Jung wrote in The Problems of Modern Psychotherapy: “How can I be substantial without casting a shadow? I must have a dark side too if I am to be whole; and by becoming conscious of my shadow I remember once more that I am a human being like any other.” (Jung, par. 134)
In the Jungian approach, the shadow is not necessarily a dark side or a bad quality in us. It simply denotes those parts in us that we are less aware of, that for some reason we deemed undesirable parts of ourselves. Casting it out of awareness, it lays dormant there and shows up in various unpredictable ways in our lives. The more light, understanding, awareness, acceptance and ultimately integration we can offer to our shadow parts, the more whole we will be.
