The shadow archetype: the hidden side of our psyche

The shadow archetype represents, according to the analytical psychology of Carl Jung, the “dark side” of our personality. It is a convulsive underworld of our psyche where the most primitive is contained, the sharpest selfishness, the most repressed instincts and that “unauthorized self” that the conscious mind rejects and that we submerge in the deepest abysses of our being.

We have all heard of that concept, that archetype of the shadow. which, in some way, continues to be used in psychology to tell us about this confrontation. From that feeling of dispute that we sometimes carry with ourselves when we work on our frustrations, our fears, insecurities or resentments.

However, we cannot forget that this idea that Carl Jung brought to us through his work on archetypes was already present in our society historically and culturally.

The concept of shadow or dark reverse forms that common duality, which It even served as inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson to create his now classic “Dr. “Jekyll and Hyde”long before Jung himself developed his theory on the shadow archetype.

Everything that at a given moment we consider as “bad” due to our education and the moral norms of our society, becomes our shadow.

However, it is not advisable to see all these internal dynamics as reprehensible or dangerous experiences, to the point of thinking that all of us have a hyde inside crying out to get out.

Jung himself explained that there are different types of shadows and that one way to achieve well-being, healing and personal freedom is by making them aware, facing them.

Jung’s archetype is one of the most representative elements of his theory of analytical psychology.

The archetype of the shadow: the dark side of the human being

It is evident that the archetype of the shadow is closely related to the concept of the unconscious formulated by Freud.

However, it contains unique nuances that differentiate it considerably and enrich it. We cannot forget that what began as an intellectual idyll between Freud and Jung ended up cooling.

He did so to the point that the latter went so far as to say of the father of psychoanalysis that he was “a tragic figure, a great man, but someone with whose therapeutic method he did not agree.”

Jung developed his own method, analytical psychology. He put aside the couch and that asymmetrical relationship between therapist and patient to develop a therapy based on conversation.

In this, the structure of the psyche and the unconscious where archetypes navigate were investigated. Among all of them, The one that could have the greatest therapeutic value was undoubtedly the archetype of the shadow. Let’s see its features:

Archetype Characteristics

The concept of shadow is an idea long studied and analyzed by the field of spiritual philosophy and psychology. In this way, research such as that carried out at the University of Hull reflects an interesting idea from a therapeutic point of view. The shadow is everything that human beings repress in their attempt to adapt to society. We all, in some way, integrate this symbolic figure.

Let’s learn more aspects:

“Shadow” was a term Jung took from Friedrich Nietzsche. This idea represented the hidden personality that every person has. At first glance, most of us appear (and perceive ourselves) as good and noble beings. However, within us there are certain repressed dimensions, inherited instincts where violence, rage, hatred sometimes hide… The shadow archetype does not live solely in each person. Sometimes, It is also present in “groups of people”, in sects, in some types of religions or even in political parties. They are organizations that can, at a given moment, bring their shadow to light to justify violent acts against humanity itself. The shadow is more destructive, insidious and dangerous the more we “repress” it. It is then that it “projects” itself, thus appearing, according to Carl Jung, disturbances such as neurosis or psychosis. Likewise, Jung differentiated two typologies in his shadow archetype. The first is the personal shadow, the one that we all carry with our small frustrations, fears, selfishness and most common negative dynamics. However, there would also be the impersonal shadow, the one that would contain the essence of the most archetypal evil, the one that accompanies genocidaires, ruthless murderers, etc.

The shadow concept is the opposite of the ego ideal

How to identify the shadow?

The shadow archetype is the unconscious side of a personality, it is what we repress and, therefore, what can hinder our development and human potential. Emerging it, defining it, connecting with it to understand what it wants to tell us will favor our psychological well-being. Let’s see, therefore, how to identify it:

In our interaction with others

When a person affects us emotionally and we respond in an exaggerated way against them, we are probably projecting our personal shadow in it. We are attributing to others reactions, feelings, prejudice that actually belong to us. Pay attention to what we criticize or judge exaggeratedly about others.

In managing our emotions

Observe those emotions that we have repressed.Identify everything that causes us pain and its unconscious reason. Make contact with those states of mind that block us, that limit our ability to connect and achieve goals.

Benefits of making contact with our shadow

As Carl Jung pointed out in his works, one does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious, that is, by confronting the shadow.

This has great benefits for human beings and not only from a spiritual point of view. As therapist Margaret Clark explains to us in one of her books, working on this concept favors our individuation.

Let’s learn more benefits:

Increase our self-knowledge.Accept our personality in a more complete way. Achieve a more integrated and stronger “I”. Learn to communicate with ourselves in an appropriate and sincere way.Direct our emotions correctly.Improve our interpersonal relationships. Learn to identify projections that affect our relationships with others. Abandon blame derived from certain negative behaviors and actions.

How to face our own shadow?

It is very possible that Jung’s theory of the shadow archetype will be interesting to us on a theoretical level, that it will have its charm, its metaphorical essence and mysticism.

We all see in this figure the most classic representation of taboo, evil and that dark dimension of the human personality that always arouses great interest. However, Can we draw from it some practical applicability in our daily lives?

The answer is yes”. As the father of analytical psychology reminds us in books like Archetypes and Collective Unconscious, Our task in life is to fully accept ourselves and integrate “our shadow” into our personality to make it conscious. and work with it, facing it face to face. Neglecting it, allowing it to continue in her unconscious universe can rob us of balance and the opportunity to be happy.

Address your fears

We cannot forget what type of dynamics make up the concept we call shadow: There are our fears, there are those traumas from the past, there are the disappointments that poison us, there are the dreams not realized due to indecision. and they become frustrated sharks navigating our personality.

If we hide them, these internal demons acquire greater ferocity and if we silence them they will end up controlling us, projecting onto others in many cases an image of ourselves that we do not like.

Take care of your internal dialogue

One way to start detecting our shadow is by modifying our internal dialogue and learning to distinguish that when we complain about something or someone, we are reflecting something of our own.

For example, if we complain because we are not listened to by others, we can ask ourselves if we are listening to ourselves, and so on.

Therefore, we cannot forget that Our personal growth and our psychological well-being will always depend on our ability to bring those shadows to light. After that act of courage, a delicate, but valuable, work will begin to heal ourselves, to find calm and well-being.

Buddhism offers us tools to work in our shadow

Jung and Buddhist psychology: a means to observe our shadow

Jung and Buddhist psychology are more united than it seems. Buddhism tells us that from the moment we are born, society conditions us little by little over time.

If we look at ourselves right now, We are an accumulation of experiences, learning and conditioning that make us who we are today.. For Buddhism, we do not question much of these conditionings, but rather take them as true, and many of them unconsciously.

From Buddhism it is postulated that human beings are good by natureso our shadow would be made up of our entire history of learning and conditioning.

However, they do not classify shadow as something good or bad. In Buddhism we talk about lucky or unlucky actions. So that, If we want to observe “our dark side”, we must learn to meditate to observe our mind.

It is an observation without judgment and without repressing any thought.. Observing everything that crosses our mind without judging it. In this way we observe thoughts and ideas that we didn’t even know were there.

Finally, recognizing and accepting our shadow allows us to deactivate our rejection of that part that we repudiate and repress and activate a new way of relating to ourselves and others. To paraphrase Jung, “what you deny submits you, what you accept transforms you».

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