Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche Kindle Edition

Despite some negative reviews I bought this book because it spoke to me. Not only was I not disappointed but I found this book to be a powerful tool in my recovery and renewal arsenal.I have been struggling with a number of issues just about my entire fifty year life (all of which is discussed at chris.cdebaca.com). At some point I found myself looking for material on understanding my own shadow. When I read the description for this book it was as if I found the key to another lock on my path of life - it surely was just that.After reading it I find myself wanting to read it again. Fortunately I have the kindle edition and used the available tools to highlight and annotate notes along the way. The second time around I am sure I will get just as much as I did the first go and anticipate some new revelations.Bottom line: I did not find all the 'answers' in this book, what I found was confirmation I am on the right path and some additional insight into my nature as a human being. Here is the best gift of all, I know I will never be divine but understand how my human nature lends power to my spiritual being and how the two really rely on each other on this journey I am on.

My therapist always had great book recommendations, and this is one of them. I actually went on to read Robert Johnson's "We" and "She" because of this book. It's a very insightful book, and it isn't too heavy on the psychological jargon for someone who isn't studying to be a therapist or psychologist. Easy to understand and filled with stories and references to myth that make it engaging as well. I've recommended his books to lots of friends who are struggling with themselves or relationships...or both.

This is a well written quick read about the historical place of the shadow in the human psyche. He uses religious terms to bring it to life that he redefines to help with visualization. If your own shadier self has problems with Christianity then you will get hung up in his illustrations. Free your mind and you'll be joyed at the necessity of balance and tension that all the greats have alluded to.

I really liked this book. I had heard of the shadow but never really understood it. This book does a good job at explaining the shadow in a simple way. I still feel like i don't fully grasp the concept 100% so I will be reading it again. The only thing Id change about this book is it would be nice if it gave practical examples of honoring your shadow in every day life. Your shadow cannot be erased, the more you know, the more you add to it. Honoring the shadow and understanding that its just as integral as your ego is all part of the process of finding the balance. But the book doesnt do much in the way of guiding you through that process in your personal life. But maybe after my second reading, ill have a better understanding and thus better equipped to guide myself. Id recommend this book and Id be lying if i said that I havent been ever more conscious of my shadow than Ive ever been before. And I truly feel like my quality of life has improved in some ways. Ill do a follow-up review after my next reading...

First of all, who is this guy anyway? Book jacket doesn't say. Previous publishing is obscure? 1991, same time as Iron John by Robert Bly which also informs about one's shadow? And R. Bly very good 1988 Little Book of the Human Shadow.Some little nuggets so far:1) That real gold might be stored in, shoved into, ignored in one's personal shadow.2) That the subconscious can't tell the difference between a symbolic gesture or real/concrete action?3) Good thing to know that the subconscious loves bargaining rather than command.4) Mandorla new to me this shape and it's possible importanceJulia Cameron, The Artist's Way, discussed the necessity to bargain.It's only because of the review for R. Bly Little Book of the Shadow that I looked at this author. Completely unknown to me even though Jungian readings for over twenty years.Who is this guy? What I mean is that I've never heard of him and credentials are sketchy. This book needed lots of editing & I still suspect it was published in 1991 to compete with Robert Bly and other.

Love this little book!!! Author clearly explains how denying our dark side (anger, jealousy, resentment, etc. ad Infinitum), also keeps us out of touch with our light side, our talents, gifts, etc.He also explains that after repressing the shadow for s period of time causes our darkness to build up like a lava done in a semi-dormant volcano. It then begins to leak out beyond our awareness and control... It can lead to explosive eruptions of rage, or worse, beyond our control. Take the "born again Christian Dennis Raider", president of his church, and living an outwardly upright life, right? Yet his shadow was addicted to murder... Addicted to torturing innocent victims... He lived a Christian Life, compartmentalizing the serial murder self off into an underground, secret room but eventually that hateful, sadistic killer took over and demanded acknowledgement... Hence, BTK could have benefitted from psychotherapy and this easy to comprehend book.Neither denying or giving into our shadow but embracing all of ourselves is the path to healing.

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.

What a load of utter tripe. I’ve lost several hours of my life reading this which I will never get back. Initially I had my interest antennae swivelling because it was recommended to me, but as I turned page after annoying page it became increasingly clear that this book is a self-serving load of self-indulgent god-bothering crap, in which the author has written himself around an academic discourse so far he’s gone up his own backside. In the description there is no mention of it being a mainly religious writing, but professes it to contain psychological analysis, of which there is none. If I’d known this I would not have purchased. He uses only irrelevant & totally unrelatable examples, mostly quotes the bible and bases all his writings on clearly narrow assumptions from a middle class, white, American, christian & academic viewpoint. Waste of time, money & effort, as he fails to actually explain any of the concepts he tries to introduce, he just waffles his way around them without actually saying anything. Would’ve given it minus 5 stars if possible.

This short book gives a clear and succinct explanation of how we project outwards both the negative and positive aspects of ourselves that we do not yet own (the shadow). It explains how embracing the shadow and integrating paradox is possible and why it is so important. In both individual relationships and in society, the avoidance of our shadow is destructive. The journey of integrating the shadow offers a new depth and richness to life. Although the book is an excellent read, I have given it four stars rather than five as it does not emphasise the importance of feeling in embracing the shadow (which Michael Brown emphasises in 'Alchemy of the Heart'), nor does it emphasise how the shadow manifests itself in circumstances (an issue which Debbie Ford's 'Dark Side of the Light Chasers' covers well). But this is still a very good guide to an an issue that is vital for humanity to understand at this stage in our evolution.

This is an uncomfortable read for anyone who thinks at all about they own behaviour. Everyone has a shadow - that is qualities in their personality which they are not aware of and which they often project on to other people. Anyone we meet and take an instinct dislike to could be the recipient of a shadow projection from us. As human beings we tend to be very good at recognising other people's bad qualities while being totally blind to those same qualities in ourselves. The author makes clear that it is not just the unacceptable aspects of our own personalities which we project and we may be projecting qualities which could be of immense value in our own lives if we could only recognise and reclaim them.We need to accept all of our own personalities and characters or we will constantly find them coming back to bite us in unexpected ways. This is a lifetime job and most of it will never completely acknowledge all of our own qualities but we need to make the attempt. A thought provoking read.

This is interesting as a theoretical and philosophical introduction to Jungian shadow integration, but it only really goes as far as explaining what the shadow is and why it’s important to “own” it, without really spending much time explaining how one is meant to do that.The book’s title made it seem like it would be a more directly therapeutic text, with, for example, exercises for the reader to carry out in order to better identify and incorporate their shadow, but it doesn’t really offer anything of that sort.Wouldn’t recommend. Too much “why you should” and not enough “how to”.

I bought this 3 years ago, but it was only on second reading, in shadow, in complete crisis (I picked it up “accidentally” to throw it out (!), that it truly spoke to me. I thought it was amazing. Have never really understood meaning of jungian shadow before, but I definitely got closer. The whole Mandorla subject at the end was new and so interesting too.