How to Make the Unconscious Conscious

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."
— Carl Jung

Here is what this quote really means:

We think that the totality of our being is our conscious mind.

But much of ourselves and our behavioral patterns are contained in the unconscious.

The unconscious is the source of most of our thoughts, feelings and behavior. These are parts that are hidden form our conscious view.

Dreams, visions and synchronicities are some of the main ways our unconscious talks to us.

We have to learn how to access it and become receptive to its messages in order to become conscious, complete and whole human beings. We have to dig into the depth of our unconscious to make lasting change, overcome recurring challenges, reprogram our patterns, and heal trauma.

Most of us are so out of touch with our inner world that we only encounter the unconscious when we get in trouble with it: inexplicable conflicts, recurring unhealthy patterns in relationships, irrational or destructive urges, addictions, depression, anger issues...

When we ignore it, our unconscious speaks to us through mental illness and chronic disease. It keeps forcing itself back into our lives through inner conflicts, neurosis and psychological symptoms to get our attention.

The Western perspective likes to think we are fully conscious human beings and in control of our decisions and behavior. Most people never explore all the rooms in their inner castle and approach the hidden parts of their psyche.

But, the unconscious mind is not merely an appendage of the conscious mind.

It is out of the raw material of the unconscious that our conscious minds develop, mature and expand.

The conscious mind is like a cork bobbing in the enormous ocean of the unconscious. The conscious mind is the tip of the ice berg, and 95% of the ice berg is hidden under water, which makes up the unconscious - it might be out of sight, but it is enormously powerful. It is running the show from below. The part of the psyche that is hidden in the unconscious mind is much greater than the conscious mind and much more powerful.

The modern world has split off the conscious mind from the roots in the unconscious. We have lost forms of interactions with the unconscious that nourished our ancestors - like dreams, visions, rituals or religious experience and ceremonies

We act is though there is no unconscious, no realm of the soul, as though we could live full lives by fixating ourselves completely on the external, material world.

It is by exploring and making the unconscious conscious that enables us to realize the full potential that is built into us, find true inner healing and make lasting changes.

When we do things like Breathwork, plant medicine ceremonies or dream analysis we get access to our unconscious parts of our psyche. We can then gain insight into the conflict and challenges that our lives present and find the strength and resources that wait to be discovered there.

Know thyself really means going deep into the castle, into the ice berg, into the vast ocean. It's a brave expedition, but it’s what it means to really live a conscious life.

(This is atomic essay #14, which is part of 30 Days of Writing #Ship30for30)