The Shadow – the test of spiritual honesty
Frank M. Wanderer – The Shadow is the inner space where everything ends up that did not fit into the image we formed about ourselves. In childhood, and later through social adaptation, we learn what is “allowed” to be felt, thought, and expressed in the social environment into which we are born—and what is not. What is unacceptable is hidden away in the unconscious. This is how the Shadow is formed.
It is important to understand: the Shadow is not a moral category. It is neither good nor bad. It is not dark because it is destructive, but because it was not permitted to consciousness. That is why anger and envy end up there just as much as healthy aggression, vitality, passion, creativity, and sexuality. The Shadow therefore carries not only pain, but life energy as well. Continue reading
Wes Annac – What should you do when you experience a spiritual awakening in which you realize reality is an illusion, everything is connected, and you’re slowly evolving on a mental, physical, and spiritual level? It’s lot to take in, and what you do afterward is crucial.
The shadow self refers to parts or aspects of ourselves we hide from because we deem them unacceptable, ugly, unwanted, bad, or undesirable. These are usually natural and valid parts of ourselves that because of social conditioning and internalized beliefs about what is “acceptable” or how we should be, we try to hide, mask or bury them deep in the subconscious mind. There, they are like our shadow: vague, mysterious, present in the subtle background or periphery of our conscious experience. These shadow aspects want to be acknowledged, however, and knock from our unconscious at the door to the conscious mind through dreams, emotional reaction, choices and other behaviours.