WORSHIPPING THE DARK THE MANIFESTATIONS OF CARL GUSTAV JUNG'S ARCHETYPE OF THE SHADOW IN CONTEMPORARY WICCA Nicholas Marc Dion Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University, Montreal October 2006 A thesis submitted to Mc Gill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Nicholas Dion, 2006 Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-28552-7 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-28552-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract/Résumé 111 Acknowledgements IV Introduction 1 1 Historical Background 3 1.1 Common Misinterpretations of Wicca 4 1.2 Defining Wicca 7 1.3 Jungian Anthropology of Religion and its Historical Development 12 1.4 Wicca as a Historical Movement 17 1.5 Jung as Psychologist 22 2 The Psychology of the Shadow and its Implications 26 2.1 Archetypal Theory 26 2.2 The Archetype of the Shadow 34 2.3 The Shadow and the Concept of Evil 40 2.4 The Wiccan Rede 46 2.5 Evil in the Divine 51 2.6 The Divine and the Quaternary 57 3 The Manifestations of the Shadow and Its Integration 61 3.1 The Integration Process 61 3.2 The Individuation Process and the Archetype of the Shadow 65 3.3 Wiccan Ritual 72 3.4 Wicca and the Environment 78 3.5 The Problem of Magic 81 3.6 Inanna's Descent to the Underworld 86 Conclusion 97 Bibliography 99 1.1 Primary Sources: Writings by Wiccans 99 1.2 Primary Sources: Writings by Carl Gustav Jung 101 2.1 Secondary Sources: Writings on the Wiccan Religion 104 2.2 Secondary Sources: Writings on Carl Gustav Jung 107 3 Other Sources 113 111 Abstract Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung describes the encounter with the archetype of the shadow as the initial step to be taken by any individual seeking to initiate the individuation process. Jung observes a close relationship between this process and religion, suggesting that a psychologically beneficial religion can help guide the subject through individuation. Yet Jung finds few existing religious traditions that satisfy his criteria. Wicca, a neopagan religion popular in Europe and North America, presents itself at times as consciously psychological, striving to lead the practitioner to a goal of self­ transformation, yi el ding a product that strangely resembles the individuated person. The objective therefore becomes not to criticize Wiccan religious claims, nor to deconstruct Jungian philosophy, but to identify the points of intersection between Wiccan theology/thealogy and Jungian psychology of religion, with a particular emphasis on the archetype ofthe shadow. Résumé Le psychanalyste suisse Carl Gustav Jung décrit la rencontre avec l'archétype de l'ombre comme étant la première étape qui doit être franchie par chaque personne cherchant à faire débuter le processus d'intégration. Jung perçoit de plus une certaine relation entre ce processus et le but psychologique de la religion; c'est-à-dire, la religion devrait aider l'individu à négocier le chemin de l'intégration. Ayant survolé les grandes traditions religieuses du monde, Jung a bien de la misère à trouver des religions qui remplissent ses critères. Cependant, la Wicca, un mouvement néo-païen, se présente comme étant une religion qui se soucie consciemment du développement psychologique de ses membres, et qui encourage la transformation personnelle, sur le même plan que l'intégration. Le but de ce texte n'est donc pas de critiquer les affirmations religieuses de la Wicca, ni d'analyser la philosophie de Jung, mais plutôt de chercher à identifier certains points d'intersection entre la théologie/théalogie wiccane et la psychologie Jungienne, avec une attention particulière portée sur l'archétype de l'ombre. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 would like to thank Dr. Maurice Boutin of the Faculty of Religious Studies at Mc Gill University for his thoughts and comments during the writing process. 1 thank him for sharing my enthusiasm for this project and for allowing me the freedom to follow my ideas down this admittedly unorthodox path. Much thanks to my fellow pagan studies scholars across Canada, many of whom 1 have had the privilege of meeting in the not-so­ distant past; thanks to them for their thoughts and experiences. And finally, my infinite gratitude to my friends and family for their unwavering moral support. Introduction Any research project that deals with a religious movement as obscure as Wicca should realistically expect to be met with initial skepticism from the academic community. Despite the increasing popularity of this religion in North America over the past three decades, only recently have attempts been made to understand Wicca at a deeper level. Few academics are familiar with the teachings of contemporary Wicca, as those who have heard of the religion continue to carry in mind a portrait painted in the early 1970s, when members of the women's equality movement popularized Wicca in North America. The religion has greatly changed since then, and this image of 1970s Wicca is no longer entirely reflective of the present state of affairs. The question remains as to why anyone should bother granting Wicca any academic consideration. Considering the relatively small size of the movement in North America, these reasons may not necessarily be evident at first. Part of this study's task will be to expose these reasons. As author David Miller writes in the introduction to The New Polytheism: Rebirth ofthe Gods and Goddesses: Students coming to the university used to define their religious situation by locating first their inherited tradition, and then asking the university to clarify that tradition for them; so they might better affirm or deny it. What they are asking of their teachers of religion is no longer that they serve as a sophisticated or upper division Sunday School, but that they offer them a massive and total access to aIl the Gods of men. (Miller 1974, vii) This changing academic situation, in recognition of the religious pluralism that abounds in both Canada and the United States, demands that all religions be given an equally fair chance to share their truths with those who should wish to hear them. This is not to deny Dion 2 the individual's own religious commitment, nor to discard the importance of one's inherited tradition in further religious development; this situation simply suggests that it is becoming more and more difficult to say that a religion is too small or too new to be worthy of study. Sociological and psychological approaches to religion would also encourage the study of new religious movements, including Wicca, for the rise of any given religious movement is necessarily linked to psychosocial factors. That is, each new religious movement exists for a reason. If it has managed to sustain its existence for a certain time period, and it continues to attract new disciples, surely the movement is offering the practitioner an innovative 'spiritual' understanding of sorne sort, which s/he not only finds beneficial but which, more importantly, s/he feels unable to discover in any of the 'traditional' religious systems. It is the task of religious studies (more specifically, sorne might argue, of psychology of religion) to unearth and consider these religious feelings. Many obstacles must be overcome (or, at the very least, recognized and temporarily sidestepped) when dealing with Wicca academically. The religion lacks any sort of central authorityand is essentially adogmatic. While an overwhelming majority of Wiccans would agree on certain key precepts of their religious experience, there remains within the tradition a great flexibility for personal modification and for customizability. This is the primary reason, however, for which this study has chosen psychology as its preferred methodological approach. Wicca, a religion essentially based upon ideals of spiritual and social transformation, displays great affinity with the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). In particular, Jung's archetype of the shadow takes on a Dion 3 prominent role in Wiccan thought and ritual.