The timing may have been just right as I knew, after having bought this slim book in early 2012, that _today_ was the day to read it. Jungian analyst Johnson's discussion of the Shadow (its dark and its gold), paradox, love, the anima, the true meaning of religion (to bond, repair, draw together, to make whole), and the mandorla (almond shape formed by overlapping circles, representing emerging wholeness) comes together to shed much light on my current experiences growing into later middle age. I encountered a gentle Aha! every few pages. Assessment: a brilliant use of a couple of hours.

این کتاب رو به خاطر تفهیم بیشتر مفهوم سایه خوندم که عجب مفهوم وسیعیه
ولی شاید الان برای من وقتش نبود خیلی سنگین بود و بعضی‌ جاهاش انقدر برام عجیب بود و با مفاهیم اولیه ام متفاوت بود که فقط به یه نقطه خیره میشدم و منتظر انفجار ذهنم بودم

All of Robert Johnson's books have been helpful and insightful for me. This was my 2nd read of this book. It was a pick periodically, read a concept, put book down till I absorbed, sometimes re-read. I think in all I get the Shadow concept. I rate 3 star just because it is a challenging read, for me, because of my slow grasping of the concepts or maybe resistance to them. Lee

This felt as much as a book about psychology as much as it was theology. In summary, the book tells you to embrace both your good qualities and your negative, undesired aspects you have pushed into your unconscious to prevent them from reappearing. It proposes that we cannot escape from our `shadow`, so we must learn to live with it and satisfy it, while staying out of reach from the negative consequences it may invoke.

Frankly, the book says nothing new, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, because it provokes self reflection. Although a lot of the metaphors came from a religious/spiritual place, leaving a very bitter taste in my mouth, some of the allegories reminded me of my own experiences, so I could draw meaning from them and they served some purpose. This is why, despite the theological elements and stories which are used to put the idea across, I still finished the book.

The last part, however, was pretty unimportant to me, despite the author speaking of the mandorla as if it were the culmination of the book. It was very abstract, the mandorla and its symbolism were explained, but nothing of substantial value (for me, at least) was mentioned. Because the author has interest in spirituality, though, I assume that it was not as abstract to him as it was to me, so if you are into such things, maybe you are not going to judge it so harshly.Nevertheless, it still wasn't enough to ruin the rest of the book for me.

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I find this quotation especially true. At first I expected the shadow to be comprised of only the negative, but I was pleasantly surprised to read it was simply a representation of the unconscious. After all, we also come to suppress a lot of qualities which are not inherently bad, but just inappropriate for the current company, or in a more general case - culture. In another place (or solitude) they may be our main source of creativity. Disturbing and unpleasant feelings and images often invoke my imagination to the fullest, but I wouldn't normally bring them up in a casual conversation.

I was also delighted to see the relation the author brings up between the shadow and creativity, perhaps because his opinions greatly resemble my own. This quotation concerning the makes up for a great summary of the general idea:

Whenever we pluck the fruit of creativity from the golden tree our other hand plucks the fruit of destruction. ... We would love to have creativity without destruction, but that is not possible.

Truly by creating do we partially destroy ourselves in the painstaking and long process. Even stronger is the pain we feel when left dissatisfied with the result. But how sweet the joy is when we both manage to finish a project and delight in its realization.

The reflections the book provoked in my were focused mostly on the creative process, overachieving and personal relationships, as my worst moments could be interpreted as a shadow that has been docile for too long. But how has it come to this? The moment I become too fixated on being objectively good, in every possible way of perception, is when my hyperfixations of 'bettering' myself began. In an attempt to fulfill this idealized version of me, I push everything I deem 'bad' or undesirable into the unconscious. This sometimes creates the illusion that I have got rid of it, but it is still there preying on my vulnerable state to show up again, devour me whole, shift the seesaw and restart the process. So the following arises: how do I rid myself of these undesirable qualities for good, if simple habits and self discipline prove insufficient? Honorable mention, whenever I indulge in my shadow, I get to act silly, ridiculous, refreshed and invigorated. Dipping my toes gives me a lot of artistic inspiration, but sometimes I overindulge and become yet again numb. The art of creation does lead to some inner destruction, but the aftermath is often more satisfying than the damage. If I do not crumble to dust in the process some day, it shall be my biggest pleasure to repeat it again and again if only for a chance of achieving the artistic redemption I so desperately long for.

I thought that my sometimes manic episodes were random quirks that are inevitable in my life - turns out there is some truth to that. For one, they are not all that random and come up whenever I need to "pay" for the neglect I have shown to my shadow. Studying for 10 hours straight after failing to focus the previous weeks sometimes resulted in self harm in the form of biting, aggressive thoughts, sinking my nails in my skin, etc. Of course this form of auto aggression is undesired and needs to be redirected. What proved helpful was tearing a piece of paper to pieces as tiny as possible. Another question arises: Why am I comfortable with expressing this aggression towards myself or towards my closest people in the form of imaginary scenario? Well, I believe it again has to do with the shadow: as I subconsciously view my closest people as an extension of myself, I sometimes fail to differentiate them from me. I am also unconsciously okay with harming myself, because I don't like bothering distant people and doing something that affects me negatively will not necessarily affect negatively the other person. Not everyone is like this, but by trying to spare others (by others I mean people not close to me) an uncomfortable situation (because not burdening others feels like the "right" part of the seesaw), I load more burden on the shadowy part and eventually grow weary of suppressing it all. This has the negative effect of involuntarily thinking the worst of my closest people (and myself) who time and time again have reassured me that my concerns are only imaginary. Sometimes though this undeserved resentment remains within me and I am afraid that I might snap to someone innocent I hold dearly.

This is about self-integration, using a Jungian lens to examine the ego and shadow in the human psyche. While this is about 'inner-work,' there are implications for relationships and social relationships.

I like Johnson's conceptual frame, though this book is not particularly detailed or research based. Johnson speaks anecdotally and meld's Jungian analysis with myth, symbol and Christian & Buddhist spirituality. I like Johnson's metaphors, but I don't think this is particularly substantive (it is also a quick read). I liked the concept of a mandorla (the almond shape created by two overlapping circles of disparate concepts, to showcase the place of integration.

Great book on shadow work

The book was highly recommended and praised by Scott Jeffrey, through whom I was introduced to shadow work. A psychological construct created by Carl Jung that states that all repressed emotions we store in our shadow and unless they are worked on, this shadow will always loom behind us and manifest itself in arguments, conflicts, etc. we experience through life. While most focus on only the good, the power comes from focusing on total opposite elements, and integrating them into our being (not ignoring them).

Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche by Robert A. Johnson: Short but deeply thoughtful book dealing with dualistic spiritual qualities and finding the sweet spot in blending the two opposites creating a momentary connection a Mandorla or a repeating circle of life energy being brought into alignment with heaven and earth. It’s pretty esoteric stuff but the first seven pages of the book I thought was terrific and I ended up reading and rereading it over again at least four times thought it had some real, hadn’t heard that before, insights by the end of the book I wasn’t as moved by the discussion as I was at the beginning but it might just have been my mind is still processing all the layers of information that is so tightly constructed going have to reread this over again this time writing out what I need to think over its a very thought proving read. I give it four stars maybe after a few more days of consideration I might achieve the enlightenment that would cause me to give it 5 stars but just in case we don’t get there let’s call it a four star read. A short but good one if your into the spiritual discover phase of your life trip.

دومین کتابی بود که از این نویسنده خوندم، زبان ساده و عاری از اصطلاحات تخصصی روانشناسی باعث میشه کتاب برای عموم مخاطبانش، قابل فهم و کاربردی باشه.
سایه در واقع آن بخش از وجود و شخصیت آدمی است که می کوشیم تا نهانش کنیم، تمام ویژگی ها و تکانش های منفی که از برملا شدن آنها (خودآگاه یا ناخودآگاه) هراس داریم.
نویسنده با بیان مدل الاکلنگ به خواننده یاد میده که چطور بصورت آیینی و تشریفاتی به سایه ی وجودش احترام بگذارد و سعی کند این بخش را به حیطه خودآگاه خود بیاورد تا بجای انرژی مخرب آن، از نیروی سازنده و خلاقش بهره گیرد.

Another beauty in series of Jung for my simple mind

This is one of those books that's easier to describe by what it isn't than by what it is. It's not a how-to self-help book, and it's not a scholarly analysis of myth. There are no theraputic instructions or any data sets or graphs. It's religious but not a tract for any religion.

So what is it? This book is a winding conversation with a thoughtful, spiritual, aging Jungian. It's a mix of meditation, Jungian worldview and interpretation of myth, and gentle guidance.

Reading it again I felt like it has a great deal to offer, if I can internalize some of the seismic ideas presented so demurely. The central idea is (I think) that we all have a shadow-- all those parts of ourselves relegated to the dark because they are unacceptable in society. These can be our worst impulses or attributes but also our best-- all the gold that would make us more exposed, more creative, more kind. When the gulf between our "light" and our "shadow" becomes too wide, we experience depression or breakdowns. So in order to have a healthy psyche, we need to welcome our shadow-selves into our conscious lives.

The goal(?) is not to bring light and dark (or any other polarity) into contradiction (you are good or bad, male or female, right or wrong), but to bring them into paradox (you are good and bad, masculine and feminie, right and wrong). In the sacred space of paradox, in the mandorla-- the almond shaped overlap of two circles, like the center of a Venn diagram-- you touch the divinity of I Am, of It Is, frantic but static opposition is pulled into a still but dynamic unity. This is the liminal space-- the place where ritual can heal the rifts in reality.

How does one accomplish that? As Master Oogway says in Kung Fu Panda, "I donno!" But I think it has something to do with awareness, with openness, and forgiveness. And religion, meaning to re-unite things that have been separated.

Worth reading, worth mulling over.

A worthy premise lacking an appropriate depth.

This is a quick inspirational read although it might not be perceived as very "practical". It's a general reflection on duality, recognizing opposites and the need to acknowledge that we do in fact have both within us. AND...it's not always necessary to reconcile every contradiction. I like the idea that sitting with it is enough and that wisdom or the vision of God comes out of that patience. That kind of thing is where the book shines. We really can't ignore the shadow, we must do something to acknowledge it and recognize it as an equal and legitimate part of our whole self. We know this and you will find general inspiration to face the shadow but not detailed instructions here.