Owning Your Own Shadow: The Dark Side of the Psyche

To honour and accept one’s own shadow is a profound spiritual discipline. It is whole-making and thus holy and the most important experience of a lifetime.

We'll be exploring American author and Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson's book, Owning Your Own Shadow: The Dark Side of the Psyche.

In this video, we briefly clear up some misconceptions regarding the concept of shadow. It is the mirror image of ourselves that we cannot see, representing those aspects that we lack. It has a compensatory role that seeks to restore our wholeness of personality.

It is not the light element alone that does the healing; the place where light and dark begin to touch is the most profound religious experience we can have in life. The religious task is to restore the wholeness of personality. Religion means to put things back together again, to connect whatever is fractured.

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche

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🎶 Music used

1. Peaceful Ambient Background Music – Heroes – CO.AG Music
2. Blue Feather – Kevin MacLeod
3. Mourning Song – Kevin MacLeod
4. Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music – Dark Rage – CO.AG Music
5. Mysterious Ambient Background Music – The Rake – CO.AG Music
6. Exhale – Myuu
7. Stillstand – Myuu

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Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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📝 Sources

- Robert A. Johnson, Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche
- Slender Threads: A Conversation with Jungian Analyst and author Robert A. Johnson
- Robert A. Johnson - Your Shadow

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⌛ Timestamps

(0:00) Introduction
(3:12) Misconceptions of the Shadow
(5:20) How the Shadow Originates
(8:35) Balancing Culture and Shadow
(12:39) The Shadow in Projection
(15:04) The Gold in the Shadow
(16:38) The Shadow in Middle Age
(16:59) The Ceremonial World
(17:46) Paradox as Religious Experience
(21:54) The Shadow as Entree to Paradox
(23:02) The Mandorla

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Thanks for watching!

#shadow #psychology #jung

[Eternalised]

*It is not the light element alone that does the healing; the place where light and dark begin to touch is the most profound religious experience we can have in life.*


Special thanks to my Patrons:
Jay B, Evangelos Barakos, Lynne Benson, Jeanette, Mr X, Spirit Gun, Ramunas Cepaitis, Justin Raper, Ryon Brashear, Joanne Durkin, Kyle Schaffrick, Landon Bolts

[Yojimbo]

You don't find this video, it finds you. Great talk.

[Bnjixp]

“its not perfection we must strive for but wholeness”💯

[self-inflictedphilosophy]

When you integrate your shadow, you begin the psychological process of individuation. Depth, rootedness, and stability is born. You become more grounded, more secure in your skin, more independent in your moral judgments, more courageous and self-reliant.

A kind of antifragility emerges out of paradox. The ability to transform a negative into a positive becomes manifest: such as transforming pain into power, wounds into wisdom, setbacks into steppingstones, tragedy into teacher, loss into laboratory, shadow work into soulcraft.

Best of all: shadow integration gives you purpose, and having a purpose quells fear. You become capable of using fear as fuel for the fire of a fulfilling life.

Before mastery, shadow work. After mastery, shadow work.

[nellkellino-miller]

It’s crazy how often I meet people who get super uncomfortable when I talk about bad things I’ve done in the past. Or mistakes I’m currently making in my life. People are always happy to criticise, but rarely actually want to talk about how to be better.

[warrenbradford]

It is said that we are our own worst enemy, but we are also our best teacher. To own our shadow, we must inspire our own worst enemy to be our own best friend.

[ddsnvle]

'To deny darkness, is to deny half of one's

[Brooklynbaby]

I had a mental breakdown during my freshmen year in college. Everything I believed about reality collapsed. Never thought I would see and experience such darkness . To some degree I did confront my shadow in that experience. Nothing was ever the same and my life took a crazy turn.

[crskillz]

My shadow is a rage of anger. For years I became what everyone wanted me to be. But after years of it I began to grow angry. And I finally blew up my life went down hill and I didn’t know how to balance or control or help it. I’m now I finally have been able to finally balance it. I’m aware of what made my shadow. I’m aware of what triggers my shadow. This video really explain everything great and I needed this.

[DayVidsgaming]

I was alone when I was 20. I had lost my adoptive mother (passed away) I was going to trade school to learn and decided to join the army. I had registered and had it all figured out. I had shown her family love. I had given my time to her daughter and brothers. Helping them out with everything. Moving, cleaning things their business. I had been told I no longer have a home. I was told to kick rocks. I had a blood brother who was at war at the time so he couldn’t help me. I was alone. I had a mental collapse at that moment. I had been a good kid, I helped everyone i had done so much good and my reward? Alone, the very people who I thought would have my back had abandoned me to my face. My own brother seemed to not be around for me. I got keys from a friend I made at the army while training. He gave me keys to an apartment that was abandoned. He had moved out and gave me the keys because he had 1 month on the lease and he whom joined the same time as me had the luck to leave in a week. I had to wait three months. I sat alone in the dark. I showered with cold water. I sat in complete darkness and slept on the floor. Noting no money no noting. I was a kid and I had never had guidance. I didn’t know how to go about life. I prayed to god I had meditated. Little ol me, the young bright eyed boy who thought everyone was family sitting alone in the dark. I was so mad so heart broken so (betrayed) that I cried, I hugged my knees together and I cried. A deep sad cry. No one came for me, no one came to help me. I was alone, no food nothing. I realized this world is evil this world is cruel. The people around you don’t matter when it comes to you* always put yourself first. I had learned that where ever I’ll go I’ll remember that I made it alone. I realized that you need darkness. You need to realize that smiling and agreeing to go with people that hate you can end in your death. That being agreeable and nice will lead you to lose things that are precious to you, like your time or your values. I taught myself to see people based on actions and to listen to my heart. Those that say they love you the most, those that say they’re your friends the most are verbally conditioning you. The true friends don’t say it the true family member doesn’t need to voice it. None the less I got myself out. How? I walked to a McDonald’s and talked to the manager. A manager who my friend knew. My friend had told me my situation. I had gotten a job a mile away from my dark room. I was so happy. I would get dressed in the dark. I’d look myself in the mirror and would tell myself, don’t worry you’ll do great. I smiled and flexed and showed my muscles and said hey I got grit and I got heart. I stood taller now that I had a job. I used my money to get a phone. I contacted some friends and I started to hang out with them. I went home at what ever time because I was homeless so it didn’t matter right? No, I went home at 10. I kept a focused mind. I had to work the next day I had responsibilities. I called and asked for food stamps and told them I was homeless and gave them a friends address for the food stamps. I had solved two problems within a week. I had one thing, someone that stood by my side. I never felt alone. God made it so that everything I touched it turned into gold. I had such luck. Everything went my way. My friends found out about me and one of them had a dad who was in the army. He was like what this kid is homeless, working 40 hours a week, has food stamps and he is alone? He told me to come stay with them until I left to the army. He would take me to work and pick me up and take me to training. My friend gave me his bed. He let me sleep on his bed. I hugged him and cried and everything I felt so grateful. I left to the army shortly after. I got on my feet and of course maintained contact with them. I left my food stamps card so they could buy what ever food they wanted. I learned a lot more through out my life. I learned that no matter how good of a person horrible things can still happen to you. I learned that good or bad has no face. The most beautiful and happy people can back stab you same with ugly people. In this life there is no discretion. You need to be selfish and plan things. Always look for options and what will put you in a situation that’s undesirable is lack of money. With money you’ll be able to do things. You’ll be valuable to people. I was given a house to sleep in and I had the utmost respect. That family is forever blessed. I love them forever. I’m thankful and grateful. Pray to god as well. Tell him your problems and ask him for help when you need it. I found money on the floor during those times. I also meditated and didn’t fap. As men we have the energy to ATTRACT but it comes with semen retention. People will want you to be around them and you will have energy to multi task. Deep down I wanted to hate everyone and become a criminal but I hugged myself and told myself that it’s not my fault. I had spread noting but love and eventually it will come my way. Karma is a thing and every now and than you’ll receive luck to such an extent that you go wow this worked out. There will also be moments where things go wrong where you will make mistakes and you’ll have to forgive yourself. I learned to love my shadow and I realized that you need both light and darkness in yourself in order to address a situation. Tell people no and leave those who fk you over. Slowly stop talking to people you realize don’t have your best interest. People will always tell you things but don’t listen to them. Most often than not people will spill lies from their mouth because it’s convenient to them at the time. Trust only yourself and make moves that will benefit yourself. Take a job that’s easy to do and easy to get too. Don’t share bank accounts with no one, Ever. Be smart about what you do.

[agentlouis]

Becoming a person who knows their dark and light side allows you to be whole in a way, you have to accept the worst of yourself instead of fight to destroy it

[janarcangel]

Basically, it's not killing the cringe within you

but killing the part of you that cringes.

[huerell]

I started to own my dark side a few months ago when I realized it’s more important to be who you are vs who you think you should be. I’m a great guy but I am also not great in many ways.

[erickluviano]

When I was a teen, I went through a very traumatic event that had me depressed for months. I was never really the person who got support from anyone: parents or friends. They all kind of ignored my feelings and I felt abandoned. And at the very lowest point I just randomly changed. I wasn’t shy. I was assertive, I was confident. I stopped caring about what I had valued and just started acting as if whatever I did didn’t matter so why bother trying to be “good”? It just kept growing and growing til it wasn’t assertiveness…it was aggression. It wasn’t confidence it was arrogance and I lost myself and couldn’t know what sprouted this change…it took somebody I loved very much who had died to pull me back onto the right track. Then I learned about the shadow and some of Jung. And it made me cry when I realized I understood why I changed. I had taken too much way past the breaking point and when I snapped, when the part of me that was “good” became too weak the other half just erupted out. Like it took the lights’ place. I’m kind of obsessed with Jungs work now and plan on reading his biggest works. I think it’s something we all should do, …read a little of Jung. I don’t understand why Freud is like the face of psychology in highschool textbook and not Jung…

[rikta]

I found this video through a random recommended scrolling and added it to my watch later playlist, and however many days later I was laying in bed, just after taking melatonin, and played the audio to this video as I laid down to fall asleep. This reverberated into a night, a moment, unlike anything I have ever experienced. Sleep was hard, but my dreams were hitting even harder and the bridge between sleep and consciousness did not seem to exist. Sleep paralysis would chain in-between my dreams processing the video my brain was just blessed with, and, ironically, sleep paralysis leads to fearful shadows created by your mind out of the shock of being paralyzed, awake, but still in a dream state. The symbolism of this experience has created such an eye opening expression of reality that it has truly awakened a part of me. The paralysis is self-stagnation, and being awake, still in a dream is the state of consciousness you are in when you are scared of your shadow. And, like I said before, this sleep paralysis was chaining, repeating in a seemingly unending cycle. So much so, that I started to understand that it was only sleep paralysis, and eventually, I started being able to control the shadows I was creating. I was amazed by the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. If the lucidity of sleep paralysis and control of the shadow can disarm its horror, I wonder what lucidity in being awake can do with the dread of existence. It has been a couple of weeks since this experience, but this video and the massive shadow it has cast into my life has been in the forefront of my mind and has allowed me to see how beautiful grey is. As @Yojin Bo's top comment says "You don't find this video, it finds you.", these words could not have expressed my experience more clearer, this video has found me; It has found me through helping me find myself. And if anyone finds the end of this essay, I hope you have taken away from this video a similarly enlightening experience.

[VanillaButtercreamFrosting]

When you look around at the state of the world now, you can see how the collective shadow has completely taken over, rearing its head as evil taking over, chaos, conflict, because we’ve lived our lives mostly thinking about ourselves and doing all kinds of things to avoid the bad stuff. The way to heal and balance the world is for every single one of us to acknowledge what we’ve done to contribute to the mess and begin to heal ourselves and each other through balance.

[kimlarso]

“Projection is always easier than Assimilation!”

[kailola]

''One has to honor ones shadow for it is one integral part of one self, but one must not push it onto someone else.''

[ElectraTechna]

I'm glad I found this video. This week I took a deep dive into my childhood and found stories and poems about my 'shadow'. I had no name for it. But I knew it's existence was to mock me because it called me weak and pathetic.

My therapist asked me why I think it no longer comes to taunt me. I said it's because I finally stopped fighting it. I accepted the lessons it was trying to teach me and that it's there for a purpose only I know. I've took the week to embrace it and nurture it

[AvoidingHumanSociety]

My journey has started earlier this year. To become completely independent from all and to only rely on myself. I have always been in relationships, it’s always been 50/50 but when it falls apart it’s hard to pick yourself up.

I am done with this process. I left toxicity and moved to a new state penniless. It’s taken me about 6 months but I am finally about to get a car here and from there real independence will finally be achieved. I will no longer worry about others but only myself, this sounds selfish and it is. I have spent my entire life building up others and leaving myself broken. It’s time for me, it’s time for myself to be repaired and be alone.