The Barrow

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Evolean and Nietzschean models of the Will, which in these models also has significant ethical implications. A passage from Evola's Ride the Tiger really stuck with me – to paraphrase: remorse occurs when secondary desire motivates the person to behave incongruently with his Will, but the Will is yet unbroken. This resonated with me, as this does seem to explain both my behavior and my feelings toward it. While I subscribe to a more Jungian model, that is, of a somewhat equal partnership between the ego and the shadow, this makes sense. Though the person should integrate their shadow (and in fact both Nietzche and Evola advocate the same, in different terminology) the Nietzchean/Evolan model treats the True Will as the “truer” aspect of the psyche, whereas in a Jungian model, they are more equal. Anyway, I digress.

It does seem apt, this model of behavior and remorse. Whenever I let my lower self dictate my actions at the compromise of my higher values, this is when remorse occurs. The answer seems to be to let the higher self steer the vehicle, and regularly let the shadow out to play in contexts where it is safe to do so.