I think that the main problem with depression–and the reason it is often so frightening and painful–is our resistance to it, our attempt to short-circuit, evade or abort it rather than go into and through it.

From my own past experience I will tell you that some of the most dramatic and profound “non-ordinary” states of consciousness I have experienced came–As a result of? Were triggered by? Were somehow related to?—some rather dark moods. It seems to me there is a close connection between these states.

Just for kicks, I looked up “depression” on my computer’s dictionary, and I got the following definitions:

1 severe despondency and dejection, typically felt over a period of time and accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy.
• a long and severe recession in an economy or market
2 the lowering or reducing of something
• the action of pressing down on something
• a sunken place or hollow on a surface

“Being down” emotionally is linked with a certain geographical direction—down. Is this too obvious?

Well, if you think about it, our culture, on its spiritual side, emphasizes “going up” and “out”—“ascension,” “expansion” of consciousness, “getting high,” etc. The downhill path is a bad one; the fiery pit of Hell is literally “down there;” “feeling small” means that you feel bad and inadequate; etc.

On the other hand, most of the ancient cultures had a more balanced view of these things. The shamans might climb the world tree to the heavens, or one might go up Mount Olympus to seek the gods. But on the other hand, the shamans also got very small and flew into holes in the earth to voyage to the lower realms; and Orpheus descended into Hades in his attempt to resurrect Eurydice.

Maybe the direction one naturally tends to go in—to the high place, or else to the sunken places, the hollows, or the lowlands–has to do with a certain style of temperament, or a certain type of inner drive system; I don’t know. But it was, after all, the depth psychologists in modern times—and a few cagey writers—who brought back the value of the downward drift: Alice shrinks and goes down into the rabbit hole in her voyage to Wonderland; F.W.H. Myers talked about “the subliminal self;” Freud and Jung with their “subconscious” or “unconscious” mind—following Pierre Janet, of course with his “Abaissement du niveau mental” (lowering of the mental threshold).

Nothing I’m saying here is particularly original, by the way—James Hillman and Robert Bly have been saying things like this for years. But I think these are not only important points to think about, but also useful practical reminders about how everything is indeed connected, and ultimately balanced, in ways that may not seem obvious at first.

Joe

Ever since getting laid off (yet again) eight months ago, I’ve lately been beating myself up about all the “lost” self & home-improvement opportunities I’ve let pass me by during those months.

Sometimes we’re our own worst critic. This article gives me permission to give myself a break — just what I needed to hear at this time.

Best wishes,

Bob Keefe