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By Caroline Myss
Addict (Conspicuous Consumer, Glutton, Workaholic--see also Gambler)
Every one of us is touched by the Addict
archetype. The only question is how much of our lives is consumed by
it. Besides the usual suspects--drugs, alcohol,
food, and sex--one can be addicted to work, sports, television,
exercise,
computer games, spiritual practice, negative
attitudes, and the kinds of thrills that bring on adrenaline rushes.
In its positive aspect, this archetype helps you
recognize when an outside substance, habit, relationship, or any
expression
of life has more authority over your will
power than does your inner spirit. Confronting addiction and breaking
the hold that a pattern or substance has on you can
impart great strength to your psyche. Discovering the empowerment that
comes with perseverance has a life-long
impact, becoming a reference point for what you are able to accomplish.
In the words of one former alcoholic, "I know
now that if I can quit drinking,I can do anything."
From a symbolic perspective, the shadow aspect of the Addict
represents
a struggle with will power and the absence of self-control. People who
are extremely intellectual or emotional frequently have a close link to
this archetype, because they struggle to balance these powers. Without
this internal balance, the will may give up its power to an external
substance
that exerts authority, providing shadow order to your life. The shadow
Addict compromises your integrity and honesty. Many addicts, for
example,
steal as a means of supporting their habit.
In evaluating your connection to the Addict, review how many of your
life's challenges concern
an external substance or a consistent, domineering pattern of trying
to maintain order in your life. Although that
challenge is a part of all of our lives, the degree to which an
addiction
controls you and your lifestyle determines
whether the Addict is part of your intimate family of twelve. For
instance,
you can be inconsistent in your exercise
program yet quite disciplined in your spiritual practice. Needing a
substance or practice or person so intensely or
regularly that you compromise relationships, finances, integrity,
character,
or emotional and psychological well-being,
however, indicates that you should look very seriously at this
archetype
as a possible choice.
Films: Jack Lemmon and
Lee Remick in Days of Wine and Roses (alcohol); Ben Stiller in
Permanent
Midnight (heroin); Dom de Luise in Fatso
(food); Claire Bloom in The Chapman Report (sex);
Drama: A Long Day's Journey into Night (morphine) by Eugene O'Neill
Fiction: Basketball Diaries (heroin) by Jim Carroll; Under the
Volcano
(mescal) by Malcolm Lowry.
Religion/Myth: Soma (Vedic god of intoxication, as well as the
intoxicating
drink itself and the plant from which it is
made); Tantalus (a son of Zeus and king of Sipylos in Greece, he was
invited to share the food of the gods but abused
the honor and was punished by being "tantalized" for all eternity by
food and drink he could not reach).
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