A journey into conflict zones: archetypal psychology between trauma and rebirth
In recent months I have had the opportunity to work in a conflict zone, offering psychological support and paths of inner transformation to those who have experienced profound trauma.
It was an intense experience that led me to confront the resilience of the soul, the rawest pain and the ability to be reborn even from the deepest rubble.
War does not only affect infrastructure, but leaves indelible marks on the human soul.
To be in a war zone is not just to witness pain, but to experience it, to feel it seeping into your skin, your thoughts, your breath.
It is to allow yourself to go through an experience that dismantles your view of life and humanity piece by piece, and then forces you to rebuild it all over again.
In this process, I recognized the emergence of deep forces within me, archetypes that were activated in the face of what was happening.
In this article we explore how, through archetypal psychology, it is possible to understand the different phases of trauma and healing. Through the symbolic language of archetypes, we can transform the shadow into a new form of awareness and inner strength.
The Innocent: rediscovering life in chaos
In the midst of destruction, I found that enthusiasm never dies.
Even when everything collapses, there is always a spark that ignites. A new, powerful energy that made me feel alive as never before.
The Innocent in me found in the tragedy an impulse for rebirth, a push into the unknown with an open heart.
The Orphan: the fear of the inevitable
War is fear. It is the realization that you cannot control what happens, that danger can come from any direction and you cannot escape.
It is the sense of emptiness that opens up inside when you see in the eyes of others absolute loss.
I realized that some wounds are not closed, they are learned to bear.
The Warrior: the art of not giving up
In war, there is no alternative: either you give in to the chaos or you turn it into something new.
I felt the Warrior within me awaken, refusing to be broken by events. I learned that resisting is not just surviving, but turning pain into action, into meaning, into possibility.
The Angel: connection with the human
I saw pain without filter, without justification.
And I learned that real help is not in words, but in presence. Sometimes you just need to be next to each other, to share a glance, to breathe together.
In those moments, I felt that humanity is one, that we are all part of the same journey.
The seeker: inventing new ways
Nothing I knew was enough. There is no manual for dealing with the unthinkable.
I had to reinvent, improvise, find new ways when there seemed to be none.
The Seeker took over, pushing me to step outside the boundaries of logic and rely on intuition.
Eros: love and faith
In those moments, I felt Love in a pure form. Love for life, for the human being, for the mystery that unites us all.
I felt Faith as never before: faith in myself, in my purpose, in Who brought me there.
And I realized that even in the midst of the deepest pain, Love is the force that moves everything.
Thanatos: the death of certainty
I saw my beliefs collapsing. Everything I thought I knew about the human psyche dissolved in the face of reality.
Trauma does not follow patterns; suffering cannot be categorized. To truly understand, I had to let my old certainties die and accept the mystery of the human mind.
The Builder: creating from nothing
When everything is destroyed, all that is left is to build.
Out of the ashes of my experience has come a new approach, new insights, a vision that integrates all that I have experienced. The Builder inside me was able to pick up the pieces and turn them into something bigger.
The Sage: the inner battle
You cannot deal with external chaos if there is still an open war inside you. This experience has taught me that the greatest work is on myself.
The more I faced my shadows, the more I was able to help others without being overwhelmed by the pain.
The Magician: the power of love
I have seen that Love is more powerful than war. It is not an abstract idea; it is a tangible reality.
A gesture, a word, a presence can change the course of events.
I saw Life return even where it seemed impossible. And it was an act of magic.
The Sovereign: inner calm
The real strength is not in control, but in stability. I found a deep calm within me, a still point in the midst of the storm.
The Sovereign does not impose, but guides with his presence, with his balance.
The Fool: turning pain into beauty
Perhaps the greatest lesson: to take suffering, trauma, death… and turn them into laughter, poetry, beauty.
The most powerful alchemy is that which turns lead into gold. I have seen that pain, when gone through with awareness, becomes the seed of creation.
Conclusion
This experience taught me that the human soul is infinite. That light always finds a way through, even in the deepest darkness.
And that, in the end, we are all on our way. Each with his own journey, each with his own inner battle. But always with the possibility of turning the war into something bigger.
Esperto di psicologia, spiritualità e ipnoterapia, con un percorso di vita che abbraccia culture, discipline e luoghi che spaziano dall’Asia al Sud America.