I was really excited to start reading this book as I knew only a few that dealt with the concept of shadow as the primary topic. The author does a great job in shedding some light on the dark sides of personality. The unconscious is brought up here and and stripped bare.
Johnson interestingly argues that everyone's psyche has aspects which have become less preferred over the other. Our upbringing, society and ego suppressed those impulses in us which didn't fit into their definition of who we are/should be. These can be both negative and positive. Our goal is to find a way to reunite with these elements. If they are left neglected, they can trigger disintegration and depression. This picture is vividly drawn in the first chapter.
Johnson moves on to reflect on the role of shadow in love and possible attempts to bring different sides of personality together. He distinguishes between divine love - driven by unconscious projections - and human love - inspired by deliberate effort. A path to bridge these differences is not to view them as contradictions but paradoxes or images that retain spiritual power of polar values. After a vivid portrait of the unconscious in the first half of the book, these ruminations seem rather transitory and sketchy. Their reasoning doesn't feel to be elaborated enough to follow up on the depth and complexity of the previous chapter. Instead, they read as extended journal entries. It's a pity because Johnson surely has the talent to produce a ground-breaking work. This is not the one unfortunately.

'Many people fail to find their God-given living water because they are not prepared to search in unusual places.'
....'Anyone who does not go through this process remains a “primitive” and can have no place in a cultivated society. We all are born whole but somehow the culture demands that we live out only part of our nature and refuse other parts of our inheritance. We divide the self into an ego and a shadow because our culture insists that we behave in a particular manner.'

'It is interesting to travel about the world and see which characteristics various cultures affix to the ego and which to the shadow. It becomes clear that culture is an artificially imposed structure, but an absolutely necessary one.'
'Wherever we start and whatever culture we spring from, we will arrive at adulthood with a clearly defined ego and shadow, a system of right and wrong, a teeter-totter with two sides.* The religious process consists of restoring the wholeness of the personality. The word religion means to re-relate, to put back together again, to heal the wounds of separation. It is absolutely necessary to engage in the cultural process to redeem ourselves from our animal state; it is equally necessary to accomplish the spiritual task of putting our fractured, alienated world back together again.'

I didn't straight up love this, but it was interesting and a valuable piece to explore.

This was written in the early 90s, by a Jungian psychotherapist who was also quite religious (Christian), so the piece reflects the time heavily. I would say this is a good piece for contemplation, but come prepared with a large grain of salt, a lot has shifted - culturally, for sure - since the piece was written.

It's a short piece, more three essays over a full-on text, coming in at less than 120 pages and large font. The concepts can be chewy, so it's also something to set aside, parse through, then return to after thinking a bit.

Overall worth reading, good to place in a larger exploration/consideration of engaging with one's shadow, for sure.

This book explains the Jungian concept of The Shadow, what it is, how it conflicts with the Ego and how we project our shadows onto others and society. A good primer to start with if you are interested in Shadow work

In mid-life I found myself in a dark wood, wandering. A friend lent me this slim volume. I was hurting too much to get a thing out of it. A few years later a therapist suggested I try reading it again. Robert A. Johnson's "Owning Your Own Shadow" didn't help me out of the dark wood; instead it took me further in, to a place where I had no choice but to learn to give up either/or thinking and learn to hold the "and." Now I have a more full understanding of who I am and the woods are full of life.

One of the best psychology books I've ever read in my life.

Interesting takeaways but...

I was suggested this book as a foundational reading in psychology and self-interpretation. It is surely interesting and thanks to the metaphors, anecdotes and myths presented in it, it helps simplify, visualize and understand real life’s situations. On the other hand I found it too much unbalanced in favor of the spiritual/religious side of life interpretation, so I am really not sure if the author presents his thoughts with a validated and scientific point of view.

I tend to have a love/hate relationship with books like this, but I somehow got sucked into the very basic principles of this book, or should I say, interesting principles explained in a very basic fashion. It's a good read for anyone who wants to confront some of their darkest thoughts and desires.

brilliant. truly. musings by a jungian analyst on evolving one's inner life.. moving toward spiritual unity and integration.. enriching ones relationships and outer world.. in my very humble opinion :) an understanding of the human shadow and how it plays out in our consciousness and in the world is truly an essential step for humanity at this pivotal moment in planetary history~ if we want to evolve, rather than destroy, ourselves and heal our relationship to one another and the planet... do yourself and all of us a favor: read this book :) please.

Absolutely fascinating psychoanalyst book about paradox and the ego's "shadow." The premise is that in civilization, there are a lot of drives we suppress and pretend don't exist. When we repress them, they don't go away, they build up and spill out into the wrong type of outlet (think of celibate priests touching kids, for example, or the quiet kids who go on sprees - both result from this drives building up without ever being attended to properly). This book is about how to air out your less-than-civilized drives in a healthy way that makes you stronger, rather than dissipating your efforts trying to act like you're an angel when none of us are.

Amazing read with many, many quotable and reflective pieces. Bodes well with my work life, especially defence work and connecting with one’s shadow in order to stave off projections towards others. A very stimulating read!

Started off very strong. Unfortunately it lost a lot of momentum around halfway for me, then it was downhill from there.