“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” – Carl Jung

Order from Chaos is a phrase well-known throughout occult and philosophical circles. It is the concept that everything is cyclical and that there is no stillness in the universe, therefore, change is inevitable through a never-ending process of degeneration and regeneration and vise versa. A star explodes somewhere in the galaxy. For millions of years the surrounding area of that now dead star is thrown into a period of complete chaos and instability. Then after that period of chaos is over, the gas begins to mingle with other gasses forming new gasses and liquids; dust and debris begins to cling together forming solid masses; new stars are born and with them are new planets in their infancy. Gravitational and magnetic fields are formed creating a balance and order of placements. These new masses develop spherical shapes as they spin and orbit their new stars. Comets, asteroids, and other space debris smash into these new objects and either contribute to the new creation being formed, giving it water, minerals, and other “seeds” for its future development… or the impacts obliterate the new objects completely like a cosmic miscarriage, ending the future of the would-be planet. Then comes the proverbial “Golden Age” of that new solar system. The planets are fully developed in their orbits. Maybe one or two of them have developed some forms of life. And then after a period of several billion years, that star will blow up and those planets will be completely erased from the great cosmic record and the cycle will continue.

That is the cycle of the macrocosm. However, it is also the cycle of the microcosm.

Here on earth, life was created from the matter of dead stars, life evolves and mutates accordingly to the ever-changing environment, then life dies and the cycle repeats. However, this concept goes way deeper than just cycles of life. It also represents beliefs, behaviors, feelings, and moods. When we humans are in the beginning stages of life, we view the world through the mind lens of a child in its development, but with each passing day new information presents itself creating new neural pathways for the individual perception. If a group of toddlers are in a room and someone in a costume comes to visit them, each child will experience the situation completely different from the other. For example, one kid is happy and joyful that the character came to visit. Another is equally joyful and happy, but imagine the costumed character has given the first child a balloon animal or a “high-five” where as the second didn’t get one. That doesn’t mean the kid who didn’t get the extra attention did not enjoy his experience. It just means that his experience of the situation is different from the other kid because that kid didn’t experience getting a balloon animal or physical contact like a hug or a “high-five.” Then you have kids who are scared of the costumed visitor and have a negative experience. These very slight nuances in experience are what causes individual perspectives to be light years apart – even if multiple people are experiencing the same event at the same time and same place. Obviously this example is something that applies to all people, regardless of age. I chose to use toddlers in this scenario because it is during our childhood years that most of our personality is formed through our experiences.

This is something I’ve only recently given more thought to as I delve into the works of Carl Jung. As I look at my own past, I was born into this current incarnation in complete chaos. My early childhood and teenage years were filled with traumatic experiences that seemed as if they would never end. My 20’s were filled with equally negative and chaotic experiences. The accumulation of all these past experiences formed one big atomic bomb that was ticking away and just waiting to explode in one giant “big bang.” And it did.

It took a few years for the dust to settle, but once it did, I slowly began to find order and stability. However, life is a cycle and just because the initial pressures that set up my own “big bang” are gone, that doesn’t mean my personal work is over. Life is a cycle and continues on. Each experience I had molded me and shaped my psyche and perception of the world around me. I formed beliefs, prejudices, biases, and behaviors that were a projection of my perception of the world I was experiencing. These all needed to be analyzed and brought to the surface for my own personal development. It was only when I began reading the works of Carl Jung – among other philosophical works, be they occult or otherwise – that I became familiar with Jung’s concept of “The Shadow” (not to be confused with the Freudian Shadow) and I had a good blueprint of how I could bring about the change I was looking to accomplish.

The Shadow refers to the unconscious part of one’s personality. It is an aspect of the personality that the ego (also called the conscious ego or conscious mind) does not want to identify in itself. This non-wanting of personality traits by the ego leads to an inner conflict which is why many times the Shadow aspect is negative of an individual and has very negative impacts. The Shadow isn’t all negative though. Within the Shadow we find another realm of our personality that is unconscious. Many of these positive aspects are suppressed and thus like a strange maze within the mind of an individual. Until the internal puzzle is solved, these positive aspects of one’s personality will remain trapped, even until death.

A good beginner practice for the layman to learn about one’s own shadow is to think about the people and things they don’t like and make a connection with yourself. For example, if you dislike like a person, make a list on paper or in your head of what you don’t like about them. While some things may be legitimate grievances, even still, include them when you analyze your list. Then change that list from I don’t like “Joe Smith” because: X, Y, Z, to I don’t like Myself because: X, Y, Z. The revelations you discover in doing this very simple exercise may stir up some very powerful emotions as well as some serious demons that you may never have faced. This practice can also be used in the opposite way for people you like and admire. However, it is a bit more complicated when going in the direction of positive traits. That is a topic for another article.

As I discover more about my own shadow, I become more at peace with the world in general and my understanding of why other human beings hold the ideas they do – and no matter how crazy they may seem – those ideas are necessary for their own personal growth.

I am the microcosm of human life on this planet, but what about the macrocosm that is humanity at large? It’s seems that since 2001, humanity has been in a very strange downward spiral. Wars, political and social instability, man-made disasters, geological/weather disasters, each year getting worse and worse and worse. The future seems to have no hope in sight. There’s this bizarre lust for causing harm to one another, and ironically, many of the people who are screaming for “peace” in the streets are doing some of the ugliest things towards other people that they claim are – in some cases correctly – doing ugly things to others.

The world is in a complete stage of chaos. As if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump aren’t enough evidence – at least in the United States – of how chaotic things really are, then you have other problems like the Islamic State, Israel and Palestine, Europe with terrorism and Brexit, China and it’s neighbors clawing for territory rights, India and Pakistan, Africa, Russia and the Ukraine. The list goes on. The natural feeling for most people in times like these is to pick a side and defend it like hornets defend their hive. There is no care or feeling as to the carnage caused by this chaotic blindness. People are polarized by the information they are receiving and the crazier that people seem to get, the more the natural desire to want to convince people not to believe what they do becomes almost irresistible. However, these people, all people, are on their own life paths necessary for their own purpose.

We just might be in such a stage of chaos that times of horror and death could be in the cards for the future of the human race, but, Ordo Ab Chao: Order Comes from Chaos. This insane period of time may be necessary in order for a new phase to dawn. When a living body is about to die, the body experiences a gradual progression of degeneration. The body is thrown into a period of destruction and then finally the light is extinguished. But just as that person dies, a new person or life form somewhere else is born and the cycle continues.

So is the same with nations. And so is the same with the cosmos.

Author: John Smith is a 6 year Coast Guard veteran who has a love for personal freedom, esoteric/occult studies, offensive and intellectual comedy, and music.