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Jung
September 2008 
Shadowy people
Posted on Dec 3rd, 2007
by 
Sanjuro
Sanjuro
Scary! Very Scary! Run for your life!
I am going to go off in a few tangents, and then somehow tie them up at the end. That's what Billy Connolly does, so since I am from Glasgow too, I am gonna do it that way!
First off, Mr. Julian Walker has started the ball rolling with his latest ‘shadow’ inticement.
To which I suggested we start unpacking the whole notion of what it looks and feels like going through the process. But first, the tangents.
Has anyone seem ‘No Country for Old Men’ yet? I just finished the book, and I’d love to talk about that one quite soon it’s an amazing piece of work, by all accounts the movie is amazing too. I get my chance on Wednesday. Anyways, there is this character in it who personifies ‘evil’, or so it would seem. Later in the film/book, if you are tuned in, you might rearrange your notion.
This leads me to the first issue with starting shadow work. You do not want to be doing shadow work! Like Evil, it is so fearful an idea to take on, you will just wanna run away.
Example: You’re a boy, grow up in a nice family, they go to church, and you are taught good manners. For some reason one day you get the notion that being loud and aggressive doesn’t work to well in the house. So since you don’t yet have an inquiry-based practice at 8 years old, you hide your loudness and aggressiveness. But your eight, the only thing you did was bury it, and lie about it. This methodology unbeknownst to you is called practice. And when you get good at it, as anything, it becomes habitual. Add another twenty years, you might even think you are a nice person, and everyone believes you.
Now we might just leave the story there, but you start having problems at work, or with your girlfriend and you might even feel angry, but you don’t want to be so ‘neanderthal’ as to speak your mind. Maybe its getting so uncomfortable, you need to go see a counselor, and need to bang some drums or a pillow or something. Maybe its suggested that you just ‘vent’ a bit. This makes you highly doubtful, since everyone thinks (and so does your persona) that you’re a nice person. You have a lie to live up to, and that lie if it gets unmasked will be a huge horrific problem. Disgrace, shame etc.
Now, at this point you may be having dreams that you are getting chased or hunted by some dark figures. And you want to kill them or run away as fast as possible, you have an utter dislike for them, they are crude and nasty, nothing like you. Sort of people you would cross the street to avoid.
Guess what they are. Yup, your shadows.
Now how does that work? I will throw my own evaluation on that one. It works for me. If we consider that we all have the potential to create and to destroy, given the right circumstances, then we have all the faculties in our possession to be either. Survival is in our genes. Procreation, nurturing, and defence are all there. Sex, care and violence.
So, the same methodology you used to pack the shadow in the first place is what you need to do in reverse. You learn to un-hide it, and not lie about it. But it took your twenty years to perfect, so it’s a little like changing which hand you write with.
You start of really slowly and clumsily, and if anyone saw your writing they might laugh at you. So this doesn’t make you feel particularly motivated to continue. But maybe your girlfriend is the best person you have ever known, maybe she has faith in you, or maybe you are fed up getting sand kicked in your face…
This is where the second tangent comes in.
In the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, he discusses the results of his and his teams five-year research into what makes a company go from being Good to Great. They found only 11 companies that fit the bill by the way. They were that great.
Whats that got to do with Shadow? Well, one of the points was, there are lot of good companies, its normal. Most ‘normal’ folks do not do shadow work. Just as most companies do not become great. Its VERY hard. But what else were you doing with your life?
In the book the methods of the best leaders I found strikingly similar to a person directly engaging in shadow work:
1. They make sure they are surrounded by the right people.
2. They confront the brutal facts, but never lose faith.
3. Finding your own vision (The Hedgehog concept – who you really are)
4. Being rigorous and disciplined
5. Uses the flywheel concept – consistent application of energy in a specific direction at a constant rate that builds momentum.
All these factors combine into the practice necessary to undo the damage. To do the Shadow Work.
As a process it’s like learning to ride a bike, except it will take many years, under many situations.
Back to our now 28 year old fella. What is the process? You know already what it is. If you despise loud and aggressive people, you have to become that which is already you. Your inner Mr Loud and Aggressive. But wait, let e be clear, you do not go from wallflower to floor-trader – and certainly not in a month. You take small steps, as you try doing things a little more assertively for example, you can understand its energy, your new friend, the inner guy that helps stop sand getting in your face. That way you will integrate the ‘benefit’ of clarity and assertiveness. It’s the fear of becoming what your Shadow IS, that is throwing you for a loop. The shadow is clumsy, undifferentiated and powerful. You FEAR being overwhelmed by its crudeness. But, you still have your Ego. It’s the shadow-traffic controller. Its job is to help keep the real nasty stuff in check. Only those folk who are psychotic have a problem with that part. You will be strengthening your Ego. Or as Jung called it, creating a container.
Integrating the shadow is hard work, changing slowly, but it is invigorating, releasing much energy to you in the process. The fact that there are ways to find your own inner gold, by applying some concepts to the journey, and being with the right people that can help. Don’t do this yourself – you need a 3rd Party to give you impartial feedback, including dream analysis has been the method for me. So go to your yellow pages and find yourself a Jungian Analyst, and invest in yourself! Its the best band for the buck!
Oh, and the idea of evil? Evil is a shadow. Think about that one.
I am going to go off in a few tangents, and then somehow tie them up at the end. That's what Billy Connolly does, so since I am from Glasgow too, I am gonna do it that way!
First off, Mr. Julian Walker has started the ball rolling with his latest ‘shadow’ inticement.
To which I suggested we start unpacking the whole notion of what it looks and feels like going through the process. But first, the tangents.
Has anyone seem ‘No Country for Old Men’ yet? I just finished the book, and I’d love to talk about that one quite soon it’s an amazing piece of work, by all accounts the movie is amazing too. I get my chance on Wednesday. Anyways, there is this character in it who personifies ‘evil’, or so it would seem. Later in the film/book, if you are tuned in, you might rearrange your notion.
This leads me to the first issue with starting shadow work. You do not want to be doing shadow work! Like Evil, it is so fearful an idea to take on, you will just wanna run away.
Example: You’re a boy, grow up in a nice family, they go to church, and you are taught good manners. For some reason one day you get the notion that being loud and aggressive doesn’t work to well in the house. So since you don’t yet have an inquiry-based practice at 8 years old, you hide your loudness and aggressiveness. But your eight, the only thing you did was bury it, and lie about it. This methodology unbeknownst to you is called practice. And when you get good at it, as anything, it becomes habitual. Add another twenty years, you might even think you are a nice person, and everyone believes you.
Now we might just leave the story there, but you start having problems at work, or with your girlfriend and you might even feel angry, but you don’t want to be so ‘neanderthal’ as to speak your mind. Maybe its getting so uncomfortable, you need to go see a counselor, and need to bang some drums or a pillow or something. Maybe its suggested that you just ‘vent’ a bit. This makes you highly doubtful, since everyone thinks (and so does your persona) that you’re a nice person. You have a lie to live up to, and that lie if it gets unmasked will be a huge horrific problem. Disgrace, shame etc.
Now, at this point you may be having dreams that you are getting chased or hunted by some dark figures. And you want to kill them or run away as fast as possible, you have an utter dislike for them, they are crude and nasty, nothing like you. Sort of people you would cross the street to avoid.
Guess what they are. Yup, your shadows.
Now how does that work? I will throw my own evaluation on that one. It works for me. If we consider that we all have the potential to create and to destroy, given the right circumstances, then we have all the faculties in our possession to be either. Survival is in our genes. Procreation, nurturing, and defence are all there. Sex, care and violence.
So, the same methodology you used to pack the shadow in the first place is what you need to do in reverse. You learn to un-hide it, and not lie about it. But it took your twenty years to perfect, so it’s a little like changing which hand you write with.
You start of really slowly and clumsily, and if anyone saw your writing they might laugh at you. So this doesn’t make you feel particularly motivated to continue. But maybe your girlfriend is the best person you have ever known, maybe she has faith in you, or maybe you are fed up getting sand kicked in your face…
This is where the second tangent comes in.
In the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, he discusses the results of his and his teams five-year research into what makes a company go from being Good to Great. They found only 11 companies that fit the bill by the way. They were that great.
Whats that got to do with Shadow? Well, one of the points was, there are lot of good companies, its normal. Most ‘normal’ folks do not do shadow work. Just as most companies do not become great. Its VERY hard. But what else were you doing with your life?
In the book the methods of the best leaders I found strikingly similar to a person directly engaging in shadow work:
1. They make sure they are surrounded by the right people.
2. They confront the brutal facts, but never lose faith.
3. Finding your own vision (The Hedgehog concept – who you really are)
4. Being rigorous and disciplined
5. Uses the flywheel concept – consistent application of energy in a specific direction at a constant rate that builds momentum.
All these factors combine into the practice necessary to undo the damage. To do the Shadow Work.
As a process it’s like learning to ride a bike, except it will take many years, under many situations.
Back to our now 28 year old fella. What is the process? You know already what it is. If you despise loud and aggressive people, you have to become that which is already you. Your inner Mr Loud and Aggressive. But wait, let e be clear, you do not go from wallflower to floor-trader – and certainly not in a month. You take small steps, as you try doing things a little more assertively for example, you can understand its energy, your new friend, the inner guy that helps stop sand getting in your face. That way you will integrate the ‘benefit’ of clarity and assertiveness. It’s the fear of becoming what your Shadow IS, that is throwing you for a loop. The shadow is clumsy, undifferentiated and powerful. You FEAR being overwhelmed by its crudeness. But, you still have your Ego. It’s the shadow-traffic controller. Its job is to help keep the real nasty stuff in check. Only those folk who are psychotic have a problem with that part. You will be strengthening your Ego. Or as Jung called it, creating a container.
Integrating the shadow is hard work, changing slowly, but it is invigorating, releasing much energy to you in the process. The fact that there are ways to find your own inner gold, by applying some concepts to the journey, and being with the right people that can help. Don’t do this yourself – you need a 3rd Party to give you impartial feedback, including dream analysis has been the method for me. So go to your yellow pages and find yourself a Jungian Analyst, and invest in yourself! Its the best band for the buck!
Oh, and the idea of evil? Evil is a shadow. Think about that one.
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