The Jungian Shadow Theory: Practical Applications

[Kubba]

On 9/25/2020 at 10:44 PM, Giles said:

Understanding this theory is an invaluable tool for some people because alongside accessing and integrating the shadow comes the insight that it's not just dark, it's also golden.

Integrating the Shadow can also be seen as analogous to what some religions label enlightenment.The practical application of this understanding is what leads to access and integration.

 

Integration happends on its own when we work with light.

 

whatever we focus on we magnify, thus we work with light.

 

Working with shadow is counter productive

[doc benway]

29 minutes ago, Kubba said:

 

Integration happends on its own when we work with light.

 

whatever we focus on we magnify, thus we work with light.

 

Working with shadow is counter productive

 

In the tradition I follow, working with the darkness is every bit as important as working with light. In fact, one of the most valuable aspects of light is its innate ability to illuminate the darkness.

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

23 hours ago, Kubba said:

Integration happends on its own when we work with light.

 

If you're viewing the Self as "light" then that also holds completely true for the Internal Family System. Any effective therapy is always Self-therapy.

 

23 hours ago, Kubba said:

whatever we focus on we magnify, thus we work with light.

 

In practice, the Shadow-bound need to face their Shadow at some point if they want to find freedom. The way we do it leads to reclaiming, integrating and transforming it.

 

 

We certainly don't magnify it by facing it. It's turning away from it that magnifies the Shadow and projects it onto others.

 

23 hours ago, Kubba said:

Working with shadow is counter productive

 

... if it's attempted without sufficient access to the Self.

 

 

[mrpasserby]

Natural: 'Seeds that grow, head up toward the light but have to be supported by their roots that grow in the dark'.

[Kubba]

On 10/19/2020 at 8:46 PM, steve said:

 

In the tradition I follow, working with the darkness is every bit as important as working with light. In fact, one of the most valuable aspects of light is its innate ability to illuminate the darkness.

 

In the tradition I follow it is not important and a time waste for the reasons I’ve mentioned, but I know that some teachers made a carrer out of shadow work.

 

shadows are more superficial things, emotional, mental wires basicaly, plowibg the ground deeper than that just upruts it all, wilhilst focusing on traumas keeps us on the surface

 

Working with light is simply more effective, I don’t mean some therapeutic applications either.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Kubba

[Kubba]

10 hours ago, Giles said:

In practice, the Shadow-bound need to face their Shadow at some point if they want to find freedom. The way we do it leads to reclaiming, integrating and transforming it

 

What I meant is focusing, not facing. Facing is fine when it surfaces, but purposefully looking for shadows is focusing on them thus magnifying them. Whatever we focus on we magnify.

In practice, this means that there is no end to shadow work if we are honest. Some of us simply like to dwell in negativity and anyjustification sounds reasonable.

 

„If you're viewing the Self as "light" then that also holds completely true for the Internal Family System. Any effective therapy is always Self-therapy.”

 

By light I view light.

Facing our negativity happends on its own when we work with light, no need for therapeutic applications. We don’t need to look for our demons as it is considered time waste and less effective. Psychological maturity, and integration of fabrics of our consciousness happends spontaneously when we work with light.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Kubba

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

13 hours ago, Kubba said:

 

What I meant is focusing, not facing. Facing is fine when it surfaces, but purposefully looking for shadows is focusing on them thus magnifying them. Whatever we focus on we magnify.

In practice, this means that there is no end to shadow work if we are honest. Some of us simply like to dwell in negativity and anyjustification sounds reasonable.

 

By light I view light.

Facing our negativity happends on its own when we work with light, no need for therapeutic applications. We don’t need to look for our demons as it is considered time waste and less effective. Psychological maturity, and integration of fabrics of our consciousness happends spontaneously when we work with light.

 

You're going to have to accept that we have diametrically opposite experiences about focusing causing magnification. For example, a technique that's actually named Focusing is a basic skill without which therapy is a waste of time. By focusing on emotions (felt senses) it can be discovered that instead of magnifying them it actually dissolves them resulting in a reconciliation and reclamation of the lost/abandoned parts. It is usually perceived as a release of stored tension. This is what also happens with Shadow work using an adaption of the IFS framework that can used to successfully help not only yourself but also others.
There’s also a variation of this technique which could be described as “turning the light around” that gives rise to powerful transcendent experiences.

 

 

 

[Kubba]

2 hours ago, Giles said:

  Hide contents

 

 

You're going to have to accept that we have diametrically opposite experiences about focusing causing magnification. For example, a technique that's actually named Focusing is a basic skill without which therapy is a waste of time. By focusing on emotions (felt senses) it can be discovered that instead of magnifying them it actually dissolves them resulting in a reconciliation and reclamation of the lost/abandoned parts. It is usually perceived as a release of stored tension. This is what also happens with Shadow work using an adaption of the IFS framework that can used to successfully help not only yourself but also others.
There’s also a variation of this technique which could be described as “turning the light around” that gives rise to powerful transcendent experiences.

 

 

 

 

What you mean is placing attention on things like emotion and so on when they arise. This is correct and I don’t argue with this.

 

Please listen - there is a difference between placing attention on thoughts and feelings when they arise and purposefully looking for our shadows and purposefully evoking negativity.

 

Nothing wrong to observe our negativity when it rises, - this is indeed placing a magnifying glass of our attention on it, even good to write those down so to reflect fully. Opposite to that is not placing attention to those things, then we don’t see them, sometimes purposefully sweeping them under the carpet  

 

The world is as we see it.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Kubba

[Giles]

Spoiler

Quote

 

Although we were born predisposed to certain personality characteristics, our development was affected more by our parents’ own internal conflicts and unconscious fantasies. Beyond awareness, yours or theirs, some of your responses mirrored parts of their inner makeup that they couldn’t bear to acknowledge, upsetting them beyond their emotional tolerance.
When you acted in ways that didn’t trigger these angry emotional responses, your parents were nurturing, so you too accepted that aspect of yourself. When your responses reflected their unconscious, negative self-images, they reacted negatively. Soon you too disowned these reactions of yours as “not-me” and relegated them to the shadowy realm of your unconscious.

Unaccepted parts of ourselves are upsetting when we see them in others.

 

~Sheldon Kopp~

 

 

 

[Giles]

Spoiler

Quote

 

MORE THAN a thousand years ago, the Chinese poet Li Po wrote:

Hard is the Journey,
Hard is the Journey,
So many turnings,
And now where am I?

It seems that people have always asked this question. Many have been tempted to accept answers offered by others. It is hard to resist the invitation to certainty, to making sense of it all by becoming one of the guys, joining forces with the group.
How much heavier is the burden of making decisions on your own. How much lonelier is it to make your own way, to go on questioning everything, willing to forego tradition and others’ approval.
Ask yourself, “What do I feel?” “What do I want?”—and then follow the stirrings from within.

Once we give up needing others’ approval, we’re free to do as we please.

 

~Sheldon Kopp~

 

 

 

 

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

On 05/10/2020 at 2:08 PM, rex said:

“Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”
C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

"Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing — instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls."
Ursula K. Le Guin

 

There's certainly much that can be learned about the Shadow in the writings of Lewis and Le Guin.

 

 

 

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

On 05/10/2020 at 11:07 PM, Nungali said:

 

Hiding your shadow side  Giles ?     

 

That's just your overactive imagination Nungali.

 

 

[Nungali]

Spoiler

Then why hide everything ? 

 

.....    that's  not to say I DONT have an overactive imagination   

 

[Lairg]

The problem of only working with light is that the brighter the light the darker is the shadow, including in surrounding humans.

 

Also too much bright light can be another problem:

 

I recall long ago when living in a spiritual community there was a woman that was thought not to belong.   When approached about that she would turn up her light to maximum.   The community referred to that as turning on the headlights.  When the on-coming headlights are too bright, it is hard to see anything

 

The answer is to qualify the nature of the light being emitted.  For example the diamond light of the Buddha is sometimes less useful than the white-gold light of the Cosmic Christ.

 

There is also the issue of light being too high frequency/plane to be detected by the human.  Thus the black unicorn is properly depicted with white fringes where the high frequency light drops down into the range detectable by refined humans

 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Lairg

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

12 hours ago, Lairg said:

The problem of only working with light is that the brighter the light the darker is the shadow, including in surrounding humans.

 

That's a bit off-topic but I'll offer you some thoughts upon it.

 

The problem with working only with inner light is that it is unbalanced, as is working only with inner sound. The two must be accessed together in each sit in order to progress.

 

Furthermore, WRT inner sound there is a specific frequency that must be used. Meditation upon some other frequency or frequencies can be extremely dangerous.

 

Quote

Also too much bright light can be another problem:

 

WRT inner light that's never a problem, if someone uses the correct method.

 

Quote

I recall long ago when living in a spiritual community there was a woman that was thought not to belong.   When approached about that she would turn up her light to maximum.   The community referred to that as turning on the headlights.  When the on-coming headlights are too bright, it is hard to see anything

 

The answer is to qualify the nature of the light being emitted.  For example the diamond light of the Buddha is sometimes less useful than the white-gold light of the Cosmic Christ.

 

There is also the issue of light being too high frequency/plane to be detected by the human.  Thus the black unicorn is properly depicted with white fringes where the high frequency light drops down into the range detectable by refined humans

 

The inner light is not subject to human volition as it doesn't belong to anybody. In some traditions inner light is sometimes viewed as the first manifestation of the sound that precedes everything (e.g. "In the beginning was [is] the Word" then follows "Let there be Light"). However, ultimately, that is just an approximation and if you ponder it, you may realise (albeit merely intellectually) that everything co-arises (see: the philosophy of Dependent Origination). If you meditate correctly you will transcend the mind and know it directly.

 

Now, returning to the topic of this thread (Jungian Shadow Theory: Practical Applications), as I've explained previously, viewing what Jung labelled the Shadow as being darkness is mistaken. It is more accurate and more practically useful to visualise it as Robin Skynner explained it (those aspects of the human psyche which some people imagine belong ony to others and not to themselves).

In this context your initial assertion is accurate in that metaphorically shining a light (not the light) by highlighting any specifics about that fact may exacerbate the Shadow in those who are unable to overcome their fear of aspects of their own psyche. 

 

 

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

Everyone’s born with a built-in operating manual.

 

Families & How to Survive Them gives a pretty good overview of how people operate and how to avoid stunting children’s built-in ability to become a fully-functional adults.

 

 

TLDR: In order to facilitate healthy growth and avoid creating a Shadow in a child, all that any parent needs to do is put their own needs & wants aside, hear their child and meet their child’s fundamental needs.

 

 

If parents can't hear themselves or if they've been unable to meet all their own needs they'll obviously struggle to meet even their children's basic (i.e. deficiency) needs.

 

 

 

 

 

[Giles]

Spoiler

 

The process of Shadow formation is a process of toxic polarisation.

 

When the Shadow externalises it can be spotted most easily in the ad hominem “othering” and co-morbid virtue signalling that takes place during political “discussion” on Twitter.

 

For example, during the few years:

• Trump
• BLM
• Climate change
• Gender dysphoria
• Vaccination, mask, lockdown/travel-ban mandates
• Invasion of Ukraine

Further detail about the issue of toxic polarisation and a possible solution can be found in The Way Out.

 

 

Quote

We have cordoned ourselves off: we prefer to date and marry those with similar opinions and are less willing to spend time with people on the other side. How can we loosen the grip of this toxic polarization and start working on our most pressing problems?

 

The Way Out offers an escape from this morass.

 

The social psychologist Peter T. Coleman explores how conflict resolution and complexity science provide guidance for dealing with seemingly intractable political differences. Deploying the concept of attractors in dynamical systems, he explains why we are stuck in this rut as well as the unexpected ways that deeply rooted oppositions can and do change. Coleman meticulously details principles and practices for navigating and healing the difficult divides in our homes, workplaces, and communities, blending compelling personal accounts from his years of working on entrenched conflicts with lessons from leading-edge research.

 

The Way Out is a vital and timely guide to breaking free from the cycle of mutual contempt in order to better our lives, relationships, and country.

 

 

TLDR:

 

 

 

 

 

[Giles]

On 11/04/2022 at 11:20 PM, Nungali said:

Then why hide everything ? 

 

In fact, nothing is hidden from those who know how to observe correctly.

[Nungali]

It took 5 months to come up with that  lame comeback ? 

[Giles]

21 hours ago, Nungali said:

It took 5 months to come up with that  lame comeback ? 

 

That's actually quite funny; you imagined it was a pissing contest. 🤣

[Nungali]

No .   And that was an even lamer attempt to try and 'save face' from your above embarrassment .

[Giles]

1 hour ago, Nungali said:

No .   And that was an even lamer attempt to try and 'save face' from your above embarrassment .

 

Even funnier; you imagined that some anonymous poster wanted to "save face". 🤣

Keep them coming dude  I'm starting to have fun now.

[Nungali]

1 hour ago, Giles said:

 

Even funnier; you imagined that some anonymous poster wanted to "save face". 🤣

Keep them coming dude  I'm starting to have fun now.

 

Okay, here is a funny lame egotistical comment for you to continue giggling at  ;

 

' In fact, nothing is hidden from those who know how to observe correctly.'

[Giles]

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

Okay, here is a funny lame egotistical comment for you to continue giggling at  ;

 

' In fact, nothing is hidden from those who know how to observe correctly.'

 

QED 👍🏻

Keep diggin' old fella. 🤣

[ilumairen]

15 hours ago, Giles said:

 

QED 👍🏻

Keep diggin' old fella. 🤣

How about you both stop digging, and return to the topic of the thread?