You are born to one mother, but if you are lucky, you will have more than one. And among them all you will find most of what you need. - Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Anyone close to a woman is in fact in the presence of two women; an outer being and an interior criatura, one who lives in the topside world, one who lives in the world not so easily seeable. The outer being lives by the light of day and is easily observed. She is often pragmatic, acculturated, and very human. The criatura, however, often travels to the surface from far away, often appearing and then as quickly disappearing, yet always leaving behind a feeling: something surprising, original, and knowing.

This explosive psychological 'sneaking' occurs when a woman suppresses large parts of self into the shadows of the psyche. In the view of analytical psychology, the repression of both negative and positive instincts, urges, and feelings into the unconscious causes them to inhabit a shadow realm. While the ego and superego attempt to continue to censor the shadow impulses, the very pressure that repression causes is rather like a bubble in the sidewall of a tire. Eventually, as the tire revolves and heats up, the pressure behind the bubble intensifies, causing it to explode outward, releasing all the inner content.

The shadow acts similarlyY We find that by opening the door to the shadow realm a little, and letting out various elements a few at a time, relating to them, finding use for them, negotiating, we can reduce being surprised by shadow sneak attacks and unexpected explosions.

إن المحبين الذين يصرون على محاولة الاحتفاظ بكل شيء في أوج وميضه النفسي سوف يقضون أيامهم في علاقة يزداد تحجرها يوماً بعد يوم. فالرغبة في إجبار الحب على الاستمرار في العيش فقط - في أكثر أشكاله الإيجابية - هو ما يؤدي إلى سقوطه ميتاً من أجل ما يولد ما هو أفضل.