In some sense, the bear’s symbol is related to Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon.  As such, the bear is associated with lunar qualities, and as a result of its magnificent strength and lethal capabilities, Carl Jung connects the symbol of the bear with the dangerous side of the unconscious.  Note: these symbol associations are from the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols.

I feel like it would be nice to be a bear, this connection to the unconscious makes sense to me and my desire to sleep through wintertime while waiting for summer.  If, as Jung and Freud suggested (and Rashin blogged about last week), the unconscious houses all those things we would rather not be aware of, then likely there are things that hold an energy for me that I would rather not stir.  The cycle of life seems to suggest that the appropriate time to “stir” those things and begin anew is now, Springtime.  For me, this often manifests in a difficulty in throwing things away.  I often have grand visions of a clean desk or garage, and I do fairly well, but in the end I usually hold onto a few things from years prior that probably could go to the trash bin.  Then, ironically over time they get an “antique” quality that makes them even harder to let go of in future cleaning cycles.  If the corners of my mind, that is my unconscious, would rather hibernate, then perhaps so too would the corners of my house represent all those memories I would rather not clear out.

I live in Colorado and thankfully, the seasonal changes are just as sporadic as I feel.  For example, last week we had 70 degree weather, today we are shoveling 15+ inches of snow.  What a place.  Last week I was feeling like I was behind in my Spring Cleaning, this week I’m feeling like it would be premature to do it.

Eventually the bear inside me will awake and I will be ready to clean things out and begin anew.  Yet, by its definition, there will always be a place inside my mind that is unconscious, and I guess I have to accept the same in my house, that there will always be places that could be cleaned out, and not every space will be perfectly clean.

What about you?  Do you ever feel like a bear, and prefer to hibernate?  Do you see a connection between that and your desires to participate in Spring Cleaning?

Note:  I originally published this post on www.depthpsychologytoday.com on March 27, 2009.

Similarly, we can view our relationship to a group, say animals, as reflective of what they represent within us.

Recently, I attended a book signing by author Marc Bekoff, who wrote a book I like called, The Emotional Lives of Animals. In it, Bekoff discusses the unfortunate view of science that laboratory animals do not possess emotions thus they do not experience the suffering of scientific testing. In fact, although it is supposed to be in place for their protection, the Animal Welfare Act excludes rats bred for research from the definition of “animal” for scientific needs.

If we have an industry-approved definition of “animal” that does not include all animals, what does that say about us, as a society? Depth psychology would answer this question by looking at our relationship to what the rat symbolizes.

To begin an investigation, let’s look at the rat as a symbol (any reference to how these animals are regarded in culture will do, I used the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols). As is true for many, there is a light and dark side to the symbol of the rat. A result of their nocturnal and abundant procreation habits, the rat can both represent wealth (as in the capability to create abundance), as well as thievery (as in stealing abundance from another).

So, as a society, how do we relate to the idea of wealth? As the separation of socio-economic status continues to widen across the U.S. population at an alarming rate, what does our relationship to the rat suggest? How do we view the abilities of someone who can generate wealth and abundance for themselves? How do we view our own abilities to create abundance?

Quite timely, one of the most controversial topics in the recent news is the idea of further regulation on the ability to create abundance, that being the question of additional taxation for specific income levels. With the economic crisis, it seems we’re all looking for appropriate ways to relate to our abundance, both personally (should I pay off my home equity loan or take out more cash?) and collectively (should we really give loans to the auto industry?).

To shed light on this topic, from a depth psychological perspective, this would mean taking time to understand our own instincts to create abundance, and secondarily, how we feel about the ability of others to do the same. This means understanding our relationship to the rat.

And so, I invite your opinion…what is your relationship to the rat? How do you see the ability to create abundance in your own life? Do you feel pleased or guilty if you do create abundance, what about if you don’t? How do you see the ability to create abundance treated in our society?

Note:  I originally published this post on www.depthpsychologytoday.com on January 5, 2009