The Shadow Knows - Thoughts on Jung’s Shadow Self
During the 50s, I listened to a radio program called The Shadow. The opening line was a heavy voice speaking in paced tones against dramatic organ music: “Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow knows!” The Shadow was a vigilante do-gooder who wreaked havoc among the criminal world.
According to Carl Jung, this was not just program hype. I don’t know that he was a fan of the show, but Jung identified a related distinction in his work. He introduced the notion that we all have a shadow self as well as the self we aspire to be and to be seen as.
(more on Carl Jung and Enantiodromia)
Jung’s “shadow” describes those aspects of the personality that we reject and repress. There are parts of ourselves that we don’t like, — or that we think society won’t like — so we push those parts down into our unconscious psyches. It is this collection of repressed aspects of our identity that Jung referred to as our shadow self.
“Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants himself to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.”
(Jung, 1938, p. 131).
I interpret this to mean, to the degree we are unconscious of that part of ourselves, it can send us down some unproductive paths in which we castigate ourselves for poor personal management. The upside is that, when we are conscious of our “shadow self” and can own and be instructed by it, we can turn it into a guide for expanding performance power.
“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.” (Jung, Aion, 1951)
We can think of our shadow self as not something bad, but rather a part of the balance of nature.
We work with organizations to build their culture as a platform for performance. It’s a relatively simple process once they identify the kind of organization they want to be and what they want to be known for. Next, we identify and model supporting behaviors. Then, we institutionalize the behaviors as “the way we do things around here.” It’s simple, but the execution can create speed bumps.
After doing this work for a while, I began to appreciate that behaviors that give us “right actions” are inherent; however, when life throws us curveballs, we end up taking shortcuts, compromising our inherent knowledge of what is right. There we are, lurking in “the shadow.”
Honesty with ourselves about hidden desires, inclinations and misrepresentations gives us a compass back to the light. I suspect that is the principle behind confession.
I recently watched a YouTube video, “What animals are thinking and feeling, and why it should matter” by Carl Safina. It occurred to me that humans are the only members of the animal kingdom who exhibit meanness (with the exception of one particular cat we used to have). I do not think animals have to deal with a shadow self; they have the same nerves that we do, just arranged differently. They use tools, they teach, they share, they communicate. They actually seem to have a more disciplined code of decency than we do.
So, “What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows,” and so do you and I if we’re paying attention. I hope you watch Safina’s 16-minute video; it is illuminating. For expanding your awareness, both within and without, call us. We can help.
Have a lovely week,
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