Mythology can help us to understand and integrate the shadow, but this endeavor can also be undermined by the use of mythology. In particular, the limiting madness of the shadow can be denied, and with this denial one can lose a sense of soul and embodied life. Schwartz-Salant examines the nature of madness and evil and the means of coming to terms with these powerful elements of the shadow. The keynote lecture of the conference Gold in Dark Places: Shadow Work in the Struggle for Selfhood