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We are counting down the week to Halloween here at Unknown Country! Whatever your personal beliefs about this archaic and arcane tradition, this is a good time to examine the shadow-sides of our personality and the importance of recognising the purpose of the dark side in each and every one of us.

The term “shadow” was first used by the psychologist Carl G. Jung to describe the denied or repressed aspects of the self. We are conditioned to believe that we should exist only in Light, but without the darkness light would not be thrown into focus. Life is an endless struggle to bring light and dark into balance, to learn from this battle and in the process grow and expand our consciousness.
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When we visited a producer recently, we were surprised to discover that his office contained a proud display of all the sort of furniture Whitley and I grew up with—circa around 1957. There was a dining table with chairs that looked like they were out of the old cartoon show the Jetsons, and framed fifties movie posters. I remember when my dad, who was certainly no esthete, painted our refrigerator turquoise, and there was, indeed, a turquoise refrigerator in the office! Whitley says that the couches and chairs could have come right out of his father’s den.  My own house was themed in pink. When I returned many years later, I saw that it had been returned to the original white with green trim. What were we thinking back in the fifties, anyway?read more

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Our inner emotions are very powerful, and it is becoming more widely accepted by science that they can have profound and measurable physiological effects.

Stress is known to have negative effects on the body, but what about more positive emotions, such as happiness, joy and awe?
Can feeling deeply moving sentiments change our bodies, our minds, maybe even our souls?
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