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In analytical psychology, the shadow (also known as ego-dystonic complex, repressed id, shadow aspect, or shadow archetype) is an unconscious aspect of the personality that does not correspond with the ego ideal, leading the ego to resist and project the shadow, leading to a conflict with it. In short, the shadow is the self's emotional blind spot - the part the ego does not want to acknowledge - projected as archetypes—or, in a metaphorical sense-image complexes, personified within the collective unconscious; e.g., trickster. Overview The development and size of the shadow runs parallel to that of the ego and its defenses. The shadow is conceptually the blind spot of the psyche; the repression of one's id, while maladaptive, prevents shadow integration, the union of id and ego. While they are regarded as differing on their theories of the function of repression of id in civilization, Freud and Jung coalesced at Platonism, wherein id rejects the nomos. Persona is contrasted against the shadow. Jung regarded the shadow as unconscious—id and biography—suppressed under the superego's ego-ideal, the way the superego wants to be. The shadow is projected onto one's social environment as cognitive distortions. However, the shadow can also be regarded as "roughly equivalent to the whole of the Freudian unconscious", and Jung himself asserted that "the result of the Freudian method of elucidation is a minute elaboration of man's shadow side unexampled in any previous age".: 63  Contrary to a Freudian definition of shadow, the idea can include everything outside the light of consciousness and may be positive or negative. Because a subject can repress awareness or conceal self-threatening aspects of the self, consensus of the idea of the shadow that it is a negative function in the self, despite the extent of the repression failing to prohibit these aspects. There are positive aspects that can remain hidden in one's shadow—especially in people with low self-esteem, anxieties, and false beliefs—with these aspects being brought to the conscious mind and exercised through analysis and therapy. It may be considered the subject's identification with id, superseded in early childhood, though it can also be influenced by early to late childhood. Jung wrote that if awareness of the projection of the shadow remains repressed, "the projection-making factor (the Shadow archetype) then has a free hand and can realize its object—if it has one—or bring about some other situation characteristic of its power", lending the idea autonomous qualities which can have consequences on the id and the ego. These projections insulate and delude individuals in society by acting as a symbolically deployed barrier between the ego and the ego-less Real. Collective shadow The collective unconscious, a concept that states that all of humanity shares some unconscious ideals, forms a projective identification with uncertainty and feelings of helplessness along with other negative feelings. This projection frequently identifies with the figure of the Devil as the "fourth" aspect of the Pauline-Christian trinity, functioning as its grounding myth. This idea can be seen in other mythologies, for instance, the ancient-Egyptian-devil Set "represents overwhelming affects". The collective shadow is ancestral and is carried by the collective experience of the human race (i.e., in-group and out-group: dehumanization; e.g., hate crime). Appearance Jung called all these figures ['Shadow, Self, Ego, Anima,' etc.] "the little people" [, a 'tongue-in-cheek' reference to Homunculus ]. The shadow aspect of the Self may appear in dreams and visions (i.e., mise-en-scène), in various forms and typically "appears as a person of the same sex as that of the dreamer.": 175  The shadow's appearance and role depend greatly on the living experience of the individual because much of the shadow develops in the individual's mind rather than simply being inherited from the collective unconscious. Nevertheless, some Jungians maintain that "the shadow contains, besides the personal shadow, the shadow of society...fed by the neglected and repressed collective values." Interactions with the shadow in dreams may shed light on one's state of mind, though it is frequently unreliable when subject to interpretation. A conversation with an aspect of the shadow may indicate that one is concerned with conflicting desires or intentions. Identification with a despised figure may mean that one has an unacknowledged difference from the character, a difference which could point to a rejection of the superego's desires. These examples refer to just two of many possible roles that the shadow may adopt, and are not general guides to interpretation. Further, it can be difficult to identify characters in dreams—"all the contents are blurred and merge into one another...'contamination' of unconscious contents": 183 —so that a character who seems at first to be a shadow might represent some other complex instead, or just be random noise from the unconscious. Jung also made the suggestion that the shadow may be made up of many layers. The top layers contain the meaningful flow and manifestations of direct personal experiences. These are made unconscious in the individual by such things as the change of attention from one thing to another, simple forgetfulness, or a repression. Underneath these specific layers, however, are the archetypes which form the psychic contents of all human experiences. Jung described this deeper layer as "a psychic activity which goes on independently of the conscious mind and is not dependent even on the upper layers of the unconscious—untouched, and perhaps untouchable—by personal experience." The shadow of Narcissus (mythology) is the vampire (i.e., despair). The Black Sun, from a book by the same name by Stanton Marlan, is an image that represents the struggle of the shadow. Encountering the shadow If the encounter with the shadow is the "apprentice-piece" in the individual's development, then that with the anima is the "master-piece."CW 9, i, §61 (cf. 9 February 1959, Letter to Traugott Egloff) As the shadow is a part of the unconscious, a method called Shadow work is practiced through active imagination with daydreaming and meditation—the experience is then mediated by dialectical interpretation through narrative and art (pottery, poetry, drawing, dancing, singing, etc.); analysts perform dreamwork on analysands, using amplification to raise the unconscious to conscious awareness. Nekyia is the descent into darkness, where the ego fades. The eventual encounter with the shadow plays a central part in the process of individuation. Jung considered that "the course of individuation...exhibits a certain formal regularity. Its signposts and milestones are various archetypal symbols" marking its stages; and of these "the first stage leads to the experience of the shadow." If "the breakdown of the persona constitutes the.... Discover the Connie Zweig Jeremiah Abrams popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Connie Zweig Jeremiah Abrams books.