“It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster.” – Carl Jung

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In a world so fraught with polarisation, where we’re all (secretly) terrified of what others are capable of, we overlook our own hidden urges and capacity for violence, for hatred and unbridled anger; our thirst for power, our greed and our animalistic compulsions; our pain, regret and our grief; the delicious satisfaction of control, certainty and righteousness. The awakening of the Winter King marks the force of what is obscured, makes visible what lies beneath the depths, and forces us to truly see things for what they are and first accept all that is, exactly as it is. 

This Samhuinn I am honoured to embody the Winter King as a representation of all repressed feelings, urges, ideas, impulses and fears that reside in the collective consciousness as well as that of each of us. I hope to portray all that makes you uncomfortable; the ugly dark truth of the Shadow you’d rather ignore. I endeavour to submit the Summer King to the brutal realisation not all is sunshine and roses, and to show Him what He has hidden in the shadows for too long. 

Winter will unleash all that has been festering in the depths of Summer’s unconscious, and it won’t be pretty.

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Xoxo, 

Anna