Shadow-Work: Finding Gold in Your Dark Side

 “When an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate.” – C.G. Jung, CW 9i, Para. 126

Carl Jung coined the term “Shadow” to refer to the personal unconscious, that part of the mind/body that carries our rejected, unacceptable feelings, beliefs, aspirations, and behaviors. These unconscious forbidden parts – rage, jealousy, shame, addiction, resentment, lust, unlived talents and fantasies – often erupt in repeating patterns and sabotage our conscious desires. We will explore the individual shadow and how it blocks our aspirations, how it erupts in relationships and destroys intimacy, how it’s banished into the unlived life and narrows our possibilities, and how it emerges in our spiritual lives, often leaving us disillusioned. With shadow-work, we can learn to identify the shadow before it erupts, defuse negative emotions, release the guilt and shame associated with them, recognize our projections onto others, and achieve a deeper, more genuine self-acceptance and authenticity with others. Although we think of the shadow as dark, its essence is pure gold.