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Heal Break Free

TABLE OF CONTENTS FREUD, JUNG & the SUBCONSCIOUS 1 NEUROSCIENCE AND JUNG 3 EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 5 STEPPING STONES— 9 JOURNAL WRITING 9 OBJECTIVES of SHADOW WORK 11 Exploring Your Shadow Self 11 The Journey to Wholeness 11 Benefits of Shadow Work 11 •Self-Discovery: You'll uncover deep insights about your true motivations and desires. 11 •Healing Emotional Wounds: Confronting the buried parts of your psyche can heal old emotional wounds. 11 •Enhanced Relationships: Understanding yourself better leads to greater empathy and patience with others, enriching your interactions. 11 •Authentic Living: Embracing your whole self allows you to express who you truly are, leading to greater personal freedom. 12 •Boosted Creativity: Engaging with your Shadow can unlock a wellspring of creativity, inspiring new ideas and pursuits. 12 How to Engage in Shadow Work 12 •Journaling: More than a diary, journaling about your thoughts and feelings can reveal your Shadow through recurring themes and reactions. 12 METHODS USED IN SHADOW WORK 12 WE ALL HAVE SHADOWS 17 EMOTIONS LEAD TO FEELINGS 27 FIREFIGHTERS AND PROTECTORS 31 THE TRICKSTER ARCHETYPE 35 KEY ATTRIBUTES OF TRICKSTERS 38 EXAMPLES OF MYTHICAL 40 TRICKSTERS 40 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE 43 TRICKSTER TRAITS 44 AS ADAPTIVE BEHAVIORS 44 EXPANDED THERAPEUTIC 46 STRATEGIES 46 NATURE, ECOLOGY, ANIMALS, & PRESERVATION 49 THE TRICKSTER BRAIN 57 MULTI-LAYERED SELF: 61 THE SHIFTING SELF 62 HOW BUDDHISM SEES SELF 63 Exploring Your Disparate Selves 67 FREE WILL 76 FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM 76 HUMAN NATURE IF NO FREE WILL 78 BUT WE ARE NOT AUTOMATONS 83 THE UNRELIABLE BRAIN: BIAS 85 BIASES 92 EXERCISES FOR HOW 92 JUDGING WHAT IS TRUE VS. WHAT IS NOT 132 HOW TO FIGUE OUT WHAT’S TRUE 135 CONFRONTING the ASSHOLE 146 SELF-REFLECTION AND SHADOW WORK 152 "THE FOOL IS ALWAYS BEGINNING TO LIVE," — SHAKESPEARE 163 ACTUAL HUMAN TRICKSTERS 163 TRICKSTERS IN THE MEDIA TODAY 179 BECOME A MODERN DAY FOOL 181 Cultivate An Enlivened Trickster Presence For 181 Social And Political Change 181 THE COURTING ARTS 183 MUSICIAN TRICKSTERS 186 SONG 188 Blues And Courting Tricksters 189 Female Blues Musicians as Tricksters 190 SELLING ONE’S SOUL 194 TO THE DEVIL 194 Here are some real-life scenarios where Faustian bargains might be made, paired with strategies to address and prevent these moral compromises: 196 Trickster Traits in Rock and Roll 203 LET’S MAKE MUSIC! 205 TRICKSTER GODS 212 THE PROBLEM OF EVIL 217 TRICKSTERS GOOD & BAD 220 COMBATING AUTHORITARIANS 223 FEMALE TRICKSTARS 223 EVIL WOMAN TRICKSTER STORIES 228 CLEVER, GOOD WOMEN STORIES 230 WOMEN IN FOLKLORE & MYTH 238 THE ENDLESS DANCE OF SEX & 243 SEXUAL SELECTION 245 Human Sexual Behavior: 249 A Cultural Perspective 249 THE BRAIN ON LOVE 250 MATING IN OTHER ANIMALS 253 Why Pair-Bond? 256 PATERNITY 257 RAISING KIDS 261 THE 3 PHASES OF LOVE 265 LUST, ATTRACTION, & ATTACHMENT 265 LUST 266 INTEGRATING THE SHADOW 274 ATTRACTION 283 Testosterone, Estrogen & More 284 Norepinephrine 285 Dopamine 285 Serotonin 286 Oxytocin 286 ATTACHMENT 288 Secure Attachment: 288 Anxious Attachment: 289 Avoidant Attachment: 289 IMPROVING ATTACHMENT 291 HEARTBREAK 299 DEALING WITH HEARTBREAK 306 HELEN FISHER’S ADVICE 307 DATING NOW 309 ONLINE DATING 314 THE TRICKSTER ONLINE DATING SCAMS 315 ONLINE DATING LESSONS 317 LOOKS & MONEY 322 SEXUAL AVAILABILITY 326 POLYGAMY & MONOGAMY 332 MALE & FEMALE AT ONCE 342 GENDER 349 SACRED CLOWNS 372 CRAZY WISDOM 376 Jewish, Christian, Taoist, Islamic, & Buddhist Sacred Clowns 378 BECOME A SACRED CLOWN 406 REFERENCES 432

Heal Break Free

"Trickster went wandering," is how many Tricktser narratives begin.

TRICKSTER & MUSIC. It is a well-established fact that many tricksters are accomplished musicians. This phenomenon can be attributed to the evolutionary relationship between the arts and courtship, as noted by Darwin. The arts, including music, have historically been utilized as a means of wooing potential mates. Given the trickster's reputation for being shrewd and adept at manipulating situations, it is not surprising that they would possess musical talents to aid them in their courtship endeavors. And when one considers the fact that the number one most important thing in evolution if for an organism to pass its genes into the future, the Courting Arts are no small thing: life itself depends upon the success of courtship rituals, and as we know from Sexual Selection, it is the females in nearly all species, from teensy tiny spiders to blue whales, who make the decision as with whom to mate. All the males can do is try to get their attention through multi-colored feathers, elaborate ritualistic dances, songs, antlers, and other forms of ornamentation.

SHADOW WORK. Shadow work is a powerful tool for personal growth and self-discovery By exploring the darker aspects of ourselves, we can gain a deeper understanding of our emotions, behaviors, and patterns. This process can lead to greater self-awareness, healing, and transformation. Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, or simply feeling stuck in your life, shadow work can help you uncover the root causes of your challenges and empower you to make positive changes. Give it a try and see what it can do you.

TRICKSTER, NEUROSCIENCE, & EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY Trickster studies, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology are three fields that may seem unrelated at first glance. However, they can work together to provide a deeper understanding of human behavior. Trickster studies explore the role of tricksters in different cultures, while neuroscience examines the workings of the brain. Evolutionary psychology looks at how our behavior has evolved over time. By combining these fields, we can gain insights into the ways in which our brains have evolved to cope with the challenges of life, and how tricksters have played a role in shaping our behavior.

WHO & WHAT IS TRICKSTER?

Trickster is a contradictory archetype of mythology that exists in every culture on earth, from small tribes to urban environments, and is often associated with cunning, deception, & mischief, as well as humor and satire. Trickster often appears in animal form--Coyote, Turtle, Rabbit, Spider, Raven, but can also appear in human form--Hermes, Loki, Puck--or shapeshift into any form the trickster chooses. There are also real life humans who play the part of trickster characters--from court jesters to clowns. Many Tricksters are also gods who create the world, and some Tricksters are Wise Fools, embracing an alternative truth that challenges the status quo and societal pretension, while speaking truth to power. The archetype can be linked to the modular construction theory of the brain, which suggests that the brain is composed of specialized modules that process specific types of information. Trickster certainly ties into our most primitive emotional states and can be understood through evolutionary psychology, for Trickster's ubiquitous presence strongly suggests that asuch traits (and tales) may have been advantageous for survival in primal environments that shaped who we are today. Trickster reveals our underlying motivations in behaviors such as mating, love, aggression, war, hierarchy and status. Jungian Shadow Work involves exploring and integrating unconscious fears and desires and is related to Zen Buddhism, with both embracing mindfulness, self-awareness, and "crazy wisdom." Walking with Trickster we come close to understanding ourselves and the world.

TRICKSTER SONGS

LUST & LOVE SONGS

HEALING SONGS

Articles

BIO: David Williams holds a PhD in English and a BA in Anthropology and is a published researcher and science writer in the field of Neurohumanities (The Trickster Brain: Neuroscience, Evolution, and Narrative), combining info from Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology in order to understand how and why we humans create stories and songs. He has taught at various universities in the US. Continually fascinated about the human condition, David is also an Emmy winning songwriter for his work with PBS, a children's author with Knopf, and a songwriter/musician for adults, (americana, blues, gypsy jazz) with over 100 million hits on YouTube. He also works as a cartoonist and opinion writer for various news publications. "Williams works magic," Newsweek magazine