Confronting the Inner Shadow | Carl Jung’s Psychology

"What drives people to wage war on themselves is the notion that they are composed of two individuals at odds with one other. The conflict may be between the sensual and the spiritual man, or between the ego and the shadow."

Carl Gustav Jung

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung observed that the things we repress inside of us always have an impact on our conduct.

Moreover, we typically don't know about the processes going on in the background of our minds, so we don't know what's hiding there.

Some parts of ourselves are easy to accept, especially the characteristics we show off and use to boost our self-esteem.

These attributes have probably been identified as desirable by others in our immediate surroundings.

However, if we look past the masks we wear, we reveal things we are reluctant to show off.

Although we may occasionally display these aspects to certain individuals, this aspect of our ego is often reserved for us alone.

However, if we'd delve deeper, we arrive at a psychological structure beyond the limits

of our consciousness: The Shadow.

The Phantom

The conflict that arises between our perceived identities and the aspects of ourselves that we are unaware of but that yet operate in the background, shaping our actions without our awareness or permission, is known as the inner civil war.

The inner civil war is examined in this video, along with solutions.

How can we conquer evil if we are unable to identify it and come to terms with it eventually?

Carl Jung wrote about this, and I quote:

Unfortunately, there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines

himself or wants to be.

Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious

life, the blacker and denser it is.

End quote.

It should come as no surprise that people are in a state of perpetual conflict—first with themselves and then with their surroundings.

Their former self and their newfound shadow are opposites that are hard, if not impossible, to reconcile: on the one hand, there is the meek, silent, submissive man, and on the other, there is the violent, avaricious man.

Sadly, the latter extreme has gained control, with people being ruled by their unconscious minds behind closed doors.

People are now under the control of their own shadow.

The Unseen Uprising

We cast deep shadows because we are unable to accept.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that we struggle with accepting who we are.

Generally speaking, people are quick to criticize us for having undesirable qualities.

These characteristics don't even need to be malevolent; they could be things like tastes or artistic pursuits that aren't bad at all but might nonetheless draw negative feedback from others around us.

Jung observed that when we judge someone else for actions we deem inappropriate, insulting beliefs, or behavior we find extreme, we also judge ourselves because, as humans, we are all born with the potential for immorality.

People who struggle for justice, for instance, and who oppose all forms of injustice are evident.

However, this is frequently done in ways that are founded on harsh criticisms, which really makes them oppressive and unfair.

As Jung stated: "Condemnation does not liberate. It oppresses. I'm the oppressor of the person I condemn. Not his friend and fellow sufferer."

Not only do we oppress ourselves when we judge ourselves for having a dark side, but we also deny our humanity.

As a result of our refusal to acknowledge what makes us who we are, the internal civil war continues.

Through repression, the contents of the shadow will not vanish.

Conversely, it will rebel.

Eradicating Internal Strife

According to Jungian theory, a physician must approach a patient with impartiality and without bias in order to be of assistance.

Regardless of his own principles and beliefs, a doctor cannot assist a patient if he cannot accept him.

Furthermore, we must accept ourselves before we can accept another person.

We cannot recognize the entirety of who we are and realize that the evil that exists within everyone of us also exists within everyone else until we accept this.

The adversary we hate is ourselves.

Hence, "love thy enemy" also means "love thyself".

Just as it is inappropriate to blame an animal for hostility, it is also inappropriate to condemn a person for acting in the same way, even if they are acting irrationally.

There is no progress to be made if we deny humankind.

The concept of self-acceptance is simple to understand but challenging to put into practice, according to Jung.

I quote:

No doubt this also sounds very simple.

In reality, however, the acceptance of the shadow-side of human nature verges on the

impossible.

Consider for a moment what it means to grant the right of existence to what is unreasonable,

senseless, and evil!

End quote.

We need to be aware of who we are in order to accept who we are.

Although the majority of our psyche is out of our grasp and we are unable to consciously access our dark side, Jung claims that there are techniques to incorporate repressed aspects of ourselves into our aware selves.

It implies that there is a need to recognize and make peace between extreme opposites.

Because evil has remained evil because of what is deemed good.

Thus, evil needs to be transformed into good in order for it to stop.

We could think of this as letting the water naturally and easily find its level after the dam between two sections of water is removed.

This method, known as "shadow work" in Jungian psychology, teaches practitioners how to take down obstacles that prevent certain aspects of themselves from spontaneously emerging into the light of consciousness.

When we allow what we have sentenced to exist in the shadows to become awake, only then can what Jung calls "the conversion into the opposite" can take place.

"It is this…" he states, "that makes possible the reunion of the warring halves

of the personality, and thereby brings the civil war to an end."

End quote.