So, in my theology class last Friday something happened that almost made me break out laughing. I was dozing off because we were just learning about some old psychiatrists or something and something very interesting made me come to attention. We started to learn about "The Shadow and the Persona". It was a serious wtf moment. Now, apparently, this is old news, but for those of you who haven't heard (like I hadn't), Carl Jung was a famous psychiatrist who split the mind into three parts: The ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. You can read all about his stuff here, but I'm just going to quote the stuff that was read to us in class and probably the only things anyone cares about.

The Shadow

"It is the "dark side" of the ego, and the evil that we are capable of is often stored there. Actually, the shadow is amoral -- neither good nor bad, just like animals. An animal is capable of tender care for its young and vicious killing for food, but it doesn't choose to do either. It just does what it does. It is "innocent." But from our human perspective, the animal world looks rather brutal, inhuman, so the shadow becomes something of a garbage can for the parts of ourselves that we can't quite admit to.

Symbols of the shadow include the snake (as in the garden of Eden), the dragon, monsters, and demons. It often guards the entrance to a cave or a pool of water, which is the collective unconscious. Next time you dream about wrestling with the devil, it may only be yourself you are wrestling with"
 
I was hoping that it would have to do with wrestling girls you know or something but, hey.
 

The Persona

"The persona represents your public image. The word is, obviously, related to the word person and personality, and comes from a Latin word for mask. So the persona is the mask you put on before you show yourself to the outside world. Although it begins as an archetype, by the time we are finished realizing it, it is the part of us most distant from the collective unconscious.

At its best, it is just the "good impression" we all wish to present as we fill the roles society requires of us. But, of course, it can also be the "false impression" we use to manipulate people's opinions and behaviors. And, at its worst, it can be mistaken, even by ourselves, for our true nature: Sometimes we believe we really are what we pretend to be!"
 

Needless to say I was sitting there trying hard not to yell "OH, SO ITS JUST LIKE IN PERSONA!" Anyway, now those terms are all stuck in my head thanks to Persona and I'm gonna ace the fuck out of the test on Monday. See, senators? Games can be helpful!