companions are our birthright. In my experience they do help us 'shapeshift'.
And no, we haven't really lost the gift, but it may take a different form than it did for the Olmec and their successors...
The 'shapeshifting for personal gain' as abuse of power you mention is an important point to think about. There were several negative expressions of alter ego power on my horizon while writing this piece, which I decided not to represent, because they are not true power (in my perception). They are either the result of exploitation of resources not truly one's own, or of having become a victim of a sick society.
I wanted to highlight the power of shapeshifting as a true power in the positive, constructive sense, which can only be used for good. No we haven't lost the gift as a potential. However, to access the gift in its positive constructive form, we have to go through our own inner darkness and find the treasure that is truly ours (no exploitation or manipulation etc.) which will contain the secret key to the shapeshifting...
Ha! Not meaning to throw a wrench in, Veronika. I am with you that we should amplify the good. Simply reflecting back what's in the zeitgeist.
As for "those who find that won't brag about it" - I think you've just defined egoless-ness, no?
One sort of paradox I see: it's the braggarts who draw attention, while those who remain silent often remain hidden. So, for example, all those people being axed from government service WHO ARE DOING GOOD IN AND FOR THE COLLECTIVE are seen as dispensable. They are civil servants, doctors, scientists, nuclear engineers, foreign aid workers, archivists, historians, veterans, parents, children, neighbors and friends. We don't learn what essential good they have been providing society until they are no longer there.
I don't know if it would make any difference in the current climate in the US, but I do wonder: wouldn't displaying some degree of ego/self-confidence/self-awareness be healthier for the good of all than this self-effacement?
Oh do throw whatever wrench or spanners come to mind. It's all good and valuable. Thank you Robin! Truly, I appreciate the questions you are throwing into this fire 🔥🙏 💕
I don't mean this in terms of just 'amplifying the good' but in terms of authenticity.
The work I am presenting on Symbiopædia and in Synchronosophy is all about nurturing and cultivating the Symbiocene, which is conceived as 'the new era' to which we (not all of us but many of us) are aspiring.
I totally understand what you are saying. And yes it's the braggarts (the 'Big Egos' masking their fragile disconnect with themselves) who draw attention... but only as long as we are giving it to them.
In my understanding we cannot win this battle by 'playing the game' according to the rules made by braggarts.
When I say 'don't brag about it' I don't mean egoless. I am talking about a healthy ego, a healthy relationship with oneself, not 'self-effacement' at all.
I don't have all the answers, but I am on a path that completely bypasses anthropocentric thinking, which, as far as I can see, is on a trajectory hurtling towards self-destruction....
I know. But then again, learning, recreating, regenerating, is what we're here for (in my understanding)...
after all these millennia, what if we are at a point of transmutation?
Wouldn't that be something?
It wouldn't make any sense to try to keep fitting in with a dying system (and even trying to fight it is a way of feeding it our energy)
One of my mottos is this quote by Buckminster Fuller:
“You can’t change anything by fighting or resisting it. You change something by making it obsolete through superior methods.”
I'm never thinking that I'm going to figure this out by myself (let alone that I have already figured it out!) but I do believe that together we might...
"We should be more self-aware less self-centered, more self-actualised less self-absorbed, more self-disciplined less self-opinionated, self-sufficient without being too selfish, etc…. no wonder our self gets lost and confused…" This made me laugh out loud. Never heard it put so plainly. Oh how perfectly insane we humans are! And another haha and aha moment: There is no such thing as a "big ego." So true! Big egos are only tiny little ones trying their hardest to feel powerful in this world.
So much insight and dare I say, playfulness? in this one. Thank you Veronika!
Thank you Kim 🙏 😅 yes, me, myself and my alter ego Inner Child had lots of fun together. Among spirit animals, spiritual theories and psychedelic brews..., we've discovered that we should play together more often 🎈 🏄
Thank you Veronika, for this fascinating exploration of ego, self and the transformative power of the alter ego. I love the way you describe the AE as a bridge, offering perspective and empowering us.
From my Jungian lens, this ties beautifully to the "persona," the face we present to the world, and how it helps us connect to others while (sometimes) limiting our relationship to our deeper self.
Hmm, my own alter ego, I know, gives me a chance to explore the hidden layers of myself, often linked to my "shadow," in order to find a better balance between the roles I play and the truth of who I am.
Tonight, your words are such a powerful reminder of how versatile and essential these aspects of consciousness can be when we approach them with curiosity and care. Just brilliant! Thanks again.
Yes, persona! The word came to my mind, but I avoided it because I wasn't entirely sure how it is used (or what the full meaning is) in Jungian language. From your comment I see that it certainly overlaps with the alter ego.
Very interesting also that you mention a link between alter ego and 'shadow'... Would you say the shadow could be linked to invisible trauma? Or unprocessed ancestral trauma?
After finishing this piece I had a strong sense that the alter ego (not the persona part but the spirit animal/ creative daimon part) has a natural affinity with our dormant potential.
Thank you so much for your deep reading and knowledgeable feedback 💜 🙏 🪿🪶
Yes, you’re absolutely on point, Veronika - the persona and alter ego do overlap, and the alter ego’s connection to the shadow adds such intriguing depth. The shadow often holds the hidden parts of ourselves, like unprocessed or ancestral trauma, shaping us quietly until we bring it into the light.
I see these dynamics reflected in my own writing - stories like “Still Standing, Still Loving” and “Bring Me My Red Slippers” have been opportunities to let my alter ego, 'Dotty', take the reins. Embracing her as a creative daimon has helped me explore these deeper layers and unlock dormant potential.
This year, my focus is on writing short archetypal, mythological and psychological stories as I prepare for my memoir - it’s already turning into a fascinating journey of exploring my Self and many selves from every angle. Thank you so much for inspiring this reflective and thought-provoking conversation!
Ah Veronika! So much to connect on ego and self that I find my”self” rummaging through the naming of understanding in search of that nameless invisible elusive naked kiss of meaning. As usual your flow of writing is a gift to us readers.
Chapter 20 in your book would be as close as “I” get to that quest for meaning on self and ego. Both great friends and guides on this soul journey of “being” human. Re-reading chapter 20 is a light going off! Thank you!
Did or do I have an alter ego? We all do somehow. I often ask “What needs to be done” and …”who…must I Be to accomplish it”.
The Noctarine is a great map to the invisible. Consciousness seems to have more than one voice. Now that is another series.
Thanks for Being- Here. Another wow to read into the spaces of a few more times today.
Thanks for sharing your gift. 🙏❤️
You are a poet, Jamie! Of course you have an alter ego, all creative writers (or creatives in general) do. Or does is it the alter ego who has us? 😉 🙏 ✨
Is there a right brain/left brain lens in self/ego?
That's an unexpected question, Jamie...
I have never asked about right or left brain in relation to anything in the Noctarine or Synchronosophy.
Self is self-perception, and Ego is ego-identification. Therefore Ego is usually more spontaneous, more impulsive, less controllable....
I can imagine someone who looks at these things through the right/left brain lens might see a connection...?
Totally! Was reading McGilchrist a bit today and trying to connect dots. Ego sounds like his left. Self the right. Just pondering. Consciousness watches regardless. Sleep well. 🙏❤️
thank you, you too
I had a feeling the question might have been McG-inspired...
Mixing different models doesn't always work... unless it does.
And in the end, whatever sounds right (or left) to you is perfectly ok.
Happy pondering xx
I take your writing seriously and have decided to read Synchronosophy from the beginning. Chapter 1 resonates.
I wanted to reply at his substack a few days ago following Josh's latest poem, but have held the draft, which had turned out to be a fuller account than I attempted before of the key timing of a gift for me from friends of friends, co-incident with the telling of a legend of a mythical serpent in our local landscape.
I will have another ponder and keep reading your chapters.
PS I've noticed the words character and soul wander into this discussion, perhaps from our bookish past, and they still resonate.
Thank you Philip, I feel truly honoured and look forward to your feedback, resonant, critical, or other-wise 🙏 💗 🦉
Excellent.
Thanks for the needed clarification of ego, Veronika, which is our selves. It is us; it is our being human. Ancient philosophers understood the importance of ego; it is only during the modern age, and really since the New Age 1960s, where ego became a negative, something to be destroyed. Ouch!
There were rap sessions. There were psychedelic drugs. It led to all kinds of attempts of purification and other such riturals of self-denial. Some were indeed dangerous. Cults. To deny ego is to deny self. Ego death. Self death.
I love alter egos and have had quite a few in my life, including of female writers. It is playful and imaginative and quite fun. My current alter ego, my other self, is a bird-cat, having the characteristics of both spirit animals. It is a strange and rare combination. I have yet to give him a name.
I know, the so-called New Age was one big distraction, as far as I know (some of it dangerous and destructive)
Your alter egos sound like wonderful company! One of my spirit animals is the snow goose (see photo). 💜 🙏 🪿
Addendum: I came of age in the 1970s, when the counter-culture was still going strong. One book that I read in college was "The Greening of America," by Charles Reich. It was first published in 1970. In it, Reich discusses, among many issues of the day, Consciousness III, which is a move away from the conformist consumerist society of post-war America and Consciousness III, a restoration to spiritural harmony, including with Nature. I mention this because consciousness was a big deal 50 years ago.
I haven't heard of Charles Reich and his 3 levels (?) if consciousness. Counter-culture (or the rear guard of it in Europe, 70s-80s) was also the era of my student years, but I wasn't yet reading about consciousness until 20 years later. Thank you for bringing the book to my attention. 💚🙏 🌱 🪶
The question is, did Consciousness III fulfill its promises?
No, it never materialized in a major way, for many reasons, including the power of conformity, materialism and consumerism. Technology and the power of the State put an end to it. For now. The book is out of print, but if you happen to get your hands on a used copy, it is worth reading. I think some of the ideas will resonate with you.
I'll definitely keep an eye out for it 💚🙏 📚
As always Veronica, brilliantly said.
Also, as always , makes me ponder many things.
As an introvert I consider my alter ego the seemingly
outgoing person who meets the world. I’ve mastered it so well few know how much an introvert I am. Of course many people master this as we must.
It also reminded me of lessons learned when I worked as an RN. I worked primarily in the operating room but I did time in almost every aspect of allopathic nursing. The ego death issue was something I thought occurred when I cared for adults who were at the end of their life and were in what was called a coma. I understood they weren’t in a coma but didn’t quite know where they went. Some were so afraid of dying that they hung on for long periods of time and I wondered what they were doing with their consciousness for so long. Fast forward many years when my mother was dying. She was 97 and was only ever in bed for the last two weeks of her life. The last 10 days she was in that “coma”. I never called forth the consciousness of patients but I did once call my mother from her deep sleep. She was so happy to see me but she was in great pain when awake so I kept it brief. Of course I told her how much I would miss her and love her and all the usual but I also asked her where she was when she wasn’t awake. She thought briefly then said she was watching a movie. It was a movie and she was the star and it was her biography and not altogether pleasant but necessary. She said I too would have this experience, which I did some years later. So I found that quite fascinating but I had heard it called a life review when I worked with hospice. Mother made it much more interesting in my opinion.
So we don’t have the death of our ego but we certainly have an adjustment.
I lived to understand that life review and recognized how beneficial it is and I’m grateful to have this time to be a more authentic self.
Life is a gift if we learn how to appreciate the now and not absorb everything going on in the world. I try to keep up but I take very little in to be absorbed. I keep it in a file, future possibilities.
Thanks for inspiring us to think and learn. I appreciate you.
Oh, thank you for this perspective on the 'ego death', Sammie! 💙🙏 🪶 It makes a lot of sense.
I have certainly experienced it in the so-called 'dark night of the soul' situation in my early 40s. Not in a coma, and not as the inner movie your mother described, but in the sense of 'shedding a skin' big time.
And I can totally relate to the introvert/ extrovert constellation. In a culture where everyone is expected to be an extrovert, that's what introverts do...
many years ago I had a conversation with a Japanese friend about this topic and (having never thought about it) was surprised to hear that in Japan it's the other way round. Japanese culture values introversion and expects individuals to display the qualities and characteristics natural to introverts. Because of that, extroverts have a harder time, always having to 'tone themselves down'.
(you and I might have felt right at home in Japanese culture 😊)
Self, selves, ego masks.
We cook them up, burp them out.
Shedding, surrender.
...
Mysteries? Magic!
Idolized and vilified.
Marvelous monsters.
...
Shapeshifting stories.
Alter, alias, avatar.
Springboarding spirits.
Thank you Marisol ✨ 💗 🧚🏽
especially for the 'cooking them up and burping them out' 🙏 🤭
My apologies Veronika, after my rather windswept, bovine battling, sad week, I am late reading this last chapter. I was determined to find time however and finally time presented itself.
And wow, what an illuminating read, combined with the first and second I now have a clearer, more defined image of Ego - if indeed that is possible when speaking of what I now know to be such a diverse subject - what a multifaceted character!
I smiled at "We should be more self-aware less self-centered, more self-actualised less self-absorbed, more self-disciplined less self-opinionated, self-sufficient without being too selfish, etc…. no wonder our self gets lost and confused" where it feels like you read my thoughts from afar! Confused is me, or is that any one of those ego's you mention? I will think on this...
Thank you for guiding me in directions unknown but exciting.. 🙏🏼🌈🍃xx
absolutely no need to apologise!!!
you've had a tough few days blasting through your life and home... but even if you hadn't, reading each other's writes should be a joy, not an obligation.... well, you know what I mean.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it xxx 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌 with heartfelt wishes for a calmer continuation of springtime in le Paradis
Lovely and enlightening as always, thank you Lady Veronika
Thank you so very much, Geraldine 💗🙏 🧚🏽
As I read and laughed at this wonderful quote, I thought of you Veronika, so I have to share it:
“How much 'ego' do you need? Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.” - Shunryu Suzuki
thank you so much for sharing 🙏 🤭
The Symbiopaedia storytelling of words was fun to read, and is playfully subverting the Anthropocene. And from the various comments provides a much needed entry-point into greater self-understanding. Well done ... again. :) 💜
Thank you 💗🙏🪿🪶
Hi Veronika,
“Self and ego are loyal and reliable companions, offering their services for self-care, self-knowledge, and self-empowerment. They are not fixed, neither good nor bad, and definitely not as ugly as they have been portrayed.”
YAY 🙌 🙏
Thank you for tracing the path of the much maligned ego. I am enjoying the alter ego, self and ego thread you explore. My understanding is that the soul and the ego have a reciprocal relationship of love — this has been a significant aspect of the guidance I receive from the team. Ego is attached to the body and so is a necessary aspect of our soul’s creation — having a human experience. Our free will choices are attached to ego and in feeling into listening to my soul, ego has learned to pause when the impulse is to revert to conditioned mainstream responses. When the ego knows she is loved and part of something more expansive, she knows she is safe and imagined fears start to abate. Then we have the spiritual bypassing of ego by those who basically send the same messages as their mainstream counterparts — that the ego is a trickster. These teachings only reinforce negative perceptions of self and further separate ego from consciousness.
“In the new symbiocentric field theory of Synchronosophy, Self is defined as self-perception, and Ego as ego-identification. These definitions give a clue of the important roles this power duo can play within human Consciousness, if we stop abusing or vilifying them and interfering with their jobs.”
YAY 🙌 💚 for the healthy ego. As always, thank you 😊 🌳 🙏
"My understanding is that the soul and the ego have a reciprocal relationship of love" ~ Beautiful!
"Ego is attached to the body and so is a necessary aspect of our soul’s creation — having a human experience" ~ yes, in Synchronosophy a trusted companion to help with figuring out our identity.
"When the ego knows she is loved ... she is safe and imagined fears start to abate." ~ precisely!
"Then we have the spiritual bypassing of ego by those who basically send the same messages as their mainstream counterparts — that the ego is a trickster. These teachings only reinforce negative perceptions of self and further separate ego from consciousness." ~ Isn't it funny, how that happens all the time among people who claim to be 'mindful of and have empathy for all sentient beings'... completely missing the glaringly obvious fact that our ego is a sentient being too!!!
Oh, Simone, I just want to give you a big hug right now.
Thank you for your resonance, your recognition, your understanding, your experience, your wisdom a wholehearted THANK YOU 💗🙏
from my spirit animals to yours 🪿🪶✨🦈
YAY again 🙌 😊 I love a good hug — my heart is singing — thank you 🤗 💜 🙏 🐋 🧚🏼♀️
I always appreciate your deep-dives into words and their origins, Veronika. And sometimes, where humans have taken them to extremes until they no longer represent their true selves.
But tapping our own inner companions--that creative daimon--to accompany us along the road of life and consult when we are in a quandary. I think this is our birthright.
One question though: have we really lost the gift of shapeshifting? I see elected officials and others who shapeshift constantly, perhaps to the detriment of those they are appointed to serve.
Or are we talking here only about "shapeshifting for the good" - and how would you define that?
Well that's a very interesting perspective you are throwing into the alchemical cauldron here, Robin! 💜 🙏 🪿🪶
I totally agree, the creative daimon and our spirit companions are our birthright. In my experience they do help us 'shapeshift'.
And no, we haven't really lost the gift, but it may take a different form than it did for the Olmec and their successors...
The 'shapeshifting for personal gain' as abuse of power you mention is an important point to think about. There were several negative expressions of alter ego power on my horizon while writing this piece, which I decided not to represent, because they are not true power (in my perception). They are either the result of exploitation of resources not truly one's own, or of having become a victim of a sick society.
I wanted to highlight the power of shapeshifting as a true power in the positive, constructive sense, which can only be used for good. No we haven't lost the gift as a potential. However, to access the gift in its positive constructive form, we have to go through our own inner darkness and find the treasure that is truly ours (no exploitation or manipulation etc.) which will contain the secret key to the shapeshifting...
those who find that key won't brag about it 😉
Ha! Not meaning to throw a wrench in, Veronika. I am with you that we should amplify the good. Simply reflecting back what's in the zeitgeist.
As for "those who find that won't brag about it" - I think you've just defined egoless-ness, no?
One sort of paradox I see: it's the braggarts who draw attention, while those who remain silent often remain hidden. So, for example, all those people being axed from government service WHO ARE DOING GOOD IN AND FOR THE COLLECTIVE are seen as dispensable. They are civil servants, doctors, scientists, nuclear engineers, foreign aid workers, archivists, historians, veterans, parents, children, neighbors and friends. We don't learn what essential good they have been providing society until they are no longer there.
I don't know if it would make any difference in the current climate in the US, but I do wonder: wouldn't displaying some degree of ego/self-confidence/self-awareness be healthier for the good of all than this self-effacement?
Oh do throw whatever wrench or spanners come to mind. It's all good and valuable. Thank you Robin! Truly, I appreciate the questions you are throwing into this fire 🔥🙏 💕
I don't mean this in terms of just 'amplifying the good' but in terms of authenticity.
The work I am presenting on Symbiopædia and in Synchronosophy is all about nurturing and cultivating the Symbiocene, which is conceived as 'the new era' to which we (not all of us but many of us) are aspiring.
I totally understand what you are saying. And yes it's the braggarts (the 'Big Egos' masking their fragile disconnect with themselves) who draw attention... but only as long as we are giving it to them.
In my understanding we cannot win this battle by 'playing the game' according to the rules made by braggarts.
When I say 'don't brag about it' I don't mean egoless. I am talking about a healthy ego, a healthy relationship with oneself, not 'self-effacement' at all.
I don't have all the answers, but I am on a path that completely bypasses anthropocentric thinking, which, as far as I can see, is on a trajectory hurtling towards self-destruction....
So glad you are mapping a new path this way, Veronika. Hard for us humans, overcoming millennia of conditioning. Here to learn!
I know. But then again, learning, recreating, regenerating, is what we're here for (in my understanding)...
after all these millennia, what if we are at a point of transmutation?
Wouldn't that be something?
It wouldn't make any sense to try to keep fitting in with a dying system (and even trying to fight it is a way of feeding it our energy)
One of my mottos is this quote by Buckminster Fuller:
“You can’t change anything by fighting or resisting it. You change something by making it obsolete through superior methods.”
I'm never thinking that I'm going to figure this out by myself (let alone that I have already figured it out!) but I do believe that together we might...
Thank you for your trust 💜 🙏
"We should be more self-aware less self-centered, more self-actualised less self-absorbed, more self-disciplined less self-opinionated, self-sufficient without being too selfish, etc…. no wonder our self gets lost and confused…" This made me laugh out loud. Never heard it put so plainly. Oh how perfectly insane we humans are! And another haha and aha moment: There is no such thing as a "big ego." So true! Big egos are only tiny little ones trying their hardest to feel powerful in this world.
So much insight and dare I say, playfulness? in this one. Thank you Veronika!
Thank you Kim 🙏 😅 yes, me, myself and my alter ego Inner Child had lots of fun together. Among spirit animals, spiritual theories and psychedelic brews..., we've discovered that we should play together more often 🎈 🏄
Thank you Veronika, for this fascinating exploration of ego, self and the transformative power of the alter ego. I love the way you describe the AE as a bridge, offering perspective and empowering us.
From my Jungian lens, this ties beautifully to the "persona," the face we present to the world, and how it helps us connect to others while (sometimes) limiting our relationship to our deeper self.
Hmm, my own alter ego, I know, gives me a chance to explore the hidden layers of myself, often linked to my "shadow," in order to find a better balance between the roles I play and the truth of who I am.
Tonight, your words are such a powerful reminder of how versatile and essential these aspects of consciousness can be when we approach them with curiosity and care. Just brilliant! Thanks again.
Yes, persona! The word came to my mind, but I avoided it because I wasn't entirely sure how it is used (or what the full meaning is) in Jungian language. From your comment I see that it certainly overlaps with the alter ego.
Very interesting also that you mention a link between alter ego and 'shadow'... Would you say the shadow could be linked to invisible trauma? Or unprocessed ancestral trauma?
After finishing this piece I had a strong sense that the alter ego (not the persona part but the spirit animal/ creative daimon part) has a natural affinity with our dormant potential.
Thank you so much for your deep reading and knowledgeable feedback 💜 🙏 🪿🪶
Yes, you’re absolutely on point, Veronika - the persona and alter ego do overlap, and the alter ego’s connection to the shadow adds such intriguing depth. The shadow often holds the hidden parts of ourselves, like unprocessed or ancestral trauma, shaping us quietly until we bring it into the light.
I see these dynamics reflected in my own writing - stories like “Still Standing, Still Loving” and “Bring Me My Red Slippers” have been opportunities to let my alter ego, 'Dotty', take the reins. Embracing her as a creative daimon has helped me explore these deeper layers and unlock dormant potential.
This year, my focus is on writing short archetypal, mythological and psychological stories as I prepare for my memoir - it’s already turning into a fascinating journey of exploring my Self and many selves from every angle. Thank you so much for inspiring this reflective and thought-provoking conversation!
Oh, exciting project! I look forward to reading...
Happy memoir travels 🧳 🛫 🪂🏝🐪 🏕️