"It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses- and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster." ~ Carl Jung, "On the Psychology of the Unconscious."
If you're truly honest about self-exploration during your journey of Involution, you will come across many aspects and traits about yourself that you will find difficult - if not completely disturbing - to accept.
In the domain of psychology, renowned psychologist Carl Jung devoted a lot of thought to this problem of the "Shadow Self", being deeply invested in the research of ancient esoteric knowledge and spiritual scriptures to not only treat the mind of man, but his soul as well.
In response to his serious preoccupation Jung created the Archetypes model, a concept wherein he believed our unconscious minds are fragmented or structured into different "selves" in an attempt to organize how we experience different things in life. Two of Jung's major Archetypes are The Persona and The Shadow Self.
The Birth Of The Shadow Self
So what exactly is the "Persona" and "Shadow Self"? Well the Persona, according to Jung, defines what we would like to be and how we wish to be seen by the world. The word "persona" is derived from a Latin word that literally means "mask", however in this instance the word can be applied metaphorically, representing all of the different social masks that we wear among different groups of people and situations.
On the other hand, the Shadow Self is an archetype that forms part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, instincts, impulses, weaknesses, desires, perversions and embarrassing fears. This archetype is often described as the darker side of the psyche, representing wildness, chaos and the unknown. Jung believed that these latent dispositions are present in all of us, in many instances forming a strong source of creative energy.
We are all born pure, like blank canvases. But at some point during our childhood development, we learn knowledge that teaches us to separate things into good and evil. The moment we eat from this tree of knowledge, our shadows are born and we begin to divide ourselves. Furthermore, in our cultural 'socialization' process, we begin to sort out those traits within us that are acceptable in society, and those unacceptable traits that aren't (which are later hidden away).
Thus, the dark shadow traits that we all possess accumulate in the corners of our unconscious minds, never becoming adequately integrated into our conscious minds because we never see our split state in the first place (due to our psychological 'defence mechanisms'). And so we continue on accumulating these dark desires, motivations and fears.
This can be dangerous. Through observing many of our Involutionstudents for example, I've come across certain individuals who have allowed their Shadow Selves to accumulate for so long that they've erupted and overpowered the person through depression or an unconscious accident that ended up manifesting their inner "Monsters". This can lead to physical, emotional, psychological and interpersonal consequences that can last for a very long time.
It's understandable that our civilizing process requires us to repress aspects of ourselves that do not fit in with the structured ideal of our society. We are born whole and complete, but slowly we learn to live fractioned lives, accepting some parts of our nature but rejecting and ignoring other parts.
A holiday to a different part of the world will show you how arbitrary some of these divisions are. In the West for example, eye contact is perceived as confident and engaging, whereas in Japan it's perceived as arrogant and rude. In the Middle East burping after a meal is a sign of pleasure, yet anywhere else in the world it's seen as vulgar and uncouth. And in American TV shows depicting violent murders is considered more acceptable than showing nudity or sexual acts, whereas in Europe it's the complete opposite. These are just a few examples.
Basically, the repression of our negative traits or emotions in society is one of the biggest barriers in any persons journey towards Self-Loveand living authentically. How can you completely and whole-heartedly accept who you are if there are sides of yourself that you're too afraid to explore?
So, apart from modern day society's ideas of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour, what else causes such a great repression of the Shadow Self? In truth, a lot of it actually comes from the endless cornucopia of "feel good" motivational teachings out there. If you notice, a lot of modern spiritual and religious work revolves around moving towards the "light", accepting the "light" and seeking for the "light". Yet by doing so, we ignore the entirety of what it is to be human! In fact, many of the spiritual and new age teachings out there provide an escape for those who do not want to be responsible for the entirety of themselves and their lives. Understandably the "light" energies are usually represented with noble values such as as love, peace, joy, harmony, compassion, entirely ignoring the darker elements within us such as anger, vengeance, control, fear, shame, competitiveness, jealousy, lust, etc. Because these darker characteristics are associated with 'negativity', they're avoided out of fear.
Interestingly, many seekers of spiritual growth think that somehow all of the negative qualities within themselves will eventually be transcended. Yet from my own experience, embracing your inner darkness allows for the creation of a psychological and spiritual balance, an integrated whole - whereas denying it creates chaos and disharmony.
The keyword here is "integrate", which comes from the Latin word integratus, meaning to ‘make whole’. To integrate an inner quality is to take ownership and responsibility for it, rather than rejecting or denying it. The benefits are many; sanity, healing, and wholeness are all found in integration. On the other hand, the opposite of integration is to ‘disintegrate’ – or to be fragmented and divided into pieces. A person that 'breaks down' or 'falls apart' for instance, is someone who has been unable to handle stress and who has ignored too many of their personality traits, especially Shadow Self traits. In reality, a fragmented person can never handle adversity because they have no whole centre, and they're always handling life from the corners of their personality parts.
Embracing The Shadow Self
Our journey of Self-Exploration is a bit like Dante's Inferno. Before making our way out of "hell" we must walk through the depths of our inner darkness. When I write about embracing or integrating your shadow self, I do not mean to indulge in any desire that arises within you. Indulging your anger for instance, will simply result in more anger. By embracing your inner darkness I mean that it is necessary for you to "accept" it. Accepting your darkness will allow you to take responsibility for yourself, and once you truly acknowledge one of these dark traits instead of avoiding them, suddenly, they will stop having control over you. By being honest with ourselves and accepting our shadow elements, it frees us up to truly witness the uncharted areas of our minds, allowing us to see that we are not these elements, but simply possess thoughts, feelings and drives that come and go. You cannot simply go "beyond hatred" if first you don't admit to yourself that you do in fact possess hateful feelings.
To completely experience Self-Love we must learn to experience our Shadow Selves, and voyage into the dark, murky waters of the unknown courageously. Otherwise, every time we condemn other people for their shadow traits, we're in essence condemning our hypocritical selves in the process.
A whole and balanced self is a reconciliation of all parts, an inner unification. It is not an indulgence of the darker parts of our natures, but an acceptance and direct experience of them in the light of mindful awareness and deep honesty.
Exploring your darkness is not necessarily all doom and gloom. In fact, you may be surprised by the endless array of creative and interesting 'things' you find that have been secretively stored away.To accept and embrace your Shadow Self is to go back and become "whole" again and thus taste a glimpse of what authentic "holiness" feels like.
Written by Mateo Sol
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