“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” -Carl Jung

We’ve all heard about the “dark” shadow, but just in case you haven’t, here is a quick overview.

Our shadow is our accrued “darkness”, all the things that we have buried down in our subconscious. Things that we may be ashamed of, afraid of, or in denial of. Psychologist Carl Jung said, “the shadow is the person you’d rather not be”. He believed that the shadow is composed of desires, instinctual thoughts, our primitive side, and irrational beliefs.

They are the things that we perceive as “weak” and “shameful” about ourselves so we try to hide or deny them.

The shadow is something that every human has, and most people are not even aware that it is a thing, although with the continuous knowledge being shared about it in this day and age, I believe more people are becoming aware of it.

Now, on to the golden shadow!

You can spot small fractions of your golden shadow in moments when you are experiencing a deep admiration for someone you look up to. That’s just one example. The golden shadow is our submerged potential and greatness! It is our untapped, unlimited, and often disowned creative potential!

Why is it disowned you may ask?

Well, let’s consider when we were young.

Perhaps there was something that we enjoyed doing and it was completely natural to us, but maybe our parents or caregivers did not approve.

The shame around that can cause us to feel the need to bury it and move on to what is forced upon us as “the right thing”. One of those “that’s not a real job/career” type things that may have been said to us.

Our golden shadows are those things that we see and admire in others, but we do not claim those things for ourselves. We seem to have trouble with claiming our most positive and creative characteristics and attributes that exist within us. (I feel like “imposter syndrome” fits into this pattern.) We tend to believe the stories that we may have been told and that we tell ourselves that we’re not good enough.

This is why “shadow work” is so important.

Shadow work is the process of going within and facing that darkness, accepting it, embracing it, and integrating it back into you. Through this process, only then can you be made whole, complete.

For example, if we can acknowledge and accept things about ourselves such as our anger, then we can learn to set better boundaries.

This can also help us to have better relationships. If we are able to accept ourselves and understand ourselves, then we will also be more likely to accept and understand those around us.

We have a tendency to project our own unconscious shadows onto others. An example of this could be if you get irritated by someone you think is “lazy”, but the reality could be that it is you who are inactive. It’s something that you may be failing to see or you may be in denial of.

I know, I know. Doing this work includes a lot of “hard pills to swallow.” 😖

It is the going within and working through all of the dark and muck of our shadow side that we can start to access the forgotten greatness of ourselves.

In doing this work, we can find it easier to embrace our golden shadow, step out of our comfort zone, and bring forth the best in ourselves.

✨Don’t be afraid to share your gifts with the world! ✨

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.” -Marianne Williamson