The shadow self acceptance journey is about unveiling your shadow self. The shadow self is the hidden aspect of the psyche that drives your unconscious preferences and desires. It is a quest for healing the shadow self and self-awareness. Are you ready to begin this journey?To understand the term shadow self, we need to define these words. A physical shadow is a silhouette, creating an outline of an object blocking a light source. A shadow has volume and three dimensions: height, length, and width. The shadow is a reverse projection distorted by the angle of the light source. So, it is not a copy. It is a temporary moving refraction made by the object.This hidden part of the psyche holds our cultural programming, ego, personality, and instincts. Most people can't see the effects of these elements on their thinking; they need inner work tools to reveal them. Carl Jung's model of the psyche is one way to understand this aspect of the subconscious. (1) Jung's model of the psyche mirrors the structure we find in the Enneagram.Shadow Work and Self-AwarenessThe Shadow Self is what some call the Soul or Spirit. Like a physical shadow, it has substance and affects our thinking and values, even if we are not aware of it. It overshadows the psychic structures of the mind. Carl Gustav Jung was the first to use "shadow" regarding the human psyche in modern Western thought (2).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.
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