#basic bitch understanding of Jungian psychology

[redstairs]

I feel like I'm subconsciously working out a post looking at most of the Heinrix/RT romances from the lens of Jungian psychology thing and why this one hits me so hard. So I'll just jot down some thoughts and see where this lands.

The gist of it is that it's the ultimate story of recovering the anima and animus, of becoming whole. It all starts with seeing what you have repressed in yourself in someone else - for Heinrix it starts with mercy and femininity in the Jungian sense (not femininity as painting nails, but things like mercy, receptivity and fluidity) which he has had to completely ban from himself but sees in the femRT. (Except you never destroy parts of you, you stash them far away and they do their thing inside until they come out).

Falling in love, that sort of intense flash of recognition in the beginning, is what happens when a partner becomes a good receptacle for the projection of the qualities you have not been allowed to develop. Side note, when Jung wrote, gender roles were very rigid and the emotional, fluid, feminine was for women, and men were the active, solid, expansive, today this is different but I use feminine / masculine like this. The repressed feminine part of men is called the anima and the repressed masculine part of women is called the animus.

One of the big selling points that hooked me on the Heinrix romance is how vulnerable he is - not weak though. You only gain access to his feelings as you grow closer and "succeed" in the romance. He is also capable as a fighter and interrogator though kept in the dark by his boss. For those who wonder what weak would look like, it would be same back story but not being capable like he is. Making it as a psyker and acolyte has required immense sacrifice and strength. Afaik he's a quite clear animus-coded character.

Calcazar represents some sort of super-ego, extremely strict, villainous, and who will not hesitate to sacrifice you. Same way too harsh parents or societies will have you maim your own personality to survive them.

Then we have the femRT, your self-insert. The fact that what she gets to develop is compassion and nurturance towards that repressed shell of a man, which in turn gives him control over his destiny, I think that's what hit so well and is a universal theme.

I think this triangle exists in the inner life of most people, where a sort of super intendant, a critical parent, society or environment, has hurt the psyche. Here we get to reconcile the parts of the self, and through the power of mercy and compassion, not unlike Ghibli movies. Nobody is a pushover that desperately needs rescuing, but the femRT can make Heinrix from someone essentially amputated of a part of his personality into a whole individual - this mirrors a process that a lot of people have to go through, where you must reconcile different aspects of you, including what has been deemed unlikeable. Helping Heinrix find himself is helping you grab that part of yourself and show it love and mercy.

[grumpy-lynx-blog]

And now: Daemons

I really wanted to talk about that coffee I mentioned, but in hindsight it’s not that interesting, so I will move on to something much more fascinating, that I wanted to talk about: Daemons.

I’m really happy to see there is a community here focused on daemons, and in this post I’m gonna talk about my thoughts on daemons, how I understand the concept of a daemon, how I discovered them and take a moment to talk about Jungian shadows. I’m also going to introduce my daemon and shadow to you, since they are precious and you cannot stop me.

I decided to move my grumpiness below the [keep reading] button. While this post came out quite tame, there are still a few swears here and there, so proceed only if you’re okay with that.

My thoughts on daemons in Tumblr community

I’ve browsed #daemon tag for a bit, and I feel safe in assuming that you know what a daemon is, so I won’t explain it for the nth time, because others probably did it better than I ever would.

And I’m honestly amazed the practice is still alive and going well. It makes me happy to see that.

Wait wait, look, here it is. A motherfucking keyword: p r a c t i c e

Browsing that tag, made me realize not everyone of you practices it, and that’s fine. Some of you are here for the HDM trilogy and all the AUs you can come up with and some are here for the roleplay and writing. That is all perfectly fine and dandy, and we will go along just well, I just want you to know I’m more focused on the psychological aspect of it, and my view on daemons is closer to what Carl Jung came up with rather than what Pullman wrote. It’s a bit complicated how I see the whole deal, but bear with me for a second, because my take on it might interest you.

Another keyword: m i g h t. 

No refunds.

How did I discover this whole daemon gig

Back when I was going to polish equivalent of high school, I used to be a bullied crybaby son of a bitch, and when I discovered that there’s a group of internet people with Imaginary Friends: Ædvanced Ædition™ it sounded like liquid gold to my ears. I discovered them by accident. Not by reading HDM or watching GC. 

Basically, I jumped into the water without knowing source material. Yes, I read about all the things like, what daemons are, what they do, that the name came from HDM, that concept of it was old and later refined by Carl Jung, and to me it ended up being a strictly psychological matter. I skipped the part of daemonism where I was supposed to fanboy over His Dark Materials.

And that gives us: My understanding of daemons

To me, daemons are like a bridge between our conscious and subconscious mind. We can consciously communicate with them, and because they have access to our subconscious, not only we feel like they have a mind of their own - they can be a great help if we want to understand and improve ourselves.

Everyone’s daemon is different, because ultimately they are largely dependent on who we are, and there are no two people who are exactly the same. Everyone has a daemon, just not everyone bothers to fish for that stray thought that might be their “bridge” and give that “bridge” human traits in animal form.

That’s what daemonism is to me: Everyone has that bridge, and daemonism is a philosophy that encourages us to discover that bridge and turn it into a daemon. And like every philosophy, it has a goal: It helps us understand ourselves, because who knows us better than we do ourselves?

Shadows?

Besides a daemon, I also have a shadow. At first I thought of him as how Carl Jung explained shadows, and he ended up being pretty much that, but there are some slight differences.

He appeared in my life at random, and while I had to carefully listen in into my thoughts to hear my daemon, it was very easy for me to hear my shadow - and oh boy was he a salty son of a bitch.

After some time (about a month) he finally calmed down, and I was able to talk with him. Right now, I believe he appeared because my idea of who I was was really conflicting with my idea of who I want to be. Befriending my shadow resulted in me accepting the difference between me and “the me I want to be.”

And now that I’m slowly becoming “the me I want to be”, besides the title of a shadow, he’s now almost like a second daemon, because what made him different is now an obsolete matter.

Ramble ramble, give me your fucking daemon

Calm down already, you knew this was coming and here it is. Introducing my daemon and shadow:

Daemon - Female meerkat named Aaris, shortened to Ari. She’s the embodiment of all traits that I have and like having, and the traits I’d like to have. I like to think of her, as the voice of my heart, the one that goes with emotion and doesn’t think much before jumping straight to action.

Shadow - Male canadian lynx named Keshay, shortened to Kesh. His form has black fur, which probably is melanism, but I never gave it too much thought. He’s the embodiment of all traits that I don’t like having, and the traits I’d never like to have. I like to think of him, as the voice of my brain, the one that thinks things through, and is probably the only sane thought in this head of mine.

<Ari: Hello!> <Kesh: Greetings.>

From now on, I will insert their thoughts into my posts. I’ve been a daemian for 6 years now, and throughout that time, I was rarely active in any communities focusing on daemons. First few months I spent on the polish deamonic forum, but since then, both of them didn’t have many opportunities to interact with anyone besides me, so this could turn out great. Or catastrophic. All I know is that they’re happy for this.

Finishing this wall of text off

I changed a lot for the better thanks to daemonism, Ari and Kesh has been a great help in my life, I became quite happy with myself and I love to spread that happiness. Lately I strayed a bit off that path (which I mentioned in introductory post), and I hope that by using Tumblr, and by making some friends here, I will be able to take a fresh breath I so desperately need in my life.

Feel free to message me, or ask me stuff because apparently you can do that on Tumblr. Also if you want to talk with either Ari or Kesh, they would be so happy to get some social interaction that is not talking to grumpy old me.

Have fun exploring your mind

// Grumpy Lynx