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Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature
The author offers exploration of self and practical guidance dealing with the dark side of personality based on Jung's concept of "shadow," or the forbidden and unacceptable feelings and behaviors each of us experience.
335 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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8330 people want to read
About the author
Connie Zweig
14 books114 followersI'm co-author Meeting the Shadow, Romancing the Shadow. My award-winning book, THE INNER WORK OF AGE: SHIFTING FROM ROLE TO SOUL, extends shadow-work into midlife and beyond and explores aging as a spiritual practice.
It won three book awards!
MEETING THE SHADOW ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH: The Dance of Darkness and Light in our Journey to Awakening is available now. If you experienced religious abuse or spiritual disillusionment, you can find guidance here and rekindle your inspiration.
Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path:
https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Shadow...
Inner Work of Age is available here:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
BarnesandNoble.com: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
indibound.org: https://www.indiebound.org/book/97816... (if you prefer independent bookstores)
I'm blogging excerpts at http://medium.com/@conniezweig
If you want to read either book in an online group,
email me at conniezweig@gmail.com
It won three book awards!
MEETING THE SHADOW ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH: The Dance of Darkness and Light in our Journey to Awakening is available now. If you experienced religious abuse or spiritual disillusionment, you can find guidance here and rekindle your inspiration.
Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path:
https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Shadow...
Inner Work of Age is available here:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
BarnesandNoble.com: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
indibound.org: https://www.indiebound.org/book/97816... (if you prefer independent bookstores)
I'm blogging excerpts at http://medium.com/@conniezweig
If you want to read either book in an online group,
email me at conniezweig@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
May 8, 2018
Another one of my go-to books in addition to Jung's Lexicon by Daryl Sharp and Inner Work by Robert A. Johnson, which I've read two weeks ago.
This book is an assortment of essays that elucidate and expand on Carl Jung's conception of the shadow, or the disowned self—repressed and therefore unconscious aspects of the psyche.
The essays are extensive in scope, covering the personal shadow and its formation in the family, the archetypal Shadow (or simply, Evil), the shadow in literature and religion and spirituality, shadow eruptions in daily life (what the editors call Shadow-Boxing), psychosomatic implications of the shadow (where a favorite crossing of mine between Jung and Reich takes place), and methods to integrate and honor this Other/Sibling/Double in each of us.
The book is probably the biggest (and maybe the best) collection on the shadow ever made.
I've found my favorite contribution in James Hillman's "The Cure of the Shadow," in which he emphasizes the importance of loving and carrying our shadow outside the confines of the ego's ideals and ambitions—a useful addition to Jung's dictum that a strong differentiated ego is capable of relating with the shadow without being possessed by it.
This book is an assortment of essays that elucidate and expand on Carl Jung's conception of the shadow, or the disowned self—repressed and therefore unconscious aspects of the psyche.
The essays are extensive in scope, covering the personal shadow and its formation in the family, the archetypal Shadow (or simply, Evil), the shadow in literature and religion and spirituality, shadow eruptions in daily life (what the editors call Shadow-Boxing), psychosomatic implications of the shadow (where a favorite crossing of mine between Jung and Reich takes place), and methods to integrate and honor this Other/Sibling/Double in each of us.
The book is probably the biggest (and maybe the best) collection on the shadow ever made.
I've found my favorite contribution in James Hillman's "The Cure of the Shadow," in which he emphasizes the importance of loving and carrying our shadow outside the confines of the ego's ideals and ambitions—a useful addition to Jung's dictum that a strong differentiated ego is capable of relating with the shadow without being possessed by it.
"I use the term 'cure of the shadow' to emphasize the importance of love. If we approach ourselves to cure ourselves, putting 'me' in the center, it too often degenerates into the aim of curing the ego—getting stronger, better, growing in accord with the ego's goals, which are often mechanical copies of society's goals. But if we approach ourselves to cure those fixed intractable congenital weaknesses of stubbornness and blindness, of meanness and cruelty, of sham and pomp, we come up against the need for a new way of being altogether, in which the ego must serve and listen to and cooperate with a host of shadowy unpleasant figures and discover an ability to love even the least of these traits.
Loving oneself is no easy matter just because it means loving all of oneself, including the shadow where one is inferior and socially so unacceptable. The care one gives this humiliating part is also the cure. More: as the cure depends on care, so does caring sometimes mean nothing more than carrying. The first essential in redemption of the shadow is the ability to carry it along with you ... Yet this carrying and caring cannot be programmatic, in order to develop, in order that the inferiority comply with the ego's goals, for this is hardly love."
July 24, 2024
This Book EXPLODED like a glass-shattering torpedo of a book within me - when I was visiting my sister in Vancouver, on the halcyon West Coast of Canada in 1991.
I was ready for it. I KNEW my hidden half.
You know, its insights knocked my socks off.
I knew the whole deal already, being no stranger to C.J. Jung.
I had experienced the Jungian Shadow, virginal person to monstrously lurid and discombobulating person - in the unhallowed halls of Ottawa's Royally Awful Hospital - when I was nineteen.
I hadn't yet come of Age at the time...
So they were all too happy to oblige me, back then.
Love, pain,
The Whole Damned thing!
***
Oh, I shall be saying this
Ages and Ages hence -
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less travelled by
And that has made all the difference!
Yes, I took the High Road outta that dark place. I renounced my Shadow. I completed my degree work, and returned home - an angry young man.
Unbeknownst to me, that anger was my Shadow, angry at my old, complacent ego. So I gradually moved away from my anger to the happy forbearance of the Catholic Faith.
And there, I learned to turn the Other Cheek to my inborn monster...
***
That has worked. The Shadow and I are now Strange Bedfellows.
His anger at my beliefs is now Jacob's Dark Angel to me. He combats me in my midnight hour as I stare at the ceiling and pray.
That way, deeply medicated, I fall asleep - like falling from a steep precipice - into Deep Peace.
***
The poor we have always with us, and the Shadow, too.
If we take up our Cross with humility we will never fail.
But we will never win at first either -
For Jacob’s Angelic Shadow has permanently disjointed us -
And permanently returned us to our wounded full humanity.
In which woundedness, for the first time, we will at last see we are loved with a Heartfelt Love -
More loved than we knew -
And finally healed from the Pain of the Shadow in our Daily Cross!
I was ready for it. I KNEW my hidden half.
You know, its insights knocked my socks off.
I knew the whole deal already, being no stranger to C.J. Jung.
I had experienced the Jungian Shadow, virginal person to monstrously lurid and discombobulating person - in the unhallowed halls of Ottawa's Royally Awful Hospital - when I was nineteen.
I hadn't yet come of Age at the time...
So they were all too happy to oblige me, back then.
Love, pain,
The Whole Damned thing!
***
Oh, I shall be saying this
Ages and Ages hence -
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less travelled by
And that has made all the difference!
Yes, I took the High Road outta that dark place. I renounced my Shadow. I completed my degree work, and returned home - an angry young man.
Unbeknownst to me, that anger was my Shadow, angry at my old, complacent ego. So I gradually moved away from my anger to the happy forbearance of the Catholic Faith.
And there, I learned to turn the Other Cheek to my inborn monster...
***
That has worked. The Shadow and I are now Strange Bedfellows.
His anger at my beliefs is now Jacob's Dark Angel to me. He combats me in my midnight hour as I stare at the ceiling and pray.
That way, deeply medicated, I fall asleep - like falling from a steep precipice - into Deep Peace.
***
The poor we have always with us, and the Shadow, too.
If we take up our Cross with humility we will never fail.
But we will never win at first either -
For Jacob’s Angelic Shadow has permanently disjointed us -
And permanently returned us to our wounded full humanity.
In which woundedness, for the first time, we will at last see we are loved with a Heartfelt Love -
More loved than we knew -
And finally healed from the Pain of the Shadow in our Daily Cross!
February 23, 2015
I read this book when I was like 16...It blew the shit out of my ass...Good stuff...I want to read it again in my adulthood, though probably not much has changed since my youth...
March 28, 2009
This book is absolutely amazing. It is life-changing, it is a book where you will not be the same after having read it. It is a book you will keep and come back to, and with each read you will understand and grow even more. It is a blend of Jungian psychology, existentialism, and philosophy, and it is gathered into a collection of essays that each address the topic in a different manner. This is one of the best books I have ever read in my life, and I know I will read it many more times in my life. It will irrevocably change the way you look at yourself.
December 15, 2008
This book is mind blowing. It's a fascinating lense into the parts of ourselves that we repress and passivly experience through others, not realizing that the traits of others that we wish were are own are indeed our own, we just deny ourselves them due to shame or our upbringing. This book shows you this and teaches you how to open yourself up and own all parts of yourself, balancing the dark and the light. This can open a floodgate of power, confidence, sexiness, and creativity that you didn't realize you had, or knew you had but didn't know how to embrace it and practice it. Well.... this is what it has done for me. Awesome!....I highly recommend it, obviously.
August 18, 2017
Although I personally do not see this as a book for those who are still actively dealing with panic traumas (particularly related to childhood abuses), this book is extremely useful, in many chapters, for working through the details of getting to the bottom of the traumas and less severe but nonetheless hurtful events of earlier life. I found in particular those excercises for finding and dealing with Shadow projections to be potentially helpful, if rather difficult, and useful. This is a book that bears re-reading with pen in hand, and going back through one's journals while working on the excercises.
(I found this book on my landlady's book shelf just after my therapist mentioned that being emotionally exhausted and wanting to give up was a by-product of running, with the Shadow ever on my heels, from those very parts of me that need to be acknowledged and integrated/accepted).
Comme dit-on en français, bon courage ! (The phrase that comes strongly to mind here is what the French say: courage, which means both courage or bravery, but also in this case, may the work go well, as it will clearly not be easy...)
(I found this book on my landlady's book shelf just after my therapist mentioned that being emotionally exhausted and wanting to give up was a by-product of running, with the Shadow ever on my heels, from those very parts of me that need to be acknowledged and integrated/accepted).
Comme dit-on en français, bon courage ! (The phrase that comes strongly to mind here is what the French say: courage, which means both courage or bravery, but also in this case, may the work go well, as it will clearly not be easy...)
November 7, 2014
This book moved me. Towards consciousness of the shadow, towards confrontation with it. And it is no lip-service to acknowledging the theory of it - during this week or so that I have been reading it, I have begun to realize the changes in my behaviour that have been inspired by the revelations from the authors of this compilation.
The chapters are different in style and theme, and some of them seemed easier to read than others, but I believe that the ones that seemed easy for me were hard for someone else and vice versa.
As it has been stressed out in the book - this is not a book to help you become better, it is a book to help you become whole.
The chapters are different in style and theme, and some of them seemed easier to read than others, but I believe that the ones that seemed easy for me were hard for someone else and vice versa.
As it has been stressed out in the book - this is not a book to help you become better, it is a book to help you become whole.
August 17, 2022
(No, it's not Schrödinger's cat, maybe one of Le Fey's...)
Maybe the black bats, the dark witches and Halloween brooms around led me to reconsider reading this book on the dark side of the human nature. Sure, in the Jung's vein "to be aware of obscurity" as a means to reach for more illumination.
June 1, 2023
Bir başkasında sizi çok öfkelendiren bir özellik varsa, içinizde o kişinin davranışına karşı yüksek bir öfke uyanıyorsa, muhakkak kendinize dönüp bakın der Jung, o sizin gölgeniz olabilir. Öteki'yle ilişkinin bize tuttuğu bir başka ayna daha. Karanlık taraflarımızı, reddettiğimiz, hoşlanmadığımız özelliklerimizi, görmezden gelmek için, yüzleşmemek için benliğimiz bize ne oyunlar oynuyor. Gölgeyle Buluşma kitabı işte bu oyunu bozmayı öneriyor. Dönüşmenin birinci adımının hoşa gitmeyen, reddedilen, bastırılan tarafların farkına varmak, önce kabul etmek. İnsan içindeki kötülüğü görmezden geldikçe kötülük sürecek. Kötülüğü hep dışarıda aradıkça ona karşı bir şey yapma sorumluluğunu hiçbir zaman üstlenmesine gerek kalmayacak. Suç hep başkalarında oldukça, kendisi mağdur ve kurban olmanın konforunu yaşayacak.
Gölgeyle Buluşma kitabını sadece kendi üzerinde çalışmak isteyenlere değil, roman/öykü yazan herkese okumalarını öneririm. Karakter inşa ederken içindeki iyiliği ve kötülüğü araştırmak, kategorik bakışlardan uzak bir perspektif kurabilmek ve karakterin psikolojik arka planını oluşturmak için ilham verici bir kaynak. #okudumbitti #bookstagram #jung
Gölgeyle Buluşma kitabını sadece kendi üzerinde çalışmak isteyenlere değil, roman/öykü yazan herkese okumalarını öneririm. Karakter inşa ederken içindeki iyiliği ve kötülüğü araştırmak, kategorik bakışlardan uzak bir perspektif kurabilmek ve karakterin psikolojik arka planını oluşturmak için ilham verici bir kaynak. #okudumbitti #bookstagram #jung
July 8, 2015
Well this one enters the list of the top ten books to have influenced my life. Reading this really opened my eyes to the workings of the human mind and exposed to me the spurious basis for all my certainties. It reinforced the Buddhist view that I am the source of all my suffering, though the point was put in quite a different way. After 8 years of Buddhist practice and a wide ranging curiosity about the views of western psychology and how the two inter relate, I seem to have found the niche that serves me. The similarities between and the mutual support provided by Buddhist psychology and Jungian thought are just astounding. These two views of the workings of the human mind and my own experience working my way through the results of war related ptsd, savage child abuse and chronic alcoholism just clicks with a sense of absolute truth for me. It has taken a long time, and much suffering to get here but at last I can clearly see how it all works and what the way forward is for me now.
One of the most astonishing things I have noted in all of this has been that the course that I have seemingly felt my way through, often with a sense of pure instinct and nothing else accords in the main with the path outlined by both these approaches and often coincides in detail of substance as well as general direction. I have learned so much, I am grateful for the light that I did glimpse so long ago, very faint at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel. That lamp lit by my introduction to the basic tenets of Buddha's teachings and the commencement of serious meditation practice.
One of the most astonishing things I have noted in all of this has been that the course that I have seemingly felt my way through, often with a sense of pure instinct and nothing else accords in the main with the path outlined by both these approaches and often coincides in detail of substance as well as general direction. I have learned so much, I am grateful for the light that I did glimpse so long ago, very faint at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel. That lamp lit by my introduction to the basic tenets of Buddha's teachings and the commencement of serious meditation practice.
February 17, 2022
This is an anthology of 65 different essays, which I find hard to rate as a whole because there are a couple decent essays mixed in with the garbage. Essay 44 from Audre Lorde was a highlight and the main reason I decided to give 2 stars instead of 1. I'm going to look into more of her work for sure.
The rest, however, was steeped in too much spiritualism, religion, and dream interpretation for my liking and many of these essays were the same points restated in different manners.
Then there were essays that felt actively harmful, such as the implications of a victim of bullying having a shadow self that calls out to his bullies and essay 58, which says that guilt, fear, anxiety, and depression are all "the result of my mentally pinching myself...this directly implies, incredible as it may seem, that I want this painful symptom to be here" and "if you are depressed, try to be more depressed."
This followed by essay 59, which I had to laugh at when it suggested that our unutilized artistic energy is going to be used by Reagan to nuke other countries. A very wtf??? moment.
That said, the Jungian concept of a shadow-self is intriguing and I think it's important to acknowledge parts of ourselves that we repress and to do self-reflection as much as we can, but this book was not it for me.
The rest, however, was steeped in too much spiritualism, religion, and dream interpretation for my liking and many of these essays were the same points restated in different manners.
Then there were essays that felt actively harmful, such as the implications of a victim of bullying having a shadow self that calls out to his bullies and essay 58, which says that guilt, fear, anxiety, and depression are all "the result of my mentally pinching myself...this directly implies, incredible as it may seem, that I want this painful symptom to be here" and "if you are depressed, try to be more depressed."
This followed by essay 59, which I had to laugh at when it suggested that our unutilized artistic energy is going to be used by Reagan to nuke other countries. A very wtf??? moment.
That said, the Jungian concept of a shadow-self is intriguing and I think it's important to acknowledge parts of ourselves that we repress and to do self-reflection as much as we can, but this book was not it for me.
January 25, 2021
Quite a seminal work---Some of the brightest minds in the business,
Some great Jung and Otto Rank and Freud Proteges
They help us to meet and integrate our shadow, some of the hidden repressed elements that we hide from ourselves, but observe in other people, normally of the same sex.
Shadow Energy can be lust, rage, anger, revenge, conceit, egotism, deception, and powerful guilt.
It also consists of know-it-all-ness, and self-righteousness
This is not all bad, but can be put to constructive use by rechanneling it.
It must first be recognized, which may be hard to do, due to our human self-deceptions, and masks
We often think that if we are really good or really pure, that we are really holy.
This book crashes that paradigm by helping us to integrate all our elements.
It helps us to make peace with our inner demons, and to balance and transcend them.
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent Book
"If we can shine a little light on our darkness, we can remove some of the darkness in the world"
C. Jung
Some great Jung and Otto Rank and Freud Proteges
They help us to meet and integrate our shadow, some of the hidden repressed elements that we hide from ourselves, but observe in other people, normally of the same sex.
Shadow Energy can be lust, rage, anger, revenge, conceit, egotism, deception, and powerful guilt.
It also consists of know-it-all-ness, and self-righteousness
This is not all bad, but can be put to constructive use by rechanneling it.
It must first be recognized, which may be hard to do, due to our human self-deceptions, and masks
We often think that if we are really good or really pure, that we are really holy.
This book crashes that paradigm by helping us to integrate all our elements.
It helps us to make peace with our inner demons, and to balance and transcend them.
Excellent, Excellent, Excellent Book
"If we can shine a little light on our darkness, we can remove some of the darkness in the world"
C. Jung
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2008
The Shadow, The Other, Anima, Animus, Archetype, Mythological Identity---all powerful elements of the dream and mental underworlds, and all fertile material for the poet to explore in stirring her creative pot, so to speak. This book offers a stimulating array of essays voiced in a range of styles, from the more formal, academic kind to those written from a very contemporary, personal place. Jung’s beliefs concerning the unconscious factor into many of the pieces in this compilation.
November 5, 2023
Some books you read and give away again. This is a book that you keep. For anyone interested in human evil, en yes: also his/her own, and his or her growth and development, this book can be a valuable resource of insights. A beautiful collage of thoughts from very diverse thinkers, all of whom have made it into a mission to delve into the depths of human experience, of what is means to be alive in this very confusing way.
One of the surprising, and very important answers is: the evil that I see everywhere, has a home in me too. This is such a profound, and important thing to realize. And once you can see the repressed energies in you, you can be more compassionate towards others.
From very personal stories, to analyses of world literature, in which archetypal human shadow stories are close-read, to segments on how to discover one's shadow, how to work with it, integrate it - it's a beautiful anthology, full of wisdom.
The concept of Shadow is studied from so many perspectives, and I loved to read all of them: mother/daughter-relationships, siblings, movies, art, technology, Daoism, the dark sides of dogmatic communities, sex, marriage, history, responsibility. Some are short, some are longer, some just analyze a subject, others offer practical ways to look within and find and work with sides of oneself that one had repressed.
To name some of the names: Jung (of course), Joseph Campbell, John Bradshaw, M. Scott Peck, Nathaniel Branden, Rollo May.
Highly recommended.
One of the surprising, and very important answers is: the evil that I see everywhere, has a home in me too. This is such a profound, and important thing to realize. And once you can see the repressed energies in you, you can be more compassionate towards others.
From very personal stories, to analyses of world literature, in which archetypal human shadow stories are close-read, to segments on how to discover one's shadow, how to work with it, integrate it - it's a beautiful anthology, full of wisdom.
The concept of Shadow is studied from so many perspectives, and I loved to read all of them: mother/daughter-relationships, siblings, movies, art, technology, Daoism, the dark sides of dogmatic communities, sex, marriage, history, responsibility. Some are short, some are longer, some just analyze a subject, others offer practical ways to look within and find and work with sides of oneself that one had repressed.
To name some of the names: Jung (of course), Joseph Campbell, John Bradshaw, M. Scott Peck, Nathaniel Branden, Rollo May.
Highly recommended.
March 4, 2015
Empezó a interesarme este tipo de temas cuando probé la subsaga de Shin Megami Tensei llamada "Persona". Aparte del propio nombre que tienen estos juegos, que Carl Jung habla también sobre ese tema, sale el concepto de "Sombra" y quería encontrar un poco mas de información.
El libro me ha gustado mucho la verdad y en varias ocasiones, a través de distintos capítulos, se nos da a entender que es la "Sombra" (incluso para una persona que no domina mucho el tema también lo puede entender, ya que se repite bastantes veces lo que es).
La única pega que le puedo sacar (aun así ya he dicho que me ha gustado mucho) es cuando sale algún aspecto basado en la religión o algunos capítulos donde se centran un poco mas en la autoayuda. Ojo, no tengo nada en contra y respeto tanto la creencia como el trabajo de la gente que colabora. Solo que a mi me interesan mas los capítulos donde se habla de la "Sombra", de la oscuridad que tenemos en nuestro interior y de la lucha que mantenemos con ese otro "yo", puntos que se enfocan más en lo que es el concepto.
El libro me ha gustado mucho la verdad y en varias ocasiones, a través de distintos capítulos, se nos da a entender que es la "Sombra" (incluso para una persona que no domina mucho el tema también lo puede entender, ya que se repite bastantes veces lo que es).
La única pega que le puedo sacar (aun así ya he dicho que me ha gustado mucho) es cuando sale algún aspecto basado en la religión o algunos capítulos donde se centran un poco mas en la autoayuda. Ojo, no tengo nada en contra y respeto tanto la creencia como el trabajo de la gente que colabora. Solo que a mi me interesan mas los capítulos donde se habla de la "Sombra", de la oscuridad que tenemos en nuestro interior y de la lucha que mantenemos con ese otro "yo", puntos que se enfocan más en lo que es el concepto.
February 6, 2013
Great Darth Vader title behind which is a really surprising book if you are struggling with inner blackness. A whole load of stories on various themes which collectively point in the same sensible direction. Need to read it a few times for it all to go in. You can't borrow mine.
August 3, 2015
WHEW! This was an eye-opening and intense read. I defy anyone to read it without running smack dab into her Shadow. The minute I finished the book, I made an appointment with my therapist, who I haven't visited in over a year. My Shadow was showing up left and right, and I was at a loss about how to relate to her. I'm not complaining. I happy to get acquainted with this aspect of self. That's why I read the book, but I'm not a therapist, so I was applying what I read only to myself. It was big bite to chew.
It took me six weeks to read the book. I purposely took it in slow dollops, which is actually recommended in the epilogue. "Read a few pages and go out and look." That's exactly how I absorbed the essays. It wasn't hard to grow in awareness of the Shadow given the wide array of discussions included in this collection. The challenge, as I said, is knowing what to do next. The last section is devoted to ways to work with the Shadow, and I'm grateful for that and will work with many of of the suggestions, especially the ones about writing and drawing. Still it's a little overwhelming to confront one's Shadow, so I welcome the help of a therapist's assistance. I recommend this book cautiously. Good stuff but be sure you have back-up help.
It took me six weeks to read the book. I purposely took it in slow dollops, which is actually recommended in the epilogue. "Read a few pages and go out and look." That's exactly how I absorbed the essays. It wasn't hard to grow in awareness of the Shadow given the wide array of discussions included in this collection. The challenge, as I said, is knowing what to do next. The last section is devoted to ways to work with the Shadow, and I'm grateful for that and will work with many of of the suggestions, especially the ones about writing and drawing. Still it's a little overwhelming to confront one's Shadow, so I welcome the help of a therapist's assistance. I recommend this book cautiously. Good stuff but be sure you have back-up help.
Read
August 2, 2017Wow. This book has a lot in it! It explores the Jungian principle of the shadow, the place where we shove all of our anger, rage, fear, hopes, fantasies, etc. There are some authors that I read that I found really profound, helpful and full of hope. Some I found confusing, clunky and even suspicious. I'm reading this book with a guy I work with so I can't wait to sit down with him and pick his brain.
As a Christian pastor and teacher, reading this book made me ask the question, "What is the shadow and how does it fit in Christian thought?" The shadow, for Christ-followers, is part sinful nature, but also the things that our culture, faith community, and even families tell us are not appropriate for us to express. Part of our discipleship as Christ-followers is to bring those dark areas into the light and submit them to Jesus. Some of those things may actually be very good (ok for men to cry, for women to be strong and assertive, etc); while others may need to be transformed (uncontrolled rage and violence).
My favorite authors were Robert Bly, John A. Sanford and Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig. I didn't agree with everything they said, and that is what I found so good. It stimulated thought and conversation.
As a Christian pastor and teacher, reading this book made me ask the question, "What is the shadow and how does it fit in Christian thought?" The shadow, for Christ-followers, is part sinful nature, but also the things that our culture, faith community, and even families tell us are not appropriate for us to express. Part of our discipleship as Christ-followers is to bring those dark areas into the light and submit them to Jesus. Some of those things may actually be very good (ok for men to cry, for women to be strong and assertive, etc); while others may need to be transformed (uncontrolled rage and violence).
My favorite authors were Robert Bly, John A. Sanford and Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig. I didn't agree with everything they said, and that is what I found so good. It stimulated thought and conversation.
November 10, 2021
Just ignore the article about tarot and the one that deals with astrology and its (almost) all good.
May 4, 2023
"To Moslems, America is the great Satan."
What the fuckk???
This is the second Jungian book I read today with that casual racism
What the fuckk???
This is the second Jungian book I read today with that casual racism
June 2, 2013
I really hope the interested inquirer won't feel like this subject is taboo. But let's be real, some things that we consider darker parts of our human nature are brought to the pedestal in other cultures than our own. Therefore, I find that it's high-time we form an individual opinion about our own darkness. We must integrate our darker reasoning with our 'lighter' reasoning and accept that we as human beings are only whole in this way, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of it. In an integrated state - which this book touches on how to accomplish - our faults become personally welcomed for exactly what they are worth, and that is very arguably meaningful. Anxiety, fear, sadness, anger issues ... they can all melt away if we face our personal shame and personal truths. Mind you, this is not a self-help book as much as it is a compilation of essays and extremely interesting, open-minded perspectives on this particularly niche subject. Self integration may not be a cure-all ... yet rest assured, it can empower you to deal with life better than most currently can. Self-honesty is the key.
November 4, 2012
This is undoubtedly my favorite resource on the shadow--a fascinating and very insightful aspect of Jungian psychology. I recomend it to anyone who is trying to make sense of the many tensions, conflicts, and struggles of life, whether global, national, local, family, individual, or any other level of interaction. Also to those who are trying to learn more about themselves, and the problems within their own lives, or who are just simply trying to better themselves.
October 19, 2024
"Meeting the Shadow" opened up new perspectives for me on the hidden aspects of our psyche. The book reminds us that as human beings, we must understand that every person is capable of both limitless potential and the darkest of deeds. This duality, which we often repress due to societal expectations, is something we need to acknowledge. The central message of the book is that everything we suppress in our behavior in the name of being 'normal' can actually be a valuable resource for increasing our awareness and ultimately realizing our full potential.
The authors provide excellent examples from work environments, family life, and memories of past experiences that we’ve cast aside as unpleasant or unremarkable. They show how these traits, once rejected, can actually become key resources when we learn to acknowledge and integrate them. The book offers practical shadow work techniques to help discover and embrace these hidden aspects.
"Meeting the Shadow" is a powerful reminder that our dark sides are not something to fear or avoid, but rather a doorway to greater self-awareness and growth.
The authors provide excellent examples from work environments, family life, and memories of past experiences that we’ve cast aside as unpleasant or unremarkable. They show how these traits, once rejected, can actually become key resources when we learn to acknowledge and integrate them. The book offers practical shadow work techniques to help discover and embrace these hidden aspects.
"Meeting the Shadow" is a powerful reminder that our dark sides are not something to fear or avoid, but rather a doorway to greater self-awareness and growth.
July 28, 2024
Interesting range of essays on the Jungian concept of the Shadow. Some essays resonated more than others.
August 26, 2016
Viendo todas las críticas positivas, que son muchas, pienso que debería leer este libro de nuevo.
Me lo compré cuando tenía unos 19 años, en un momento en que me sentía especialmente amenazada, especialmente empujada a no ser yo misma. No es fácil crecer y descubrir que uno jamás puede complacer a todo el mundo. Es aún menos fácil crecer y descubrir que a veces uno se deja uno último en la lista y que NO SIRVE DE NADA porque el lado oscuro, y real de uno... es lo más íntimo quizá, lo más importante, y que los otros perciben que uno pierde el poder cuando lo entrega, y etcétera, y que al final es un sacrificio inútil.
A mí este libro me gustó, pero me horrorizó también. No quise escucharlo. Yo estaba en pleno período de negar todo lo que yo era, que no tenía "derecho a ser". No me ayudaba, por así decirlo, saber que mi totalidad era fuerte y profunda y hermosa. No quería esta totalidad. Quería solo los espacios aceptados, luminosos, para ahorrarme problemas. O lo que yo consideraba problemas.
Luego lo superé, claro (creo)... pero, después de todas esas críticas, creo que voy a releerlo. Por si acaso.
Me lo compré cuando tenía unos 19 años, en un momento en que me sentía especialmente amenazada, especialmente empujada a no ser yo misma. No es fácil crecer y descubrir que uno jamás puede complacer a todo el mundo. Es aún menos fácil crecer y descubrir que a veces uno se deja uno último en la lista y que NO SIRVE DE NADA porque el lado oscuro, y real de uno... es lo más íntimo quizá, lo más importante, y que los otros perciben que uno pierde el poder cuando lo entrega, y etcétera, y que al final es un sacrificio inútil.
A mí este libro me gustó, pero me horrorizó también. No quise escucharlo. Yo estaba en pleno período de negar todo lo que yo era, que no tenía "derecho a ser". No me ayudaba, por así decirlo, saber que mi totalidad era fuerte y profunda y hermosa. No quería esta totalidad. Quería solo los espacios aceptados, luminosos, para ahorrarme problemas. O lo que yo consideraba problemas.
Luego lo superé, claro (creo)... pero, después de todas esas críticas, creo que voy a releerlo. Por si acaso.
June 22, 2015
This book is about the quack in every doctor, pornography as the mythology of chauvinism, political power as covert coercion in order to avoid spiritual growth, the false prophet in every priest, the demonic side of sexuality, the notion that we are healthier when we are sick, your partner as your opposite, forgiveness as an act of faith, shifting our intrapsychic problems to interpersonal conflicts, Christ as the christian scapegoat, daughters creating mothers, the betrayed provoking rejection, how we draw projections to ourselves, what makes our shadow hostile and the irrational way to deal with it.
These essays on the Jungian notion of shadow were disturbing in that they forced me to consider, among other things, how my projections are those parts of myself that I have the most difficulty in accepting. We project all day long— it is exhausting to consider. This book has something for everyone. I challenge you to read this book and not be effected. The book is a bit repetitive toward the end, riffing on the same theme in different ways. Top shelf.
These essays on the Jungian notion of shadow were disturbing in that they forced me to consider, among other things, how my projections are those parts of myself that I have the most difficulty in accepting. We project all day long— it is exhausting to consider. This book has something for everyone. I challenge you to read this book and not be effected. The book is a bit repetitive toward the end, riffing on the same theme in different ways. Top shelf.
June 30, 2016
A collection of essays and excerpts from books relating to the idea of facing your shadow: those parts of the psyche you suppress, disallow, reject and revile.
The idea is that in stead of wasting energy denying and suppressing the darker parts of the psyche, making them burst out uncontrollably in fits of anger and distress or neurotic behaviour, we should become aware of them, engage with them and learn to accept them as parts of ourselves. This way, their psychic energy becomes available to us, making us more energetic, more balanced and more empathetic towards others grows as we recognize in others what we carry inside as well.
Some of the essays offer practical tools, some are insightful, some completely miss the mark by not offering any of the above, as far as I'm concerned.
The book is most useful for those studying analytical therapy and psychology. I wouldn't really call it a layman's book unless you have a solid interest in the field. It's pretty dry reading most of the time.
The idea is that in stead of wasting energy denying and suppressing the darker parts of the psyche, making them burst out uncontrollably in fits of anger and distress or neurotic behaviour, we should become aware of them, engage with them and learn to accept them as parts of ourselves. This way, their psychic energy becomes available to us, making us more energetic, more balanced and more empathetic towards others grows as we recognize in others what we carry inside as well.
Some of the essays offer practical tools, some are insightful, some completely miss the mark by not offering any of the above, as far as I'm concerned.
The book is most useful for those studying analytical therapy and psychology. I wouldn't really call it a layman's book unless you have a solid interest in the field. It's pretty dry reading most of the time.
August 4, 2017
Este libro tiene muchos errores y pocos aciertos. Los errores los resumo en dos 1) Explica a la persona desde casos anormales, desde enfermedades como el único modo de la realidad humana. 2) Reduce -toda- la persona a las reacciones biológicas/mecanismos del cerebro. Para este libro, todos somos seres oscuros y enfermos. Tomo esta frase del último capítulo: “Para conectar con la sombra debemos estar dispuestos a entrar en su morada -la oscuridad- a convivir con lo desconocido y a sentir que somos la misma oscuridad”. En otras palabras, el libro invita a que adoptemos la parte anormal/enferma de la persona como algo “bueno” para nosotros. No necesito explicar por qué este objetivo es un -gran- error. El único acierto que rescato es el hacer introspección para conocernos más y ser honestos con nosotros mismos, conocer nuestros defectos para poder trabajarlos. No lo recomiendo en lo absoluto.
August 19, 2021
By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. And it’s probably my Dark Triad traits, the shadow, the dark side, whatever name you want to call it.
I will not comment on the subject of the book, even though I throughly enjoyed the lack of judgment or stigma of the shadow.
What I will say is that it is beautifully written, better than a large majority of fiction writers could bring to life. This level of skill in a non-fiction writer is unmatched and it was an absolute delight to read.
I will not comment on the subject of the book, even though I throughly enjoyed the lack of judgment or stigma of the shadow.
What I will say is that it is beautifully written, better than a large majority of fiction writers could bring to life. This level of skill in a non-fiction writer is unmatched and it was an absolute delight to read.
May 29, 2019
I really enjoyed this collection of essays and found it enlightening. I was specifically interested in the shadow within the self and less in groups or in greater society so I found those sections most helpful, but all of the topics covered were interesting and insightful.
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