Nuclear Fusion Melds Science, Art, Mind and Spirit

In December of 2022, The United States Department of Energy announced the first ever successful ignition of two hydrogen atoms to achieve nuclear fusion in a laboratory. The two atoms fused into one lighter nucleus - resulting in fifty percent more energy being released than went into the reaction. Two units of energy went in, three came out. The potential for clean power is limitless. When government officials announced the monumental scientific achievement, which recreated a phenomenon that had only happened in the stars, the first potential benefit touted was improved national defense. The discovery that could alter the course of humanity was framed in fear from the beginning - what a surprise.

But Nuclear Fusion’s impact goes further than both energy and defense. The achievement is a milestone for art, pyschology, philosophy, and even spirituality. In many ways, the fusion breakthrough brought the words of poets and religious scribes to life under the tangible, real world, testable conditions of the laboratory.

“It is a very short range force. It only operates on scales as small as the nucleus itself…but you have to get there for it to grab a hold of you and make a new atom.”

Neil Degrass Tyson on The Strong Nuclear Force which caused the atoms to fuse.

The idea of two bodies joining into one is as old as duality, and continues to be the theme of art today.

From conventional religions' idea of union between mind/body and spirit (“I and my father are one”), to new age interpretations of spirituality, merging into a singular, omnipotent being is always the ultimate evolution - despite nature taking billions of years to create the distinctions we see between organisms today.

“Now, how can two bodies fuse and actually, literally become one body? I have had that experience. Two fuse…you can take the most intimate embrace in this world, and yet there are two. Now, the way I talk about it, when you’re embraced, you become one. He who is united to the lord becomes one spirit with it.”

- Neville Goddard, new thought author and mystic

The meeting of one’s two halves isn’t always welcome, though it is always beneficial in the long run. Resistance makes healing feel like death because we get so used to feeling incomplete. It’s who we think we are, and we don’t want to let go of that identity, even if it feels terrible.

“The meeting with oneself is, at first, the meeting with one’s own shadow. The shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down to the deep well. But one must learn to know oneself in order to know who one is.”

-Carl Jung

You don’t just integrate this shadow because it’s the right thing to do, or to relieve the discomfort of constantly trying to keep it away. Although, when traveling through the dark night of the soul, peace is all you really want, integration (which you are convinced means death) actually provides energy! Free, clean energy that was always there, but was tied up in all that matter - all your heaviness. The energy it took to keep you and your shadow apart can now go to good use.

This doesn’t mean that you should incorporate harmful habits into your life because they are a part of your shadow. It means that you find ways to incorporate aspects of your “dark” side consciously - in a productive, positive way that leads to growth. Not change, but growth. The parts of the puzzle that make up the full you need to all be included for your masterpiece to be complete. Growth means grasping a bigger piece of the picture so you can choose from more of what you want, rather than staring at a section that isn’t so pleasant.

“The shadow, when it is realized, is the source of renewal; the new and productive impulse cannot come from established values of the ego. When there is an impasse, and sterile time in our lives—despite an adequate ego development—we must look to the dark, hitherto unacceptable side which has been at our conscious disposal.

-Carl Jung

The part of you that is driven to grow and expand can be scary. Most people are told to stay in their lane and not be too full of themselves. Going against that kind of societal programming is tough. If there is another side of you, and you want to think of yourself as good, you might assume that the other side is bad. You assume all the feelings that go along with that other side must be wrong. You don't think there's room for the both of you. You shut it out - or at least you try.

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?"

- Matthew 12:22-2

It'll take more energy than there is at the center of the sun to get you to embrace your shadow. The problem is, you can't just hate half of someone. You are friend or foe to all of him. A divided house will fall, and if you think a part of you doesn't deserve happiness, you'll burn the whole thing down. Feeling stuck may mean you haven't tapped into your hidden energy reserves. Give yourself a little love. Once you befriend your shadow, your potential is limitless.