Trump as Destructo: Balancing the Force That Tears Down with the One That Builds
By Janet Kira Lessin and Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph. D.
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There’s a powerful archetypal force alive in the world today—one that tears down, shatters, mocks, burns, devours.
It has a name, a face, and a movement. It tweets, snarls, and sneers. It polarizes. It commands attention. And many call it Trump.
But Trump is not just a man. He is the embodiment of Destruction—not the thoughtful, sacred destruction of Shiva or Kali or fire used wisely, but a rampant, reactive tearing down of norms, truths, boundaries, and bridges. He represents the unintegrated ID, as Sasha wisely put it—the primal, infantile, animal mind ruled by “I want,” “I take,” and “Me first.”
This isn’t news to psychologists. In Freudian terms, the ID is the instinctual core of the psyche. In Jungian terms, it is the projected shadow. The lower chakra energy is untethered from the heart or crown in spiritual systems. In human terms, it’s someone who never grew up emotionally but was given the power of a king.
But here’s the key insight:
Destruction is not inherently evil. Destruction is a necessary function in any evolving system. Forests burn to regenerate. Dead cells must die for new ones to grow. The psyche, too, must shed old skins. But destruction must be balanced—ideally governed—by the force that builds, heals, restores, and renews.
The Counterforce: Construction, Awareness, the Aware Ego
That balancing force is Construction. Creation. Integration. Awareness. Or what we call:
🌀 The Aware Ego
In their voice dialogue work, Hal and Sidra Stone described the “aware ego process” as a center of consciousness that can observe all the inner voices without being possessed by any of them. The aware ego is not passive. It is powerful because it can witness without reacting and choose. It is the Fair Witness, the soul-centered self, the eye of the storm.
In the current culture, we are witnessing a collective possession by the Destructive Archetype. Trump gives voice to the disowned rage of millions. People follow him not because he uplifts them, but because he sees the part of them society ignored—the resentment, the grievance, the shadow—and he strokes it. Even if the strokes are negative, any attention is better than none.
This is introductory psychology. We all want to be seen. But being seen in our shadow is not healing. It’s addictive.
Don’t Shame the Shadow. Integrate It.
So what now? Do we scream at Destructo? Do we exile him?
No.
We integrate him, witness him, see the need he fills, and ask, “What higher form can this energy take?“
We don’t kill the fire. We contain it in a forge.
We don’t shame the Shadow. We bring it into the light—lovingly but firmly.
The Constructive Force Is Rising
As a society and as individuals, we are being asked to step into the Constructive Archetype—the one that builds not through force but through clarity, that heals not through denial but through truth-telling, and that leads not through dominance but through integrity.
This force is not flashy. It is not loud. It doesn’t dominate the headlines.
It builds temples in silence.
It heals broken communities.
It raises children who know how to feel and choose.
Most of all, it teaches the inner child that they can be seen and loved without burning the house down.
A Call to Builders
We don’t need more rage. We don’t need more idols.
We need architects of empathy.
We need council fires, not bonfires.
We need those who can say:
“I see the hunger to destroy. I honor its message.
And now, I choose to build something better.”
This is the work of the Aware Ego.
This is how we transform society.
Not by shaming Destructo—but by choosing, every day, to be the Builder.
Final Reflection
The opposite of the destructive force is not silence.
It is the constructive force, anchored in awareness, humility, and service.
Both forces live in us.
The future belongs to those who can hold both—and still choose love.
🕊️ Companion Poem: “Builder’s Prayer”
I’ve known the fire that eats the sky,
The tongue of rage, the endless cry.
I’ve danced with ashes, fed the flame,
And whispered blame in freedom’s name.
But now I lift my hands to build,
With hearts unarmed and voices stilled.
Each word a beam, each truth a stone—
I raise a house, not a throne.
So let the storm tear down the old—
I will not join it, cruel and bold.
I’ll be the calm, the voice, the plan—
Not just the critic but also the one who can.
References:
- Hal & Sidra Stone, Embracing Our Selves (Voice Dialogue & Aware Ego Process)
- Carl Jung, Psychological Types, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
- Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id
- Eric Berne, Games People Play (on “strokes”)
- James Hillman, Re-Visioning Psychology
Tags:
#Archetypes #AwareEgo #DestructionAndCreation #TrumpAsDestructo #JungianPsychology #VoiceDialogue #ShadowIntegration #ConstructiveForce #NewConsciousness #PoliticalPsychology #MythicLens #DragonAtTheEndOfTime
Tags:
Trump archetype, Destructive archetype, Constructive force, Aware ego, Jungian psychology, Voice Dialogue, Shadow integration, Political psychology, Consciousness, Inner transformation, Archetypes in politics, Trump and shadow, Jesus archetype, Integrating darkness, Awareness and service, Spiritual activism, Healing the psyche, Cultural evolution, Mythic narrative, Trump as Destructo
