“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort…This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.”
Carl Jung
The shadow is the unconscious realm of the psyche that comprises all that we repress, deny or hide from others. It forms necessarily as a result of our adaptation to the world, stepping into ourselves and becoming an individual in the world.
Duality is a pre-requisite of our existence. Becoming anything necessarily means leaving something out – personality traits, emotions, tensions, desires, beliefs and the very ways we perceive and make decisions in the world. All the ways we have required ourselves not to be. Every personality implies a shadow.
The shadow often consists of energies deemed immoral, counter to our conscious stance or self-concept. For this reason the shadow presents a moral challenge, and is often mistakenly thought of as consisting simply of our ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ side.
But the the shadow itself is also dual. As much as it contains shortfalls and unresolved tensions we’d rather avoid, it naturally contains wholesome aspects locked within those very same energies, and which are necessary for full self-realisation.
Jung himself described the shadow in different ways throughout his extensive career. On one hand, the shadow is a present and immediate symbol, generated by the mind, an image as old as humanity itself. Shadow figures, or those appearing as very ‘other’ to ourselves, are a common encounter in dreams and active imagination.
On the other hand ‘shadow’ is a metaphor for an absence of light. When you shine a light on an object, when you bring conscious awareness to your personality, something must be left in the dark. In order to truly know a thing – to know yourself – you must illuminate it from both sides. And what you leave out in knowing a thing can be fatal.
The shadow is the archetypal challenger, which shows up necessarily to negate, challenge and, if boldly navigated, temper us into realising our best selves, our full psychological template. The shadow, by virtue of being that which was left out, contains the very alchemical material we need to become whole.
Today ‘shadow work’ is a trendy topic and it is indeed of utmost relevance to our times. Both religious absolutism and scientific materialism are producing shadows of their own that demand to be known. The study of the self itself has become the vital task. The discovery of the unconscious in modern psychology, in Jung’s words, means “an enormous spiritual task which must be accomplished if we wish to preserve our civilisation.”
The popularisation of the topic may be a sign of the times but itself contains a terrible shadow. In a relatively benign form it leads to all kinds of confusion and misdirection. After all there are few more delicious ways to placate tension than to assume you understand your own shadow and have ‘done’ shadow work.
At the more dangerous end, your freedom and self-realisation are not in the interests of those harbouring a secret urge to power. Consciously or not, obfuscation is useful. The pursuit of self-knowledge itself provides the ultimate hangout for corruption and abuse under an apparently sophisticated and loving guise. The shadow, it turns out, manifests like any other archetype. Throughout history it has cloaked itself in what it perceives to be the noblest pursuit of the times, and mainstream religion isn’t cutting it anymore.
Shadow work is both an inner and an outer process. You cannot do one without the other. While working with others and recruiting coaches and mentors can be powerful, shadow work must necessarily be a personal endeavour. You are already your own authority, whether you realise it or not. Shadow work can be construed as finding all the ways in which we secretly serve power, and do harm to ourselves, and stopping. It means coming to trust yourself completely, while at the same time respecting and deepening a relationship to mystery.
In this third course of the MiC Know Yourself Programme, we’re going to get to the core of Inner Shadow Work – coming to terms with what we find difficult to confront in ourselves. Examining not just the work of Jung but also many other great and forgotten thinkers from the Western tradition whose work is most relevant to this process. In particular the German idealists Schelling and Hegel.
You will develop a nuanced understanding of shadow and shadow dynamics, learn how to identify and map your own shadow, and gain the tools for integrating shadow material in yourself, leading to a more aligned existence and deepening of conscious awareness of yourself.
Shadow work is never ‘done,’ but is a journey that continues to produce rewards and benefits throughout one’s life.
Learn more and sign up at: knowyourself.makeitconscious.com/course/inner-shadow-work
“Until we are willing to confront, which is to say suffer, the opposites within us, we will remain children, and in our old age, children still.”
– James Hollis
WHAT YOU’LL GAIN:
Understanding
Develop a nuanced understanding of the shadow, as well as learn supporting supporting psychology and philosophy.
Identify
Learn to map your own shadow using both existing and exclusive tools. Identify shadow material in yourself and others.
Integrate
Take action towards integrating your own shadow, resolve conflict and develop greater self-knowledge and congruency.
