And once was I told, 

by a fairy of the unconscious, an emissary of that forsaken nation, an ambassador of those badlands,

that antidepressant research will be propelled forward by dark matter. 

Let me ask you this: if Hermetics is true, and the inner world truly does reflect the outer world,

and 85% of the universe is dark matter,

and 80% of our oceans are unexplored, 

what do you think this says about the workings of the psyche?

Can a hero embark on their journey without a descent first into darkness?

Are not gems forged in the abysses of the Earth?

Riddle me this: how can anyone be whole and complete while allowing shame to sever themself in two?

I’ve most often found that those who shy away from difficult conversations with others, are those who are denying the most critical conversations with themselves. Depression is so often the unconscious begging us for raw dialogue. What a critical position, a critical state — when that dark night falls, what will you do? Will you sit by the campfire and enter conversation? Truthfully do I tell you that doing this is like taking the weights that burden you and casting them into the flame — but oh, if you shy away from those hard conversations with yourself, if you deny what it is that the denied parts of yourself are trying to tell you, if you cannot listen, if you do not have the heart for it, 

then go ahead — spend your lifetime running. Run off into the night if you will, make haste, for that shadow cast by the Moonlight will always pick up pace in accordance with you.

…

But do you not see? Do you not see how these myths of old contain the very same wisdom? How many times, how many forms, how many different stories need to deliver the same moral before we listen? How often must we be told that there is gold in lead, that the hero must descend into the pitch, that it’s always darkest just before dawn, how often must we be reminded that our shadow will always remain right behind us until we turn and face it — how often, how often before we listen?

How many dreams have you had where you were being chased? Have you ever been brave enough to turn around? Have you yet given yourself the privilege of bearing witness to the miracle of the monster, the pursuer, altogether vanishing?

So great is the light of the conscious mind, yes — but so too is the greatness of the darkness of our psyche. And what I am trying so desperately to tell you is this: that if you send parts of yourself into exile in that great darkness, you will not feel truly alive until you brave the expedition of retrieving yourself. Go ahead: try and forget all that you like. Do all that you can, spend your lifetime with pacifier after pacifier numbing the ache. Live in this dystopia of distraction and ignore it if you will. 

But if you are brave enough. If you wish to truly live. If you wish to know what a life truly lived in light is like, then you must encounter your own shadow. Bring all of yourself into the light — shine the light into the darkness. Step into it and look. You must make the two one, for the schism holding yourself into two is the border between light and dark. That is the border that is so oft unwittingly drawn — but it is well within our rights to erase that division, for our hearts are always sovereign. Will you or will you not use your inborn sovereignty, however?

So, once was I told by a messenger of where antidepressant research lies: in dark matter. In our own psychic dark matter. In the undiscovered 85% of our own minds. If depression is symbolically the dark night of the soul, where else would the work be but in the darkness? How can we intelligently work with this, to do it properly? 

Oh! For anyone to suppose that they know themselves while being too afraid to explore 85% of themselves. 

Hear me clearly: just how on Earth can anyone embark on a true journey of discovery without embarking into the unknown? How can a journey of self-discovery happen at all without a foray into the unknown depths within? Discovery by definition lies where we have not yet tread — nowhere else. 

Today do I honor light and dark alike. Today do I honor the shadow. I want to love what is in my shadow, and integrate all of myself, to love all of myself, light and dark alike. Therein is wholeness.

Therein is completion.