Myth: The Self and The Shadow

Definition of The Self

The Self in Jungian psychology is:

• One of the Jungian archetypes, signifying the unification of consciousness and unconsciousness in a person, and representing the psyche as a whole.
• The Self, according to Carl Jung, is realized as the product of individuation, which in his view is the process of integrating one’s entire personality.

For Jung, the self is not just ‘me’ but God. It is the spirit that connects and is part of the universe. It is the coherent whole that unifies both consciousness and unconsciousness. It may be found elsewhere in such principles as nirvana and ecstatic harmony. Jung described creation of the self as a process of individuation, where all aspects are brought together as one. Thus, ‘re-birth’ is returning to the wholeness of birth, before we start to split our selves into many parts.

Self vs Ego

The ego is the center of consciousness, whereas the Self is the center of the total personality, which includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. The Self is both the whole and the center. While the ego is a self-contained little center of the circle contained within the whole, the Self can be understood as the greater circle.

Definition of The Shadow

In Jungian psychology, the shadow or “shadow aspect” is:

• An unconscious aspect of the personality, which the conscious ego does not identify in itself. Because one tends to reject or remain ignorant of the least desirable aspects of one’s personality, the shadow is largely perceived as “negative.”
• The entirety of the unconscious, that is: everything of which a person is not fully conscious. This includes positive aspects that may also remain hidden in one’s shadow. Contrary to a Freudian definition of shadow, the Jungian shadow can include everything outside the light of consciousness, and may be positive or negative.
• It is my opinion that “negative” does not mean “bad” it means that which is hidden, that which is in shadow.
• Again, Jung defines specifically what is positive and negative – a distinction in my teaching that tends to be more fluid and situation-based. For our purposes, we will be focusing on both definitions. Many of you will relate to the first definition as you start to explore shadow, and many of you will relate to the latter. Additionally, both can resonate with people for different processes.

The Shadow is the archetype that reflects deeper elements of our psyche, where ‘latent dispositions,’ which are common to us all, arise. There are aspects of the psyche that can fragment and become un-integrated and present as shadow pieces. Soul retrieval is loosely One aspect of the shadow that’s commonly part of the collective consciousness is, by its name, dark, shadowy, unknown and potentially troubling. It embodies chaos and wildness of character.

The shadow thus tends not to obey rules, and in doing so may discover new lands or plunge things into chaos and battle. It has a sense of the exotic and can be disturbingly fascinating. In myth, it appears as the wild man, spider-people, mysterious fighters, and dark enemies. But, if someone is outwardly the wild man, their shadow self would be the orderly, the structured man, the person who seeks order.

We may see the shadow in others and, if we dare, know it in ourselves. Mostly, however, we deny it in ourselves and project it onto others. It can also have a life of its own, as the Other. A powerful goal that some undertake is to re-integrate the shadow, the dark side, and the light of the ‘real’ self. If this can be done effectively, then we can illuminate our ‘wholeness’ once again, bringing consciousness and integration to that which was once hidden from us. The yin-yang symbol is a great representation of wholeness. The dark contains the light and the light contains the dark and together they form the whole symbol.

In our society, many aspects of the self are repressed or denied either by society in general, our specific upbringing and relationship to those qualities, or a combination there of. Sometimes the result of the repressed shadow is discomfort, feeling stuck and unfulfilled, less whole. When we are unconscious of our shadow, it can come out and express itself when we least expect it to, which can be problematic and potentially harmful to ourselves and our loved ones.

It is important to note that simply because something is in shadow does not mean it isn’t having a profound effect on us. These repressed or hidden desires can affect us even when we don’t know they exist. Shadow can also mean aspects of the personality we don’t like in ourselves – we usually tend to be aware of these ones, but judge them harshly. If something is in shadow and it is perceived as negative, I want you to start considering that that doesn’t mean it is bad…

It is my hope that as you become aware of your Shadows, you can assimilate them into your entire being. When we bring consciousness to these aspects of the self they tend – by nature – to stop coming out unconsciously and messing with us in a negative way. Additionally, we can use them to our advantage and incorporate them into the larger sum of parts that make up who we are. Once integrated, our shadows become our allies. All this work we do with mythology, archetypes, and shadow provides us with information about who we are and how we respond to life. Arming ourselves with knowledge helps us change what we want to change or change our relationships to parts of us that may not need shifting after all.

Example:

People often ask me: “How can embracing a negative aspect of my unconscious be a good thing?”

Great question!

An example I love to give is this: For a long period of my life I was playing out the archetype of the “good girl.” Putting others before me and not expressing my needs (to the detriment of myself and my desires) were some of the ways I lived up to that archetype. The opposite expression of that archetype is The Bitch. And my bitch would come out of my shadow – usually when I didn’t want her to and she could be aggressive when I was pushed to my limits. After doing a tremendous amount of work around this, exploring my inner bitch, I realized that she could actually serve me. She is my ally; she protects my children, my family, my home, and me.

Once I brought consciousness to my bitch and integrated her into my awareness, that aspect of my psyche became whole. The path to wholeness is integration of the shadow self with the Self.

Conclusion

There is so much material to be learned and enjoyed in working with the Self and the Shadow aspects of the self. By engaging in Shadow work you get to discover parts of your psyche that you may or may not be aware of, that are affecting you nonetheless. By incorporating the shadow into the whole we get to own and work with these “daemons” and use them to our advantage – making us more whole and more fulfilled.

Diving Deeper – Let’s expand a little: I want to introduce you to the other two, main archetypes that Jung describes. Jung’s main archetypes are not ‘types’ in the way that each person may be classified as one or the other. Rather, we each have all these basic archetypes within us. The four main archetypes are as follows:

• The Shadow
• The Anima
• The Animus
• The Self

The Anima and Animus

The second most prevalent pattern is that of the Anima (female) / Animus (male), or, more simply, the Soul. It is the route to communication with the collective unconscious. The anima/animus represents our true self, as opposed to the masks we wear every day and is the source of our creativity. These archetypes may appear as someone exotic or unusual in some way, perhaps with amazing skills and powers. In fiction, heroes, super-heroes, and gods may represent these powerful beings and awaken in us the sense of omnipotence that we knew in that very early neonatal phase.

Anima and animus are female and male principles that represent this deep difference. While men have a fundamental animus and women an anima, each may also have the other, just as men have a feminine side and women a masculine. Jung saw men as having one dominant anima, contributed to by female members of his family, whilst women have a more complex, variable animus, perhaps made of several parts. Jung theorized the development of the anima/animus as beginning with infant projection onto the mother, then projecting onto prospective partners until a lasting relationship can be found.