“The evil of wetiko literally cultivates itself through our unreflected-upon unconscious reactions to it, in which we unwittingly support the very psychic disease against which we are reacting. If, when we see this virulent pathogen (whether in ourselves or the outside world), and we contract against it, having judgment, anger, hatred, revulsion, etc., we’re helping to perpetuate the diabolical polarization that is the signature of the disease. Our reacting in this way is an expression that we ourselves have the disease, or to say it more accurately, the disease has us. We are then acting out, however well intentioned, the same process of shadow projection that underlies wetiko disease in the first place – which is to dissociate from, project outside of ourselves, and react to our own evil. We are unconsciously reacting to the unconscious part of ourselves which the wetikos embody. This reaction is an unconscious ritualistic invocation and re-enactment of the initial impulse within ourselves of turning away from and contracting against a seemingly darker part of ourselves. This is the timeless, primal act which called forth and spawned the spirit of wetiko in the first place. To the extent we are unaware of what we are doing, we, as ‘reps’ for wetiko, are compulsively re-enacting our trauma and participating in re-creating and propagating the wetiko virus in this very moment. We are then playing out our unresolved internal affairs in the outside world by, in, and through our reactions, unwittingly becoming a vector that is carrying the wetiko bug further out into the world. Instead of unconsciously reacting and projecting the shadow outside of ourselves, however, when we consciously relate to and take responsibility for the evil within ourselves, we are energetically withdrawing and disinvesting from our complicity in the continual re-animation of evil in the world. There is a great danger when we see evil. We cannot bear witness to archetypal evil and remain a separate, detached witness who is unaffected, as if passively sitting in the audience, out of harm’s way, for every archetype has an infectious quality. Something inside of us becomes ignited and set aflame when we experience archetypal evil, as if everything evil produces a chain reaction. No one can see archetypal evil, which being nonlocal, has more breadth and depth than merely personal evil, and stay untouched. Jung emphasizes this very point when he writes, ‘The sight of evil kindles evil in the soul – there is no getting away from this fact.’ Plato observed millennia ago that the sight of ugliness produces something ugly in the soul. When we see evil ‘out there,’ our own evil is activated by the experience. For example, when we see evil, if we react with moral indignation, cocksure of our own innocence and righteousness, this is an expression that we have become infected by the very evil to which we are reacting. Mapping wetiko’s nonlocal footprints, both out in the world and in the corresponding places within ourselves that are being touched, is to discover the nonlocal multidimensional ‘anatomy’ of wetiko. It is impossible to encounter wetiko and not be activated, as wetiko’s nonlocal force field is activating by its very nature, in that it is co-extensive and interwoven with our own. Our unconscious, knee-jerk reactivity is the primary way that the wetiko psychosis regenerates and propagates itself in the field. Like a pathogen invading a body, this virulent psychic bug strikes and hooks us through the weakest point in our unconscious, the most tender and vulnerable spot within ourselves through which we are most likely to react. Seeing evil triggers a resonant darkness within us, as if we have secretly recognized a part of ourselves. We could not look at the face of evil and truly see it unless we have that very same evil within ourselves; we wouldn’t be able to recognize it otherwise. It is then a question of whether we can integrate what has been triggered in us, or whether we inwardly dissociate from our own darkness, imagining it to be separate from ourselves, and project the evil ‘out there’ onto some ‘other,’ starting the cycle all over again. The way to ‘responsibly’ (which connotes the ‘ability to respond’) engage with wetiko disease is to (at)tend to what it triggers within us. One o the most beautiful teachings in Buddhism is called the ‘Lion’s Gaze.’ The following example is given as an illustration: If you throw a stick at a dog, the dog runs after the stick; but if you throw a stick at a lion, the lion will chase after you! The stick represents an uncomfortable negative emotion that gets triggered inside us. When we are triggered – when something ‘pushes our buttons’ – it activates an unconscious, compulsive knee-jerk reflex. Running after the stick like a dog, indulging in and ‘acting out’ the negative emotion, means that we put our attention outside of ourselves. This is to relate to what is triggering us in the outside world as ‘the problem’ instead of looking inward at the source. If only what was triggering us in the outside world would stop, we tell ourselves, we would feel better and the problem would be solved. But I we have the ‘gaze of the lion,’ we turn our gaze within when we are triggered and treat the moment as an opportunity to self-reflect, looking at whatever it is within us that has been activated. The lion is not afraid to go to the source of the trigger, which is never outside but always within ourselves. Assuming the fearless gaze of the lion, we relate to the triggering situation as a gift, as it has helped us access a part of ourselves that up until now has been unconscious, and hence hidden. Could it be that our unconscious reaction against even the mere mention of the word ‘evil’ is touching a deeper, hidden part of ourselves so as to potentially reveal it to us? Just as the way to cut off the head of the mythic Medusa is to look at her reflections in the mirror-shield, the way to stalk the vampiric entity of wetiko is to track and sense its fingerprints within ourselves by looking into the mirror of our own mind. The evil of wetiko can be too much to stare at directly, however, just as looking at the snake-haired Medusa turns us to stone. Vampires are ‘petrifying,’ which means both ‘terrifying,’ as well as ‘paralyzing and ‘turning to stone.’ They petrify their victim, just as a mouse becomes immobilized by the transfixing gaze of the serpent. Vampires are not creatures to be messed with by the frivolous. Evil has its divine depths into which it is irreverent to look directly; its power needs to be respected. In indigenous cultures, objects that ‘reflect’ are thought to magically drive away evil spirits, as if the object that mirrors evil throws the harmful rays back upon its source. This expresses in symbolic terms the archetypal idea that the act of reflection safeguards against the powers of evil. Another symbolic protection against evil in cultures that were still in touch with the magical level of reality were sacred art objects called ‘fear masks.’ The faces of these masks were horrifyingly distorted and evil-looking, and were thought to reflect back upon the demon its own image, an image from which it flees in terror. This is to say that when we reflect upon the demon, it ceases to bother with us, as then it must deal with itself. Self-reflection is not only the most beneficial response to evil; it is in fact the only response where we have any real influence or control. The Big Wetikos have no real power or control over the sanctity and sovereignty of a truly self-reflective mind.” ~ Paul Levy
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 20:54:54 +0000
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