Page 22 - NAMAH-Jul-2021

Beholding our dark shadows

Poorva Sharma

Abstract
Any spiritual practice or self-growth endeavour involves coming to terms with our own share
of darkness, emotional pain, trauma and the many ways we unconsciously sabotage our growth
possibilities. According to Jungian psychology, each one of us has a part personality in our
unconscious which Jung called the ‘shadow’, that is everything about us which is unpleasant or
painful to emotionally integrate. To integrate the shadow, however, is not only important but also
extremely enriching because it makes us more authentic, whole, integrated and sensitive, as well
as it frees up founts of repressed energies and saves us from stagnation. This article also looks at
some aspects of the shadow through the help of a dream.

Man’s house of life holds not the gods alone:
There are occult Shadows, there are tenebrous Powers,
Inhabitants of life’s ominous nether rooms,
A shadowy world’s stupendous denizens.
A careless guardian of his nature’s powers,
Man harbours dangerous forces in his house.
The Titan and the Fury and the Djinn
Lie bound in the subconscient’s cavern pit
And the Beast grovels in his antre den:
Dire mutterings rise and murmur in their drowse (1).”

When we speak of spirituality or yoga, images of peace, light, bliss, health, unity, oneness, etc. pop
up in our heads. Indeed, these are our ultimate hope and aspirations of undertaking sadhana and
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