Two Common Misconceptions About Shadow Work
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Two Common Misconceptions About Shadow Work - Jungian Psychology
This video is about two common misconceptions about reintegrating the shadow and shadow work. The Shadow is the counterpoint to the Ego in the Jungian Psychological model where all repressed traits are stored outside of the light of consciousness. Often times people will mistakenly believe that in order to reintegrate the shadow that they need to do destructive things.
Also, there is another misconception about what judgments entails when doing shadow work.
So, when reintegrating the Shadow through Shadow Work we want to extend our awareness into areas of our awareness that we habitually ignore and repress. In this way, we can solve the problem of repression by making ourselves more whole through acceptance of all of our opposite traits.
Though the theory of the Shadow originates with Carl G. Jung, I share my own perspective on the shadow along with my personal experiences with reintegration and overcoming repression.
Here are my other videos on Shadow Work if you're interested...
• Jungian Psychology - T...
• Shadow Work Explained ...
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There is anti-shadow literally shining on your face all the time. And you are sorry for it :D
Awareness is the opposite of repression ! Thank you !
Yes and has many, many layers and more importantly, awareness does not come from words or books, it comes from personal experience.
I'm sorry, but Carl Jung, who first coined the concept of the Shadow, never described a 'light & dark' Shadow, and the whole point was accepting our -hidden- side, all of it... without the judgment that relegated these qualities to the Shadow to begin with.
Jung: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness CONSCIOUS.”
That makes sense. It's like making a shadow driven judgement upon which is light or dark when it comes to the shadow...like that side of the moon in the Pink Floyd song. It's all dark.
Is it possible to dislike someone without projecting at all?
Or, every time I dislike someone (even if I don't know the reason), is there projection going on at some level?
Good question. I'm trying to think this one through actually. I've written two different answers to your comment and as it turns out I don't have a clear answer for something like that just yet. Definitely worth some thought.
I think it's possible, because beyond the shadow/ego/persona, we have some basic and primordial needs (such as physiological needs, need to survive, and etc) and I guess if someone threats or make hard for us to satisfy those needs, we might dislike this person. (At least I think so)
You can dislike them if someone is projecting their shadow or ego. Its not easy to just right away show love to such a person it takes practice. But before reaching the decision to accept and love, you may need to create a boundary and in that process we may feel like we are projecting because thats where the ego comes in to state "how can u dislike someone you're supposed to be so loving and affectionate". Thats been my experience.
Additionally to becoming aware and accepting the shadow, sometimes one may find a way to transmute destructive shadow tendencies into a creative alternative. For instance: one could consider writing a book about one's deepest darkest fantasies in order to express them and potentially earn some money, launch a career and receive lots of flattering e-mails from fans who crave for the next volume to consume :D
Great point! I may do a video on the topic of exaltation of shadow traits in the future.
Cool! Sublimation
Emerald, I thank u for expressing everytbing so beautifully. Sending my love nd respect to u from India.
This is very helpful!!! Especially your points about distinguishing between judgement and discernment and also between acceptance and expression.
Hey, you know Willy Nilly too?...lol🐎Thanks Pretty Lady😻🥰
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Lucid and helpful as usual, thank you we love you ❤
This channel deserves so much more❤❤❤
So anger and rage are important evolutionary things to grow and develop. Not to be experiencing in extremes all the time via dysfunction. But enough to keep you moving and respond to injustices to the self and your fellows.
Yes. Anger does have a function and many other destructive tendencies do also. So, you're correct in saying that there are functional ways to express those tendencies.
Thank you
it was quite the video and the way it mirrors my life is ... well ... disturbing. I discovered I have such great anger in myself, demonic anger even. At first, I wasn't not only unable to control, but unwilling to do so. When I "woke" up from that spell, I learned about the concept of "disintigretion" ... basically taking all the corresponding flaw of your qualities (in my case, switching from a non-judgemental pacifist to a destructive wrathful person).
Looking at your video, it seems to me that my ego was repressed and became my shadow while my shadow became my ego ... not exactly healthy.
On the other hand, I am not sure I am entirely sold on the "light" and "dark" shadow concepts ... sure you can shove up a lot of good qualities and potential, and it was certainly my case as I discovered recently ... On the other hand, so called "light" aspect can really be detrimental to your life and "dark" shadow ones can really be a resources ... that is if you use them wisely.
I am having entire conversation with asphodle, the demon inside me, about many things, and the fact that she isn't the demon that she appears in my nightmare but rather, a force of nature that can protect me (and sure, cause an unbelievable amount of destruction if wielded without wisdom).
But hey, what do I know? I am still a beginner on the subject (and was thrusted directly into the difficult part of shadow working ... not that I was aware of that at the time :O ).
Also, see what I did there? Disintigretion ... sounds like the opposite of integration, don't you think?
I would consider the idea of light shadow and dark shadow to be somewhat of a relative distinction as there is nothing that is ultimately positive or negative on the absolute level. But on the relative level we can take any of these tendencies and express them in a constructive or destructive manner. So, there are issues with drawing the distinction between light and dark shadow for sure, because at the end of the day, it's all the light shadow as the light comes from awareness.
And of course, destruction is a part of nature. So, with the daimon you're doing the active imagination process with, they are likely much like a God/Goddess of destruction. And this is a great way to integrate the darker aspects of the shadow and learn to respect and love them. It's a lot easier to appreciate the darker aspects of an archetypal figure or character than it is to recognize them in ourselves. I think this is also why villains in movies are often such popular characters. They give us a safe and non-destructive way to honor the destructive aspects of the universe and ourselves.
@@TheDiamondNet Ahh okay, thanks for the explanations. And I guess your explanations about villains makes total sense. A very good villain has a kind of magnetism that is difficult to resist ... And thoroughly enjoyable to bask into (and in the very few instance when they win ... ahh such delight).
As for my demoness (it's a girl despite me being a man), I came to the conclusion that my shadow was done being ignored, and she did such a memorable appareance in my nightmares that her image is litteraly burnt into my mind (one of the many reasons I took drawing lessons, quite a few characters I want to draw, my shadow of course but, also, my anima).
The real integration process (and the conversation with my shadow that later came along) only started thanks to my hypno therapy sessions, which later lead me to learn auto hypnosis with the help of my therapist. It was quite the discovery and I am starting to reap the rewards from that though, of course, it took a while ... but, as they say, nothing worthwhile in life is easy.
Still, now I have come from a place where I was terrified of asphodele to one where I cannot imagine my life without her and am on plan of making a drawing worthy of the Pride/Wrath Demoness that she is . Thanks for the reply and explanations ;)
There is like a rebirth of the ego to reconnect with the higherself on a higher level of consciousness...
By the way , destruction of the old is a way for the universal consciousness or infinite intelligence to renew the world ...
Destruction plus reconstruction is a part of the regeneration and evolution of life ...
Yes be aware and peace and unconditionally loving as much as you can...
Stumbled across your channel when I am about to re-do my shadow journaling and this helps a lot! Would you say that intrusive thoughts could be a shadow one is repressing instead of integrating so the intrusive thought then over exaggerating to say hello my friend here I am don't repress me? Also depending on current society acceptance, one personallity trait I think could be self judged as a dark shaddow since learned/projected by that society where as the same trait would not be looked upon as a shadow at all in another society. As one person would say ah you smoke no problem and another would say you smoke! I hate smokers!
Great videos Emerald! Thank you for spreading Jungian ideas & walking through these concepts. The world needs it now as much as ever with such popular mass minded movements hyper identifying with the good well being oblivious to the bad that is unconsciously at work. You are doing God's work.
Thank you! :)
Indeed, Jung provided some great maps to help understand our psyche. It warms my heart to see them explained and spread :)
Yeah man mass religion is a serious problem I agree.
Lol, saying the unconscious consists of bad is the complete opposite and misconception of shadow work.
@@Solar73529 I think that's an over simplification of what she said in relation to shadow work.
Well put. This really lit up a couple of novel perspectives I've been feeling around for. Great distillation. Thanks for pulling these intelligible pieces down from the emergent dimension and into language for us.
Thank you for this wonderful work you're doing here! It's helping me so much! And i'm sure, you're helping so many other people also. Keep going! I live in the northeast of Brazil, Fortaleza city, so you never heard about it and i'm lucky i found you. How amazing that your knowledge is getting so far to help people improve themselves.
Madam is talking about the Shadow, but her face is filled with Light.
But how come it seems like all the people who rage on others never become Depressed or Anxious?
They say people like me are too sensitive (although rage is sensitivity.) they say we take everything too personally after saying something personal. I also hear people say hurt causes hurt but most hurt children who grow up in physically abusive homes grow up fearing conflict and authority and become people-pleasing.
Question: how are particular expressions of repressed aspects of our personality determined to be “destructive?” For example, from some religious perspectives, non-heterosexual expressions of sexuality are deemed “destructive” both to the individual and to society. The religion I was raised it teaches LGBT people that it is okay to feel attraction towards members of the same sex or to feel at odds with one’s gender, but that to act on those feelings is sinful. I was closeted, depressed until my mid-twenties. Upon accepting my reality, I chose to leave my religion and express my sexuality.
In this presentation, you discuss integrating shadow without necessarily acting on or expressing it. How is this different from what religion asks of me? How is it determined that some expression is destructive and another expression is not? Is that not socially constructed? And if it is socially constructed, then how can we actually determine what the right expression of personality is? When is right to challenge those constructions and when is it right to honor them?
Excellent video, thank you for the great work! : )
Thanks for sharing your insights. Appreciate you.
I love your shadow work videos! I've been taking in a lot of content on the subject and your videos seem to resonate the most with this INTP...
Despite the fact that I am beginning shadow work as part of a spiritual journey, I appreciate your concise and matter-of-fact delivery as opposed to many of the more abstract and esoteric (or extremely vague) videos out there. Your examples were very relatable and clear.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!
This is your best clear, reality based shadow video. I deleted your other two from way back, and will be keeping this one. I see in me how violent l can get when l am frustrated, under allot of stress, demands on how ideal it should be etc. Especially if l dont understand the why's of me. Fear is underneath. Since observing this in me, l have integrated this trait l have. I breath when l since it happening and choose to not Express it against myself or others. That awareness has taught me my limitations re stress, triggers, people who are toxic to my humanness. It has been a blessing observing and being tender to myself around my anxiety. Thank you.
Thank you for this
This is touched upon in Charlie Morleys book Dreaming through darkness. Hiding our beauty and skills
The feeling of disgust is not a judgement. Mmmm, interesting...
You are so awesome. I really appreciate you.
❤❤
It was just about sex for Freud
Really helpful!
Very cool video! I like that idea of a light shadow, kinda like hidden potential or unexplored talents! Your smart!
Thank you! A lot of times people will think the Shadow is all negative traits, but much of it is either positive or neutral or can be exalted into a positive expression.
That's common knowledge, but try tapping into the positive shadow, because that's a whole different story due to the fact most people cannot differentiate between positive and negative traits.
Most often you see people doing what they percieve to be positive like start a UA-cam channel, but the driving fuel comes from repressed childhood trauma and emotion and is actually the negative, the ego has convinced them they are doing a positive thing as a way to avoid the negative, so now tell me which is which.
This is why shadow work can never be understood from another person's perspective and should always be a personal individual practice and learning from your own experiences, not what your told in books or video's, because that's just there perspective and most often a regurgitating of someone else's perspective and therefore empty useless words.
@@Solar73529 Well, it's nice to have a discussion or read about these ideas because it enables people to contemplate the ideas for themselves. Whereas, if no one talks about or has written about said ideas, people wouldn't even think about the possibility of the ideas to begin with.
Love it!
Again, you are a Genius Emerald :D
“You don’t start shadow work with Hitler.” Great note.
Telling children by the church they have the devil within them is abusive, By their age and thus naivety they are being preyed upon by the adults pointing their finger at the easy target of young and innocent, If you tell them they may well have the potential capacity to commit criminal acts in their lifetime, That would be healthier as it`s not treating them as criminals before any act has happened, But it tells them to look inward to challenge themselves to what they know they should not be doing, That is what I consider shadow work, Being honest to yourself, Questioning your evaluations to what you think and your resulting behavior's
I do agree. I remember this church that I was going to VBS at when I was four or five and they were telling a story about how Jesus would knock on your heart. And if you don't let him in before you die, you'll go to Hell. Let's just say I didn't sleep very well that night. I later had quite an aversion to religion because it always felt like a negative experience. That said, I did go to some churches that were a lot more comfortable and more age appropriate with how they conveyed information.
What is the main difference between concept of "self-purification" in religion and "self-integration" in Jungian psychology?
Your ability to describe,schematize and clearly organize such abstract concepts and ideas is pretty amazing (at least in my eyes).A part from the obvious amount of work that went into learning stuff and (as you said) the desire to be teacher,the real key,in my humble opinion,is your capacity to acquire self knowledge via deep introspection.
...Now i wonder(even if i don't really like to put people in precise categories)...to which Jungian personality type could you belong....
Thank you for all the great content.
..i'm watching one video after another.
Saluti
You are so cute
Bring dat money in aye, damn that shut expensive, bruvs don’t know why mans acting tough, I’m a beta white dood, a bro of the hood, dis non duality doing ma head in yeaz.
So a good example of this recently for me was work where I said that a sales role isn't me. Now I'm aware of my disassociation with that aspect of myself, possibly relating to confidence and loads of stuff about how society functions, but I'm never going to work in a sales role. Is the process now complete?
Is integrating our negative traits kinda like negotiating with our self about how far we wanna take those things? So for example if you are generally lustful and are in a relationship you can negotiate with your self by being harmlessly flirtatious but drawing a line at that?
Thanks that's very well explained!
Hi, I read two conflicting articles "A Persona is similar to a Shadow. Shadows are malevolent manifestations of one's inner thoughts, while a Persona is a manifestation of the same feelings but tamed and trained." Now the other article is;"Shadow Work Exercises
Here are five ways of working with your shadow: Make a list of all of your positive qualities. Then, highlight the opposite. Try to identify the opposite within yourself."
This article is saying that if you identify yourself a type of person than your shadow would be the opposite. Could you tell me the right way or clarify something I'm not understanding?
I believe it is identifying those opposite traits that could potentially exist or those traits that you may be repressing. Key words are "potentially" and "maybe" as, for example, if one of your positive traits is being humble and then the opposite could be arrogance. But the part where you come in is seeing if that trait of arrogance even applies to you, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't, meaning this does not mean that is actually your shadow, it is now your job to identify that. Those traits opposite to your positive ones do not always necessarily exist within you but finding those repressed traits has to be found by looking at every potential negative trait i.e. all the opposite traits of your positive traits.
@@someonewhoreallylikesyoutu8694 It is interesting, after two years reading back my comment, how complex I read into simple statements. Thank-you for the feedback😊
This is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much!
Yes you definitely have a misconception about shadow work and that's because it has been mispercieved through lack of experience and therefore has individual meanings for each person, shadow work may have some common tools but it is unique for each person and therefore your own perspective is just your own perspective.
@Annetta H. Completely agree, the only useful thing you can give a person is awareness of there own delusions, the difference with myself is I don't talk about my own experiences
Like emerald does and although I do give advice it's merely to point out that all advice is useless through UA-cam and books.
Therefore I don't believe in the teacher concept from a conscious standpoint because compaired to the unconscious we are all students.
@Annetta H. I completely understand these people and the irony of it makes me giggle because it's a perception and delusion I had to go through myself, it's a cleverly orchestrated egoic mask that talks about shadow work and wearing masks whilst avoiding shadow work with a false version of it whilst wearing a mask lol.
And your right, they can't keep wearing the mask forever, because repressed thoughts and emotion is way more powerful that conscious emotion and thoughts, it all has its purpose and timing is crucial, so really the best thing we can do is simply let go in the understanding that from a conscious level we know nothing and the only teacher is our own unconscious we is who we really are.
@Annetta H. Ummmm its a contraversial subject really and therefore personally it's best left to the experts and on a one to one basis, because there is a certain technique and Experience required when helping others to realise there DELUSIONS, I agree videos and books can help but most often they just reinforce the delusion to the point that it creates further suffering which at some stage Will push a person to the realisation that books and advice from video's are useless without the fundamental key which is experience.
I have worked with many people over the years and none of them get it until they EXPERIENCE the meaning of what I tell them and even then that only happens because my words are carefully constructed from personal experience and more importantly tailored to there understanding, upbringing etc etc.
@Annetta H. She will reach a point where she will realise there is trauma and delusion attached to her wanting to be a UA-cam teacher etc and find other avenues, but then again she may not, but life has its way of guiding people through unconscious karmic creation, if she doesn't realise then the lessons will be passed onto her children or someone else, that's how karma and life works.
@Annetta H. The only way to help another person is not by giving advice it's by giving them the tools to become aware of there delusions and that must be tailored to each individual based on there perceptions, beliefs etc etc.
Most people live with codependency issues and although the emotional attachments are the same, the approach and method in helping them is very different.
And this is why group sessions, UA-cam or books don't work, because books are written based on the author's life and experience and not the readers, you can use the methods and change them to fit your life, but personally I find it much easier to do psychoanalysis on myself and my memories, trauma's and EXPERIENCES, it cuts out the middle man and is much more productive.
But people struggle to let go and trust there own inner guidance, but one way or another it will get through even if it takes years of misguidance from UA-cam channels.
Fantastic explanation about a simple, yet complex topic.
I agree that some things confused me now and made me think.
Isn't the reason why we feel disgust that we have already identified ourselves as something superior to the target? "I am a clean person while they, those disgusting people, are bathing into the mud"-kind of thing.
For that reason, I believe that what Hitler did was inhumane and terrible, but I would try to avoid calling it disgusting or associating it to such a feeling (it is something anyone could do under similar conditions as Hitler). I might be wrong there, but maybe, I have to think more about these...
So, it's really about being aware of our disidentification with such figures. So, the feelings will naturally come up if we are in touch with them. When we see suffering, those who are in touch with their feelings will feel a sense of disgust and repulsion and anger and many other things. This is normal. But this is not a judgment. Judgment entails resistance and disidentification It's just emotions that arise. And we shouldn't judge those emotions as wrong or invalid either because we''re right back in the shadow situation. The same goes for if judgmental thoughts arise. If we repress these thoughts, then we're right back in the shadow situation. So, it's a matter of noticing that everything, even the darkest things, are an extension of the self. So, with Hitler and the feelings of disgust toward Hitler, we should understand that we shouldn't edit our awareness of that which is similar to Hitler in ourselves nor should we edit our awareness of any emotions that come up as a result of feeling that natural disgust and any thoughts that result. Basically, maintain an awareness that everything is an extension of ourselves and that we are a reflection of everything and everything is a reflection of ourselves. But that's talking from a perspective that I wasn't taking in the video. Nonetheless, it's an even deeper way of understanding to give clarity to your concern.
Honestly i have more resentment towards my roomates and family than i have towards people who have commitmed crimes against humanity.
That can be difficult to deal with as well. I alluded to it briefly at the end of the video, but thought in retrospect that I should have covered that more. Shadows that come from a traumatic situation with loved ones are in many ways more difficult, just in a different way. So, with those that commit crimes against humanity, is with maintaining awareness of the gravity of the destruction while trying to see that we have similar potentials in ourselves... which the ego doesn't like to see. With shadows incurred from trauma, what comes up is the emotions that have yet to be processed relative to the trauma. So, the former is about disgust and the latter is about going through whatever tough emotion that was too big to process in the first place.
Love those hand-movements. You were raised a Catholic, weren't you?
Haha! No. But I do talk a lot with my hands.
What a great video.
if you can do a short video about practical day to day tips on how to do shadow work, it would be very useful :)
It may be a while before I do another shadow video since I did three in a row. But I will definitely keep this in mind because I think it would be helpful. Thank you for the suggestion! :)
👍👏
My biggest problem with doing shadow work is denial.
Im not sure what i can do about something thats intentionally put there - and that i dont even know that exists or where exactly it is.
I tell myself im not judgemental about traits and about anything in shadow work , but that might as well be denial too. it most likely is and im probably very judgemental.
How do i get through this roadblock?
Perhaps you, for instance, is judgemental towards being judgemental. :)
No, I don't know if you are, but I believe it helps with shadow work and development, in general to assume the worst. Look for the opposite of what you believe. And remember that setting your own pace is fine.
@@RasberrySkittle thats not really a problem for me to do that. but actually feeling the other side of me and actually SEEING it and integrating is another thing. i can rationalize all i want and its not gonna do shit.
@@TheABCD3912 Taking a psychedelic ritualistically with a set intention has done interesting things for/to me. But that can be like hurling yourself into the abyss. Not to be taken lightly.
You vids would be alot better to watch if you took out the fake background and actually filmed in various natural backgrounds ;)
life coaching is such a terrible expression.
Great content, always.
The devil inside