Carl Jung realized that mental-balance cannot exist without a direct confrontation with the Shadow. This confrontation requires an individual to explore and acknowledge every aspect of their Shadow, no matter how grotesque it may be.

The act of simply acknowledging shadow traits, and accepting them into reality, will bring more balance to the mental... See more

In Carl Jung’s concept of Individuation, one must fully confront and accept their shadow self. Jung compares this journey to the fable of a hero who must confront a dragon to get to the “treasure that is hardest to obtain.” The one who is able to recognize and explore all aspects of their shadow self, while still remaining civilized, is the one who... See more

According to Carl Jung, The shadow self (or the dark side of the Self) is your animal nature that lives behind your social persona. This includes the usual suspects like our fear, anxieties, envy, lust but also positives like instinct, intuition, compassion, and spirituality. The less you know it and own it, the denser, deeper, and more... See more

The shadow goes by many familiar names: the disowned self, the lower self, the dark twin or brother in bible and myth, the double, repressed self, alter ego, id. When we come face-to-face with our darker side, we use metaphors to describe these shadow encounters: meeting our demons, wrestling with the devil, descent to the underworld, dark night of

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Assimilation of the shadow

Assimilation[48] is the process of acknowledging the shadow and possibly incorporating parts of it into the ego. Jungians believe this may lead to a numinous experience, while anchoring to the numinosum effect without reality testing can lead to ego inflation (qv., archetypal possession).[49]

In analytical psychology, the... See more