Connie Zweig

Steve Wolf

In a study of the dark side of the human soul, two psychotherapists draw on Jungian psychology to explain how to work with this darkness to revitalize one's life

A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life

Romancing the Shadow

Laura Mei

Following in the footsteps of Jung, for us the term “Self” denotes the “God within,” the transpersonal realm within the personal life. The Self contains the potential for the totality of personality, including the shadow. An experience of the Self brings purpose and meaning to life, a connection to something larger than the individual ego. The goal of individuation, as Jung defined it, could be called reconciliation with the Self. When one can hear the voice of the Self and learn to obey it, one walks and talks with authenticity. In the spiritual literature, this reconciling with the Self has been called aligning with the Tao, living one’s dharma, or being in the flow of life.

The culture teaches us to be extroverted, quick, ambitious, productive. Workaholism is lauded; contemplation is shunned. But shadow-work is slow, cautious; it moves like an animal in the night. It moves us against the collective mandate to think positively, be productive, focus outwardly, and protect our image. The shadow is a demanding taskmaster: It requires endless patience, keen instinct, fine discrimination, and compassion. It requires one eye to be turned out toward the world of light, while the other eye is turned in toward the world of darkness. To live with shadow awareness is to turn away from the peaks toward the valleys, away from the heights and the rarified air, toward the depths and the dark and the dense.

Romancing the Shadow A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life

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