Are we all potential to be evil

Having a dark side does not necessarily mean you can or will be evil.
Also, define evil. To me that means no human morals and values whatsoever, but even that interpretation is very subjective.

But everyone has a dark side, things about themselves they do not like, keep hidden, don't want others to know and don't even want to know themselves.
In some Wiccan schools it is mandatory to research your own dark side, because you cannot become Light when you keep things in the dark. So then you have to bring light into the darkness, deal with it, work through it.
And only when you've finished that phase, are you allowed to continue on to the next.

I've also experienced that you simply have to go through such a phase if you are wanting to grow and develop, not only as a human being but as a soul as well.

Even Jung speaks of this btw. The Shadow. But again, that's not necessarily evil. Not everything that isn't pleasant, maybe is nasty even, is 'evil'. Although some religious zealots present it that way.

Thet Jungian view of archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct?

....but not necessarily manifest in behaviour?

Was he saying we all have it but most don't use it most of the time Crystal?
I admittedly never quite understood Carl.

That's an interesting explanation

My belief is that we are all born basically good. As we grow up, experience life (and are affected by the environment we grow up in) we develop our sense of being. Most of the time people will do the right thing. At other times...we can have the capacity to not be so good. So yeah...all of us have the capacity to become evil.

I like Jung cos it resonates so well with everything else I've done/do, and am interested in (personal growth, intuitive development etc. Even meditations, visualisations, and so on)

They do manifest in our behaviour. Our Shadow and Anima/Animus define most of our behaviour. If not all, but not 100% sure, I ain't a psychologist :p

Basically the Shadow is your personal unconscious, the complexes everyone's got, stuff you don't want to face, don't or can't deal with etc.
Those complexes influence respectively the Anima (the inner feminine in men, or if you prefer Yin & Yang symbology, the tiny dark spot in the otherwise white Yang) or Animus (the inner masculine in women, or if you prefer Yin & Yang symbology, the tiny white spot in the otherwise black Yin).

Now when we haven't done a lot of Shadow work (in other words: not worked on our issues much), our Anima/Animus responds with the negative aspects of them.
When we have done a lot of Shadow work (in other words: have worked on our issues and are at the very least conscious of them existing and influencing us), our inner Anima/Animus will become positive. IN other words: they'll display the positive aspects of either the feminine or masculine.
It works this way, because the Anima/Animus are the translators of what's going on in the Shadow part of us.

In a woman, the Animus is what gives her strength, the ability to undertake, make decisions etc. etc. All those typical masculine qualities (Yang).
If she is not balanced yet, her Animus will lash out in the nasty less pleasant way of the masculine. The strength she's got will harden, there'll be few nuances, she'll be blunt/rude, basically unpleasant to be with. You get stuff like always wanting to be right, blunt comments, strong judgement, combined with a lack of humour and inability to listen to another.
The woman will still have the ability of positive strength, but she simply isn't able to access it until she's done Shadow work.

In a man, the Anima gets him in touch with feelings/emotions. When balanced, he'll be a warm, tender, compassionate man because of his Anima, of course with all the masculine qualities in place as well.
If he's not balanced yet, his Anima will lash out in the nasty, less pleasant ways of feminine energy. It will still be about emotions/feelings, but in a negative way. For instance, he becomes overly sensitive, easy to offend and get upset. Making insinuating comments that ruin the atmosphere, manipulating feelings of others. Etc. etc.

When both have done enough Shadow work, they'll be able to have their Anima/Animus support them in a positive way. And of course they'll become much nicer people to deal with and to be around.

So you see that it does affect our behaviour, I actually think it defines our behaviour like nothing else.

Hope I'm not confusing you more, lol

.
.
.

Darkside is a must... They have cookies... Lol

I do have that button...when it is pushed...a head usually ends up in my freezer.

This kind of talk just makes me sentimental about the ex. I think I should go up to the old cabin, tear up the floor boards, and have a look.

Hahaha...I go scuba diving up at lake once in awhile

Damn shame we're running out of anvils.

Luke, I am your father...

Well, here, let me give you a hand, Dad.

That's never as much fun as it sounds.

We all have appetites, needs and desires, and different levels of patience and capabilities in fulfilling them, different reactions to the stress of not fulfilling them, different tolerances to being told no and failure.

There is no "dark side."

There's just you, what you want, and how you go about getting it.

Believing there is a dark side is avoiding yourself.

Denying or compartmentalizing a part of yourself by labeling it "dark side" simply allows influence without you realizing it, leading to rationalizing rather than learning how to mitigate or temperance influence, allowing greater influence while you tell yourself you're avoiding it.
In order to define and compartmentalize it you have to define it, and since it's a part of you there will be a failure to define or compartmentalize all of it.

You can't hide from yourself. You will always try to fulfill that which all of you as a whole wants/needs.

A "dark side" is simply potential options towards fulfillment of the basic human roi. "What do I have to do to get x, what is the most efficient means (the least amount of effort needed for the greatest benefit or sacrifice of least value for greatest perceived value), what is going to have the least amount of risk/consequences."


We are all born needy. Needing air, food, water, safety, care.
Doctor to start our breath, mom and dad to feed, cloth, shelter, give purpose.
We are all born parasitic sponges trying to figure out wtf is going on and how to keep living.

There is no dark side or light side.

There are just options.
Self interest > group interest, detrimental to others.
Self interest = group interest, benign to others, or benefit all.
Self interest < group interest, detrimental to self, helpful to others.

People will always try to fulfill self interest above all else.
It gets tricky because since birth you are trained to realize other people, fulfilling group interest, is the best way to go about fulfilling self interest in the long term.

Then it becomes a question of "which other people."


We are all evil to those groups we are not a part of, and especially those that don't offer the potential for fulfilling self interest.

True enough.

I don't know if we all do

mine lurks just below the surface..

Yeah...on times.

As far as our own judgement is concerned,we feel sooner or latter that whatever we did was really unfair to someone.

What changed....? only time & with time our perception...we call it realisation.

Considering other's views about our actions....we can be bad for someone for same action while remaining good for someone else....at same point of time.

Noooooooooo! That's not true!

I like ciretoms post, despite its complexity.

I also have witnessed people romanticizing the idea of a "dark side," most commonly in a drama-queen sort of effort to absolve themselves of real responsibility for doing things that they want to pretend to themselves and others, that "don't represent who they really are."