I found your writing today through your piece about the Joker and the Shadow, and I could not be happier. You explain the archetypal symbols in people and society very well. I've only recently started to explore the different archetypes but I have learned that they are extremely useful tools to understand where we are situated currently and perhaps even predict where we are headed.

What really called out to me in your article was this line:

"The individual mired in boyhood psychology, however, looks around and is unimpressed. He sees weeds all around him and wonders why nobody has come to pull them. It never occurs to him that he is the one he is waiting for."

I truly believe that this is the attitude for many young people today. We desperately need to integrate our shadows rather than repress/ externalize them. We need to acknowledge the destructive nature of humans and strive to overcome it and aim for the "Good".

Perhaps we cannot get to the stage of the Hero's Journey where we must grapple with the shadow as easily as people in the past because many in our generation have grown up without traditional family structures, which removes an important archetype from the lives of many youths: the Good Father.

I'm not making the argument that all intact families produce the Archetypal Good Father (which is certainly more difficult/rare than the opposite). However, the growing hatred for the idea of masculinity and patriarchy that was produced by the Tyrannical Mother threatens to remove the entire Archetype of the Father, both good and evil. We are confusing the half with the whole and risk, as you've stated so vividly, to "blow the whole bathroom to bits with the baby in it".

I've really enjoyed your writing so far - I hope you continue to share your wisdom with us!