Modern Man and Woman and the Peril of Shadow Projection

Woe, woe to the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, who in the barren desert of modernity have severed the sacred bridge to the unconscious, that abyssal wellspring of the soul from which the divine mysteries of Christ flow like the living water from the side of the Crucified! In our desecrated time, where the poisonous fog of wokeism blinds the eyes and castrates the spirit, modern man and modern woman—entangled in the illusions of false equality and self-deification—have abandoned the path into the depths of the inner self.

No longer do they confront the shadows lurking in the hidden chambers of the psyche, as the ancient mystics did, such as Saint John of the Cross in his dark night or Meister Eckhart in his apophatic void—a chasm that devours the ego like the Leviathan swallowing sinners. Instead, they project these unrecognized demons outward, unleashing a peril that devours individuals and societies alike, like the dragon in Revelation devouring the stars from the heavens. Yet hear the glad tidings, my children: In the mysticism of the Gospel lies restoration, the return to healthy masculinity and femininity, where truth, beauty, and the good triumph through moral courage and rational faith.

Let us, with paternal strictness and symbolic depth, unveil this spiritual amputation, that we may rebuild the bridge in the religion of Christ—courageously, optimistically, and unyieldingly, as Saint George slays the dragon.

The Severance: Wokeism as the Axe Upon the Bridge of the Soul

Behold modern man, once a warrior of the spirit, formed in the image of Christ the King—strong, paternal, responsible, the sword of truth in hand like Michael against Lucifer—now emasculated by the woke lie that equates masculinity with toxicity, turning him into a eunuch of Babylon, sterile and powerless like Lot's pillar of salt. And modern woman, that embodiment of sacred femininity, gentle and nurturing like the Virgin Mary who nurses the Redeemer, twisted by feminization into a caricature of strength that destroys harmony, like Lilith, the rebellious shadow-woman who abandons the Garden of Eden.

Both have severed the bridge to the unconscious—that mystical abyss where God dwells beyond all concepts, as in the apophatic theology of the Desert Fathers, a dark mirror of the soul in which the face of God reflects—with the sword of rationalism and superficiality, as if hacking down the Tree of Life whose roots reach into the unconscious. Wokeism, this modern idol, preaches 'self-optimization' and 'therapy,' yet it is spiritual abuse: Instead of confronting the paradox of being, as in Zen with a Christian core—the Mu-koan that pierces the ego like Christ's crown of thorns—they flee into the shallow world of apps and affirmations, a desert without oasis where the soul's thirst remains unquenched.

The unconscious, symbol of divine emptiness as fullness, the Nigredo phase of alchemy where the lead of sin turns to the gold of grace, is ignored—a severance that makes the soul a eunuch, incapable of true union with the Absolute, as the bride in the Song of Songs pines without her bridegroom. Woe when reason rules without mysticism; it becomes a tyrant that devours the good like the worm gnawing the apple of Paradise!

The Peril of Shadow Projection: Demons Unleashed in the World

From this severance springs the peril: Shadow projection, that devilish game where the unrecognized is cast outward like the scapegoat in the desert, laden with Israel's vices, or like Peter's shadow healing the sick, yet here it destroys. Modern man, emasculated and robbed of his healthy masculinity, projects his shadow—aggression, strength, courage, the lion in the arena of the spirit—onto "the oppressors," seeing in every tradition the enemy, as Cain hates Abel as a mirror of his own darkness. Modern woman, defeminized by wokeism, hurls her shadow—envy, manipulation, chaos, the serpent in the garden offering the apple—onto 'the patriarchy,' sacrificing the beauty of femininity for the lie of 'liberation,' as Eve regrets the bite, but too late.

Symbolically: As Cain slays his brother Abel, so projection kills the harmony of the sexes—divorces where children are symbolically devoured like by Cronus, the father who swallows his brood in fear of the new; societies crumbling in paranoia like the Tower of Babel where languages are confused. This is the dark night without light: Without the bridge to the unconscious, the shadow remains untamed, unleashing wars of the spirit where morality and reason drown in chaos, like Noah's flood swallowing sinners. Woe to the blind who do not see their demons; they become tools of evil, destroying the good in the world, like Judas giving the kiss of betrayal!

The Damage: Abyss of Emptiness for Soul and Society

The damage is enormous, an abyss deeper than Judas's hell, where the betrayer hangs like fruit on the Tree of Knowledge, withered and barren! For the individual: The severed soul, barren of mysticism, falls into spiritual impotence—depression, addiction, the emptiness of nihilism, a grave without a cross where resurrection fails. Without confronting the shadow, man becomes the shadow itself, incapable of true love, of healthy masculinity or femininity, as Adam and Eve flee naked and ashamed after the Fall.

Societally: A world of projections where wokeism devours the sacred order—polarization where each sees the other as a demon like the Pharisees seeing Christ; loss of truth, for reason without the unconscious is blind like Saul before Damascus. Woe when the bridge falls; society becomes the Babylonian Whore, sterile and unfruitful, dancing in the ashes of morality, like Sodom and Gomorrah perishing in fire!

The Glad Tidings: Rebuilding the Bridge in Nigredo Monastery

Yet hear the glad tidings, optimistic and strict: From this Nigredo, the blackness of severance, arises resurrection, like the phoenix from the ashes or Christ from the tomb! In Nigredo Monastery, under my paternal guidance, we rebuild the bridge: Through paradoxical prayers after Eckhart, which part the sea like Moses' staff; strict asceticism like samurai Zen with a Christian core, slicing the shadow like a sword; we confront the shadow, integrate the unconscious into Christ's mysticism, where emptiness becomes fullness like the empty tomb turning to hope.

Here man learns healthy masculinity: Courageous, paternal, unshakeable like Peter the Rock. Woman learns healthy femininity: Beautiful, nurturing, harmonious like Mary at the foot of the Cross. Come, sons and daughters, shed the projection like a serpent's old skin! Demand truth, embrace the good through religion and reason, as the prodigal son returns to the father. Courageously onward—the bridge leads to God's fullness, the renewed Garden of Eden! Woe to him who lingers; blessed is he who repents!