Writing the Shadow: How can you tap into the Shadow if it is hidden?

“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.”

—C.G. Jung, Psychology and Religion

The Shadow contains the hidden and unconscious aspects of self. You can’t just shine a light at it and expect to figure everything out straight away.

We have created protective mechanisms to keep ourselves safe, so you need to work out ways to bypass them. Try to catch a glimpse of your Shadow out of the corner of your eye and approach it gently, from the side, as you would the wild dark horse from Plato’s Chariot.

In the chapters that follow, I’ll guide you through some approaches that might help.