What does the Shadow mean?

The shadow (also known as the id, shadow aspect, or shadow archetype) is an unconscious aspect of the personality that the conscious ego does not identify in itself, or the totality of the unconscious; that is, everything of which one is not fully aware. In short, the shadow is the unknown side.

The idea of the shadow self was first conceived by Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, MD, a 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist. The word "shadow" refers to the unconscious, shadowy, unknown or hidden side of man, so it can include everything that is outside of the light of consciousness and can be either positive or negative. Because one tends to reject or remain ignorant of the less desirable aspects of one's personality, the shadow is perceived as mostly negative. There are, however, positive aspects that can also be hidden in the shadows (especially in people with low self-esteem, anxieties and false beliefs). "Everyone carries a shadow," wrote Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, MD, "and the less of it is embodied in the conscious life of the individual, the blacker and denser it is." It may be, in part, one's link to the most primitive instincts, which are normally overcome during early childhood by the conscious mind.

Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, MD, stated that the shadow is the unknown dark side of the personality, thus, being instinctual and irrational, it is prone to psychological projection, in which a perceived personal inferiority or superiority is recognized as a perceived moral deficiency or excess in another person. If these projections remain hidden, the factor doing the projection (the shadow archetype) then has a free hand and can perform its object, if it has one, or can cause some other situation characteristic of its power. These projections isolate and deceive one by acting as a constantly thickening veil of illusion between the ego and the real objective world.

The shadow develops in the mind brain of the person, it especially can be through dreams, visions, etc. Likewise, in said shadow the transgenerational and collective unconscious interferes, which is fed by neglected, repressed values, etc.

How can one identify the Shadow?

One's shadow can be exhibited in different ways and forms, through various unconscious thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors. In general, when a person affects one mentally-emotionally and one tends to overreact against him/her when something is not so important, one is probably casting one's own shadow on him/her. In this way, one attributes to others their reactions, feelings, prejudices, evaluations, etc. that actually belong to oneself. Some aspects to identify one's shadow are pointed out as following:

• Observe and learn to identify through practices of introspection, attention and concentration such as meditation, pranayama, mantras, yoga, martial arts, etc. those thoughts, emotions and feelings that are repressed, unknown, hidden, unexpressed or difficult to articulate and feel.
• Identify everything that generates so much pain, suffering, emptiness and you are not aware of the reason.
• Pay attention to what one criticizes or exaggeratedly judges in others.
• Evaluate if what one thinks and feels, when interacting with others, is a projection or is the objective reality.

When one begins to observe, identify and know one's own shadow, it will result in various benefits in relation to oneself, with everyone and everything, which may be the following:

• Increased self-knowledge, self-connection and self-relationship.
• Responsibility and self-acceptance in a more complete way, where one takes charge of one's own internal world.
• Achievement of a more integrated, healthy and mature “me”.
• Allows one to integrate and manage one's hidden and unknown side in a healthy and conscious way.
• Learn to have an adequate, honest, complete and healthy internal dialogue.
• Direct the mental-emotional states in a healthy and balanced way, by handling a situation and not allowing that situation or the external factos to be the one who manages you.
• Improved relationships through acceptance, understanding, empathy and compassion for oneself and others.
• Learn to identify projections that hinder the opinion of others and thus obtain a more realistic, objective and balanced vision.
• Get rid of guilt and shame derived from certain relatively negative and dark thoughts, emotions, feelings, behaviors and actions.
• Generate capacity to set healthy boundaries in life.

If one lets one's shadow always run rampant and uncontrolled, continue to be hidden without really being recognized and integrated, one's life will feel and become chaotic. This can manifest itself in mental and emotional difficulties, low self-esteem, rigidity, scarcity mindset and mentality, addictions of all kinds, increased arrogance and ignorance, among others; as well as poor physical or psychosomatic health and various diseases that can affect the quality of life in general.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it destiny.” Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, MD.

Shadow Encounter

The eventual encounter with the shadow plays a central role in both therapy and personal development. It is this that opens the way to the inner shadow, which arises when below the surface a person suffers from a deadly boredom that makes everything seem pointless and empty, as if the initial encounter with the being cast a dark shadow before weather. In this way, what is more conscious seems like a misunderstood, misrepresented danger in life, because in reality that awareness that one is obtaining leads to greater clarity and improvement of the content of oneself and the connection and relationship with life, for which one always needs constant renewal and internal movement for a true descent into its own shadow.

The shadow personifies everything that the subject refuses to recognize about himself/herself and represents a narrow passage, a narrow door, from whose distressful and painful constriction no one who descends into the deep well is saved.

If and when one makes an attempt to see his/her shadow, he/she becomes aware of (and often ashamed and guilty of) those qualities and drives that he/she denies in himself/herself but can clearly see in others, such as selfishness, mental laziness, carelessness, fantasies, unrealistic schemes and plots, cowardice, inordinate love and greed for money and possessions, etc.

The dissolution of the person and the beginning of the individuation process also brings with it the danger of falling victim to the shadow that one carries within, the lower and therefore hidden aspect of the personality, resulting in a fusion with the shadow.

Shadow Fusion

The shadow sometimes overwhelms a person's actions; for example, when the conscious mind is shocked, confused, or paralyzed with indecision. A person who can be trapped by his/her shadow, can always be thinking or believing that he/she is standing in his/her own light and falling into his/her own traps, living below his/her own mental-emotional level, since, if he/she is not aware of his/her shadow and does not integrate it, he/she will remain alone believing that he/she lives in a specific way, but he/she will not deepen, observe and explore different aspects of himself/herself that could really give true meaning to his/her life. Therefore, the conscious personality is the one who integrates the shadow and not the other way around. Otherwise, consciousness becomes a slave to the autonomous shadow.

The effect of the confrontation with the shadow produces at first a dead balance, a stagnation that makes decisions difficult and makes convictions seem ineffective, gloomy, chaotic, melancholic, neurotic, etc. Consequently, in the time of descent into the dark and deep, true courage, strength and valour are required, as each descent is followed by an ascent and the assimilation of the shadow becomes a great possibility and an opportunity.

Shadow Assimilation

Assimilating the shadow means starting to travel upwards, ascending through the healing and its curative spirals. Here the important thing is to learn to retain the consciousness of the shadow, but not the identification with it. Non-identification requires a considerable firm moral effort that prevents descending into that darkness; and although the conscious mind can be plunged into the unconscious at any time, understanding acts as a lifeline. Integrate the unconscious. This reincorporates the shadow into the personality, producing a stronger, broader, more mature and healthier consciousness than before. The assimilation of the shadow gives man a body, so to speak, thus providing a launching pad for further individuation. The integration of the shadow, or the realization of the personal unconscious, marks the first stage in the integral analytical process, without it a recognition of oneself and one's being is truly impossible.

Despite, or perhaps because of, its function as a reservoir of one's darkness, the shadow is also the seat of creativity, so for some, it may be that the dark or hidden side of their being, their sinister shadow, represents the true spirit of life. However, it must be kept in mind that the recognition, acceptance and integration of the shadow must be an ongoing process throughout one's life.

How to use the Shadow work in day to day life?

To fully engage with the broad spectrum of life, there are a variety of techniques one can use to begin their journey of shadow work.

Writing, or keeping a journal, is one of the best tools to start working on the shadow. This is a way to register all thoughts, feelings and emotions to begin to be aware of the unconscious. This could include writing about the general and specific ways one reacts to certain situations and people. One will begin to identify if there is a recurring mental-emotional or behavioral pattern. Once one begins to recognize various patterns, one can modify and improve one's internal dialogue, identify one's behaviors or reactions so as not to repeat recurring situations, or perform introspection exercises such as meditation, yoga, pranayama, mantras, martial arts, etc.

Through this work, one can observe, decipher, evaluate and decide which patterns and behaviors no longer serve or are unhealthy so that one can leave them, transform them and transcend them with greater awareness. Instead of reacting to life all the time, one can learn to be open and mental-emotional flexible, without expectations when responding to life experiences. One just needs to allow oneself just to be present, here and now. 

Don't suppress painful feelings and thoughts or run away from distressful, debilitating or painful experiences; they are simply tools that ask for growth. Shadow work helps one accept what one has found unacceptable so that change, healing and real transformation can occur.

One of the most important things to remember when engaging in shadow work is to be empathetic and compassionate with yourself. All answers may not come immediately, so wherever one finds oneself in the process, it is healthier to accept all parts of oneself, shadows and lights alike. The transmutation of mental-emotional suffering and pain and discomfort with acceptance and awareness is the alchemical nectar that precedes any transformation.

The main job is not to look for love, but to look for and find all the barriers that one has built against it, so as not to feel it and not live it. Be love.