The Mythic Body.
Activate the Power of Your Authentic Self
By Jamie Rosanna Dorig
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SMASHWORDS EDITION
Copyright 2010 by Jamie Rosanna Dorig
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PART ONE. AN ENCOUNTER WITH SOUL
CHAPTER 1: INDIVIDUATION - A Soul Inspired Journey
CHAPTER 2: QUALITY OF DIALOGUE - Embracing the Heart of the Matter
CHAPTER 3: EXPANSION OF IDENTITY - Our Potential for Transformation
CHAPTER 4: EXPERIENCE OF MEANING - An Intuitive Sense of Knowing
PART TWO. AN ARCHETYPICAL JOURNEY
CHAPTER 5: ARCHETYPES - The Soul's DNA
CHAPTER 6: THE CHILD - Connecting to Our External Power
CHAPTER 7: THE HERO - A Leap of Faith
CHAPTER 8: THE SAGE - Holding Sacred Ground
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For the bears who did not eat me when I was four, laying on flat rocks off the shores of Lake Superior.
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Since we first met in 1984, my husband, John, has stood by my side and contributed, supported, toiled, laughed, and cried with me while we engaged in the process of honouring soul. To say that I could not have written The Mythic Body without him is an understatement. I am happy to express my gratitude for his invaluable contributions to this project. His organizing, text polishing, editing, proof-reading, and book design skills were essential to the completion of The Mythic Body .
This book honours the work of Carl Gustav Jung. It was his deep insight into the world of the psyche that confirmed my own soul intuitions when I was a young adult in need of inner guidance and support.
I would also like to acknowledge Marie Louise von Franz, James Hillman, Marion Woodman, Robert Bly, Michael Meade, Christiane Northrup, and Caroline Myss. Their influence has encouraged me to activate the power of my authentic self.
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PREFACE
Standing at the edge of a canyon, a four-year-old girl looks to the other side and sees a tall man wearing flowing red robes. He is bigger than life, and his arms are outstretched reaching toward her, beckoning her to jump! The gap is so wide, the distance so great that she cannot believe he wants her to jump. She hesitates. No, she will not jump!
He looks at her with soft eyes, and in that look, lets her know that he will always be there. He will wait for her, ready to receive her with open arms should she change her mind.
A Gossamer Thread of Destiny
A gossamer thread of destiny connects this dream to The Mythic Body – Activate the Power of Your Authentic Self. This thread of destiny extends back from present time to the time of this dream, and it extends forward to the writing of this book. The dream came to me in the middle of the night in 1957, and the thread began to unfold that very morning when, as a fouryear-old child, I found it within myself to commit it to memory. Though I was very young, I remember realizing that the dream was somehow important, and I was determined that I would never forget it. Now, after so many years, I am still in awe of the fact that the content of the dream symbolically captured many of the themes I wish to explore within the pages of this book.
After that morning, the thread of destiny continued to unfold through various life events that have always connected me to the world from which dreams originate, the inner world of soul. While I have lived my life since then with relative success, accomplishing the tasks demanded by the external world, it has always been the internal world of the soul that has captivated my interest, my imagination, and my passion. I have always preferred to turn inward when seeking the direction needed to govern my course through life. For more than half a century and as far back as I can remember, I have walked this inner journey and believe it to be of prime importance.
Connection to Soul
The ancient Greeks used the word psyche when referring to the soul. This book uses both words interchangeably. The Mythic Body is the outcome of a passionate curiosity and a vocational calling that my psyche has impressed upon me since I was very young. It reflects many years spent in trying to unravel the enigmatic ways in which the psyche has manifested itself, both in my life and in the lives of those around me. The Mythic Body is a manifestation of twenty-eight years of working with clients seeking assistance and guidance on their life’s journey. I have tried to meet their needs by helping them establish and grow an essential, necessary connection to soul.
In tribal societies, there are people known as shamans or wounded healers, who walk back and forth between worlds. Since engaging in this work of guidance and mentoring for my clients, I have always found it difficult to adopt a label that would be appropriate in describing my calling. I have cringed at times when clients have referred to me as a healer. I find this label to be loaded with misleading implications, especially when considering where true healing originates. After careful consideration, I have reluctantly accepted the label of mentor as a more accurate representation of my work. However, the “canyon dream” previously mentioned did take place in the context of a family environment that was precarious and dangerous for me as a child. Therefore, I sometimes wonder if the term wounded healer may not be a more appropriate label as it does encompass both the sexual wounds I experienced in early childhood, and the ongoing transformational healing that has taken place since then.
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You were conceived in a flash of white light. Your amazing entry into this world was marked by an explosion of nitric oxide, ignited when sperm and egg became one. This was the birth of your mythic body. This conception initiated a primeval and mysterious journey that will never be fully unveiled. Your soul’s code was inscribed within the fertilized ovum from which you originated. This code is a destiny still proclaimed within every cell of your body.
Psyche’s Story
The Mythic Body is an exploration of this journey toward your destiny. It is the telling of the psyche’s story, a metaphorical narrative that uncovers the path that the psyche takes from conception to the full unfolding of an individual’s life. All the twists and turns taken along this path are encoded within the body as a kind of psychic memory. The body and the psyche are one. The purpose of this book is to map the territory of the psyche and to approach the myth or the story of the psyche as told by the body. The Mythic Body is soul remembered. It is a proposed sacred ritual for reconnecting body to soul. It is soul embodied and body impregnated with soul.
Exploring the territory of soul is a process that is accessible to everyone. The human body, heart, and mind are wired for such experiences. Since the dawn of human history, our ancestors knew this territory and moved fluently in and out of this realm from a place of instinct, intuition, and imagination. They were comfortable with this sacred process, as it enveloped and assimilated them into the harmony of the natural world. Anyone who has had the experience of standing in awe of the power and beauty of nature or has spent extended periods of time communing with the natural world, understands the ease with which soul can make its presence known in such a pristine environment.
Rapport with Soul
Surrounded by the peaceful bliss of nature, many of us can sense a soul connection with our ancestors who walked this planet for more than two hundred thousand years. We can intuitively sense how they might have easily drifted in and out of this world of the psyche. It is unlikely, however, that anyone will experience this connection with soul by turning the pages of yet another Psychology 101 textbook. The vision and intention of The Mythic Body is not to report on soul but rather to encourage rapport with soul. It is an invitation to make room for soul, to allow soul to have presence, and to allow soul’s voice to be heard.
How does soul manifest itself in your life? What does your mythic body display? What is the myth you are living? We all have a story, a unique personal myth that is perpetually unfolding. The Mythic Body asks that you consider what this unique mythological story might be. It addresses the universal, multi-layered tale expressed in the soul language of imagery and symbol. The Mythic Body is an exploration of your inner life, the life of the psyche.
Symbolic Thinking
We approach The Mythic Body mostly through symbolic rather than literal thinking. Symbolic thinking is an activity of the mind connected with the right hemisphere of the brain, whereas literal thinking takes place in the left hemisphere. The distinction between the two is important in that we can never hope to fully understand the psyche by way of literal thinking alone, since the psyche’s preferred mode of expression is symbolic imagery. The psyche’s inherent tendency to remain somewhat elusive and ambiguous is a nearly impossible obstacle for the literal-minded to overcome. Through intuition, imagination, and the capacity for symbolic perception, the psyche pulls us into an ocean of imagination and makes itself known.
In order to receive direction from the psyche, we will learn to imagine what the psyche is communicating. We will be encouraged to access the realm of intuitive metaphors by way of myth. This book honours myth as an ancient approach to uncovering and experiencing the deeper mysteries of life. Humanity has relied on this soul practice for most of its existence. It is only in recent history that we have scorned and discarded the way of myth as a viable source of wisdom and knowledge.
Science and Religion
There was a time not so long ago when people in our Western culture could turn to the dual institutions of science and religion as the main pillars of support in understanding the nature of reality. Modern science now finds little value in the world of myth and symbolic thinking. Likewise, in a quest to appease the scientific obsession with literal truths, many of our older established religions have now stripped their mythologies of symbolic value.
With its emphasis on literal interpretations of sacred scriptures, the rise of fundamentalism in many of our world’s religions is an example of this turning away from myth as a passageway to truth. This loss leaves many of us feeling that neither science nor religion can provide us with the spark of mystery necessary to activate our imagination and sustain us with a sacred vision of life.
We stand psychically exposed and vulnerable, out in the open in a mundane, materialistic world, unable to find the kind of soul refuge we need in order to face the terrible difficulties of modern life. The demons we thought we had chased away with the power of the rational mind have resurfaced and they have come back to haunt us with a vengeance. We have given them fancy new clinical names like anorexia, paranoia, chronic fatigue, attention deficit disorder, and manic depression. yet tragically, the comprehension of these inner demons still remains elusive to the modern mind. In the meantime, the psyche will not wait for us to acknowledge its presence. one way or another, the psyche’s voice will be heard. It will get our attention either gently through intuitive prompts or with more intensity through disturbances of heart, body, and mind.
Symbolic thinking can be a difficult concept for the modern mind to comprehend as we are more comfortable with the world of the literal left-brain. Nevertheless, it is from this deep well of symbolic thinking that we draw the thirst-quenching waters of soul. This change of perceptual thinking must unfold if we are to generate a more expanded vision of life, a vision we intend to explore fully within The Mythic Body.
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PART ONE. AN ENCOUNTER WITH SOUL
CHAPTER 1: INDIVIDUATION - A Soul Inspired Journey
In the space of a lifetime, an individual will experience personal growth, change, and development. These occur not only within the body on a physical level but also within the realm of heart, mind, and soul on an emotional, psychological, and spiritual level.
Carl Gustav Jung
In his observations of the human psyche, Swiss psychologist and founder of Analytical Psychology, Carl Gustav Jung, perceived the existence of underlying, organizing patterns of behaviour. These powerful unconscious character tendencies and hidden influences are actively at work within an individual's personality. These elements of human nature bring us to wholeness, a process which is a natural inclination inherent in all of us. Jung offered the term individuation as a means of identifying this intrinsic inner impulse to consciously seek, access, and activate the power of our authentic self. Individuation is our soul-inspired journey toward wholeness.
In approaching the psyche through the process of individuation, we will introduce three elements or entry points into The Mythic Body: Dialogue, Identity, and Meaning. This book takes us on an archetypical journey. As such, we will explore the topic of archetypes: what they consist of, the role they play within the individuation process, and the impact they have on our lives. Together, we will discover the archetypical journey each of us has lived and experienced. We will chart its course and map its history. In order to do so, we will examine the influence of certain archetypes on our lives. Specifically, we will focus on the Child, the Hero, and the Sage. We will identify the various ways these three archetypes have manifested throughout our lives. While the influence of all three archetypes is present throughout the course of our lives, The Mythic Body links the Child to childhood, the Hero to adolescence, and the Sage to adulthood. We will see the relevance of this link more clearly when we approach a series of questions prepared for each archetype. These questions will help us to understand the link between the three archetypes and the three elements of individuation already mentioned.
To explore the soul's journey of individuation we need to take the time to understand more about the psyche's actual makeup and content from a psychological point of view. The psyche is a complex, natural, and often difficult phenomena to understand, but with careful observation, it is entirely possible to begin to map its nature.
Consciousness
Jung observed three layers or spheres of psychological activity within the psyche: consciousness, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. Let's begin with consciousness, the psyche's first layer. No one is certain as to where consciousness originates or why we seem to be unique in possessing it. To the best of our knowledge, consciousness is a recent human acquisition and not something we should take for granted. Our consciousness swims in the ocean of the psyche and it is fragile and vulnerable within that environment. Its continuity is easily disturbed. Anthropologists tell us that the fear of losing the capacity for self-awareness or of losing ones soul, was one of the greatest fears of our tribal ancestors. Much more than a primitive superstition, it is arrogant to assume that we are beyond such a danger in the present. How would we characterize, for example, the behaviour of a modern-day teenager who locks himself in a room and for most of the precious years of his youth, spends his waking hours compulsively playing video games? Is this not a loss of soul? Likewise, how would we explain the life of a middle-aged person who cannot break free of gambling compulsions despite the fact that it is dragging her entire family into poverty? Although loss of soul is not what we call it today, it is nevertheless a powerful metaphor that accurately describes many of the psychic disturbances afflicting the modern mind. Countless cases of modern day insanity attest to the fact that this fragmentation of consciousness within the human psyche is a very real and present affliction that affects individuals and society as a whole. We would do well to acknowledge this vulnerability and to distinguish which elements of life either protect our conscious awareness or threaten it.
At the centre of consciousness and completely intertwined within it, is the ego. Jung defined the ego as the focal point of consciousness, the seat of our personal identity. It is the subjective "I" who wakes up every morning and gives us our sense of continuity in terms of who we are. It is also the subjective filter through which we view the world. The ego is the only part of the psyche that feels pain and is instinctively vulnerable to outer influences. The ego distinguishes us from our external world. It plays an important role in maintaining a sense of individuality and consciousness. If the ego is weak, material from the unconscious will overwhelm it, which in turn will result in the shrinking of territory held by consciousness. If on the other hand, the ego is strong, then consciousness expands and is able to hold more psychic ground. In some psychological and religious circles, it is fashionable to negate or belittle the ego. Based on a misconception of the ego's role within the psyche, this negation has dangerous consequences. The strength of the ego does not depend on control but on surrender. The psyche has an inherent inclination toward wholeness and unity. It is the ego's task to surrender to that inclination and to relinquish its need for control. Paradoxically, a strong, healthy ego is more apt to surrender than a weak one. A weak ego often goes into a state of resignation, rather than embracing a state of surrender.
The Personal Unconscious
Regarding the unconscious, Jung discovered a distinction between its personal and its collective nature. This marked distinction between the two is an important tenet of his theory of the psyche's content. The distinction stands out from many other psychological schools of thought.
The psyche's second sphere of psychological activity is the personal unconscious. The personal unconscious borders consciousness. Information and energy move constantly back and forth between these two areas of the psyche. It is an individual's unique past that links her to her personal unconscious.
The personal unconscious is populated by material that was once conscious and individually acquired through unique life experiences. This material still has a life of its own, it continues to influence the ego. Memories of past events, body memories, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions are a few examples of the content of the personal unconscious. These are often, but not always, pushed out of consciousness through repression.
Repression occurs when the ego cannot assimilate certain personal experiences or memories either because of trauma or because of some other conflict that is incongruent with perceived self-interest or well-being.
Other personal material also flows from consciousness into the unconscious for reasons other than repression. We can only consciously absorb and hold limited amounts of information at one time. At any given moment, we receive vast quantities of outer information through our sense of taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. We remain aware of only a small portion of this information. The vast majority is absorbed into the personal unconscious. For example, an individual may witness a violent accident or a violent crime but is then unable, when questioned by police, to give a full description of what has taken place. After being hypnotized, however, the same individual can access the precise information needed to describe the incident in detail.
Still, this information was not originally available to this person's consciousness. So where does it come from? In this case, hypnotism is the tool used to move through consciousness and directly access the personal unconscious where a detailed memory of the incident is found and retrieved. Yet despite this example and other insurmountable evidence pointing to its presence, we generally still refuse to acknowledge the unconscious as a part of the human psyche.
The Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious is the last of the psyche's three spheres of psychological activity. We know that Jung distinguished himself from his colleagues when he suggested the presence of the collective unconscious within the architecture of the psyche. It remains his most controversial, attacked, and least accepted psychological insight.
We saw that all material found in the personal unconscious is unique and specific to each individual. In contrast, it is the totality of humanity's past that links each individual to the collective unconscious. Unlike the personal unconscious, we do not individually acquire material found in the collective unconscious since it is already universally pre-existent in the psyche. The collective unconscious includes common ancestral memories and instincts. Again, it is important to emphasize that these do not originate from an individual's personal life experience.
The collective unconscious is inborn within all of us and predates our individual, separate existence. It is an inherited ancestral blueprint, a cellular energy field of information common to all humanity. It is the source of, and manifests itself as, humanity's deeply rooted need for religious, spiritual, and mythological expressions. Symbolic thinking is closely linked to the collective unconscious. It is from this reservoir that symbolic thinking chiefly emerges. Symbolic thinking permeates myth, and we look to myth as the primary mirror that reflects the contents of the collective unconscious.
The process of individuation involves an ongoing dynamic energy and information flow that moves among all three spheres of psychological activity found in the psyche. As it is impossible for the sum of all unconscious materials, whether personal or collective, to fully come into consciousness, it is understood that individuation, as a lifelong process, is never fully achieved. No one can ever completely integrate all aspects of the unconscious, and consequently no one is ever fully individuated. The soul seeks balance and wholeness, not perfection. It is important to remember that, although the above explanation of the psyche's separate content is helpful, the psyche's primary characteristic is its unity of being.
Centre of the Psyche
We now need to introduce another aspect of the psyche. While the ego is the centre of consciousness, it is not - contrary to most psychological schools of thought - the centre of the psyche. The ego cannot possibly hold this ground. To see the ego as the centre of the psyche is akin to the medieval belief that the Earth was the centre of the universe. The folly of such an egocentric view only serves to get us into trouble. The centre of the psyche, as proposed by Carl Jung, is the Self, a central component of the psyche that we address many times throughout this book. It is also important to know that the Sage, one of three archetypes we focus on, is just one of many symbolic representations of the Self which finds expression within the human psyche.
The function of the Self is to act as an organizing, unifying, integrating, and coherent force within the psyche. It brings about an exchange or interaction of both conscious and unconscious elements within us. The Self is the primal and archaic source of our deep desire for, and intuitive awareness of, a state of wholeness. Jung enigmatically described the Self as both holding the psyche's centre and embracing its circumference. This shows the paradoxical nature of this aspect of the psyche and how it will always remains somewhat of a mystery to the rational mind.
Humanity has innumerable religious and spiritual traditions, and each points to its own gallery of gods, goddesses, or deities. From a psychological point of view, these are all soul attempts at giving symbolic expression to the Self. It must be emphasized that these expressions originate within the whole of the psyche and not within the ego. If they originated within the ego, they would not last, nor would they have the power to universally capture our imagination.
Sigmund Freud
Finally, in ending this brief description of the content of the psyche and for the sake of better understanding its nature, we now consider an important disagreement on this topic that existed between Jung and his then senior colleague, Sigmund Freud. Freud viewed the unconscious as merely a leftover product or residue of consciousness that had slipped beneath the surface of awareness. In other words, he saw the unconscious as a kind of receptacle or trash bin for conscious materials. From his point of view, the content of the unconscious consisted exclusively of materials that, for various reasons, could not be held or assimilated by consciousness. Jung strongly disagreed with Freud on this. Although he agreed that some conscious material does recede into the unconscious, he asserted that this material only makes up a very small portion of its total content. For Jung, human consciousness originated in, or grew out of, the unconscious, not the other way around. He stated that the unconscious predates, is independent from, and is too vast to be limited by consciousness. The unconscious remains an ongoing source of new material that consciousness constantly needs to assimilate.
Jung also believed that Freud's view gave consciousness too great an importance and negated the intrinsic value of the unconscious. He warned that Freud was condemning us to a never-ending antagonistic struggle between the two, a kind of perpetual inner war in which consciousness is always on the defensive and forever vigilant in resisting the flooding of unconscious materials. In such a scenario, we regard the unconscious as an enemy against whom we must constantly be on guard. Although Jung acknowledged that the unconscious does hold some risk, he affirmed that it also holds extraordinary potential as a rich source of creative energy. The unconscious is a deep well that has long provided humanity with a source of inspiration, imagination, vision, and inner wisdom.
Pointing out this disagreement between Freud and Jung is important. There is no reason to believe that the unconscious is an inferior component of the psyche in comparison to consciousness. Today's glaring incongruent display of human behaviour makes it obvious that a force is at work within us that is independent of our conscious intentions. This unconscious influence is not, however, a demon we must fear or avoid. With the proper attitude, the unconscious becomes highly beneficial to consciousness, helping it to both expand and deepen its territory.
Soul Equilibrium
Modern culture sees consciousness as the only psychological state that holds any value for humanity. This is a dangerous bias. For the sake of psychological health it is much more sane to acknowledge the existence of the unconscious and to see it as a source of guidance and direction. While facing the unconscious is not risk free, it holds the promise of soul equilibrium, an inner state of being where the value of both consciousness and the unconscious is manifested.
Ignoring the unconscious while attempting to understand ourselves better, is the equivalent of physicists ignoring dark matter while attempting to understand the universe. Dark matter permeates the universe, makes up ninety-nine percent of its content, and remains a complete mystery to science as to its nature and composition. Though science knows nothing about dark matter other than its existence, it would be foolish for science to conclude that the best course of action is to ignore it. Likewise, the unconscious makes up the greater part of the psyche, yet it remains largely unknown to the science of Psychology. In general, psychology places most, if not all, of its focus on consciousness and the ego, while the unconscious goes unexamined as an influencing factor within the psyche. Because of the immensity of the task and a natural fear of the unknown, we can understand this attitude of negating the existence of the unconscious but it is, nevertheless, a dangerous and psychologically unhealthy attitude to hold. An open and respectful attitude toward the unconscious serves us better. Such an attitude is essential to unity and integration in general and to the exploration of The Mythic Body in particular.
Chakra Journey
In my chakra course workbook, Chakra Journey - Embracing Sacred Ground, I introduce the subject of chakras with the following two passages:
Energy flows throughout the universe. From spiralling galaxies to vibrating atoms, from light waves to ocean waves, we are surrounded by the ebb and flow of infinite patterns of energy. Throughout time and throughout humanity there have been innumerable attempts to explore the essence and significance of this energy. The ancient chakra system is a map charting this flow of energy as it dances through our bodies.
When we speak of chakras, we are referring to seven energy centres in the body. The word chakra literally means 'wheels of fire'. Chakras are vibrating spirals, power centres of intersecting energy ascending and descending from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. They are a gateway connecting mind, body, and spirit. This ancient system addresses both the archetypical (common to all humanity) and the personal (unique to oneself). Exploring the movement of energy by way of the chakras helps us understand where blocks exist, what energy is integrated, and what energy needs to be integrated.
Approach to Soul
Humanity has attempted to represent the approach to soul in countless ways. Originating in India, the chakra system is one such attempt. This ancient tool of self-knowledge constantly directs us back to the body. It not only addresses universal archetypical patterns found within, but also helps us to ensure that we connect those patterns to specific physical locations within the body.
The Mythic Body does not explore chakras extensively, but does present some information related to their influence on health and well-being. The chakra course workbook mentioned above is available for those interested in a deeper exploration of this subject. The Mythic Body only focuses on three of the seven chakras. These are the root chakra, the solar plexus chakra, and the crown chakra. There is an underlining co-relationship between these three chakras and the three individuation elements of Dialogue, Identity and Meaning, which we explore in the next chapter. Our three chakras also link to the three archetypes of the Child, the Hero, and the Sage. We address this link later on in the book.
Collective Addiction
We know that Dialogue, Identity, and Meaning are three elements essential to individuation. We will approach all three in a specific manner: Dialogue in terms of its quality, Identity in terms of its potential for expansion, and Meaning as an internal experience.
The importance of these three elements of individuation occurred to me over the course of an ongoing conversation on addiction I have exchanged with my husband. Anyone who looks at the present state of our collective mental health knows that addiction is affecting more and more people all the time. The problem is severe and has the characteristics of a pandemic. Not only are we struggling with countless addictions involving individual substance abuse, but we are also struggling with the collective addiction to a toxic, unsustainable way of life that is destroying our planet. This panic-driven obsession with self-inflicted injury is a drain on our collective resources and on our ability to experience the fullness and pleasure of life. It neutralizes many of us into a state of inertia and robs us of our ability to contribute to life in a positive manner. We cannot afford this endless loss of so many bodies, hearts, and minds.
Because addiction also seriously interferes with the process of individuation, understanding its roots becomes an essential part of exploring The Mythic Body. In an attempt to understand what is at the source of this tenacious problem, I have tried to pinpoint some of the primary elements that are specific to the ego and absent from an individual's life, that would cause an increased susceptibility to addiction. The idea of exploring Dialogue, Identity, and Meaning was triggered by the question, "What are we lacking that would result in such a predominance of addiction in our culture?" There are many possible answers, but the absence of the three elements of individuation stands out. Dialogue, Identity, and Meaning are essentially three doorways through which we can approach the problem of addiction. They are also three critical casualties suffered by anyone caught in its grip. Engaging in quality Dialogue, expanding Identity, and experiencing Meaning are all means of exploring both the impact of addiction and the possibility of being freed from this scourge.
Unconscious Elements
In outlining the content of the psyche, we learned of the arrogance and danger of ignoring the unconscious as a presence within the psyche. As we look at Dialogue, Identity, and Meaning, we need to carefully consider the fact that unconscious elements are always at work behind the scene. We cannot understand these three elements of individuation by relying only on the exploration of consciousness. In all three cases, the unconscious exerts its influence and must be taken into consideration. This is especially true for addiction. Addiction is often a manifestation of unconscious, unresolved tension and conflict within an individual.