Understanding the Shadow side of ourselves is one of the major challenges to humanity today, particularly as it holds the key to transforming ourselves and, thereby, our world. Many of us have heard the term 'Shadow' without really understanding what it means. Perhaps we have some vague idea that it may be a rather undesirable part of ourselves and feel that it is best ignored. Maybe we imagine it to be dark, or evil and, consequently, tend to be rather afraid of it and avoid the whole issue. Thus, the subject of the Shadow often remains a mystery, swathed in misunderstandings.
It was Carl Jung who first popularised the concept of the Shadow
in his work with the unconscious aspects of the self. In The Healing Power of Illness
(Element Books Ltd.) Dethlefsen and Dahlke define it as "The sum of all those rejected aspects of reality which people either cannot, or will not, see within themselves and of which they are therefore unconscious." The Shadow is actually a component of the Self, more than just the sum of its parts, and since it is always with us and holds so much of our life energy, anyone serious about increasing self-awareness or about growing spiritually, must, of necessity, tangle with this Shadow Self for the reasons we shall examine below.
A way that I find helpful in understanding the Shadow is as follows. When we are born, we accept our world as it is. We do not judge ourselves, the situations in which we find ourselves, or our interactions, as either right or wrong. At this stage, our sense of self could be pictured as spherical, rather like a huge beach ball, representing the totality of all that is. We do not differentiate into good or bad. We do not feel that we should not be this, or that we should be that. We just are.
Within a short time we begin to learn in very practical ways that this is a reality of duality.
We learn that there are expectations of us already firmly in place, that certain behaviour attracts positive responses and other behaviour attracts negative responses. We learn that we are required to live up to those expectations in order to be loved, to fit into the roles in which we have been cast, with the family dynamic, with the society into which we have incarnated. As we need love in order to survive, we learn to adapt ourselves. Thus, the process of splitting off parts of ourselves commences and we begin to divide that sphere into what we accept as part of ourselves and what we reject.
Ultimately, we have to come to an inner understanding of this. We have to deal with
each aspect, even that which we have discarded, as it holds part of our energy which
we need to transmute and transform. And the Shadow is here to help us.
Illness and crisis occur when we refuse to hear the whispers urging to us change
voluntarily. The Shadow can be a very valuable teacher, if we choose to work with it.
So how can flower essences help us with this? The South African Flower Essences
produce a wide range of essences that includes several individual ones aimed, specifically, at working with the Shadow Self.
Chinkerinchee Essence is the essence that brings in a resonance of integrity,
so important if we are to face truthfully that which we have hidden for so long.
It assists us in developing the ability to be honest with ourselves and to act with purity
of motive. Borage Essence can provide a valuable boost when this courage is needed.
Strelitzia Essence helps us focus and persevere, giving us clarity of purpose and
the ability to hold the vision of what we want to become and create for ourselves.
Disa Essence is recommended for when it all feels too much and we hit despair
and hopelessness. These are major issues we are facing and we should not underestimate the power of the emotions that may be unleashed.
Cancer Bush Essence works remarkably to assist us in confronting and transforming the ugly,
or dark, aspects of our own nature. Meet and integrate these demons and there is little to fear in the outside world. The Shadow draws people, circumstances and experiences to us so that we can become whole. When we find ourselves battling in the inner world, confronting fears that are generated by the disowned parts of ourselves, Cancer Bush Essence is the one to use. If this generates fear, Coral Tree Essence is amazing for alleviating such feelings when they are generalised.
Another important essence for dealing with violent or abusive aspects
which we have projected outward is Wild Ginger Essence. It facilitates the owning and
accepting of these aspects, drawing them out of shadow consciousness and allowing them to be transmuted. Geranium Incanum Essence can also be of particular value in such destructive or vengeful relationships, where we find ourselves attracting violent, threatening situations in our lives.
One major function of the Shadow is that of holding emotions for us which are too intense to deal with when we first experience them. English Hawthorne Essence is for intense grief, when our hearts are broken, when the hurt and anguish are unbearable. Dog Rose Essence works, similarly, with unexpressed grief facilitating expression and integration of the pain. Peach Essence assists us with the effects of past trauma, or grief, which continue to effect the present. The beautiful blue Water Lily, indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope, has been used for the Water Lily Essence which benefits us when we have numbed ourselves against the pain and simply deny what we feel.
Another way we seek wholeness is by incorporating our masculine and feminine sides in balance and harmony with each other. Take a look at your interaction with the men and women in your life to gain insight into the relationship between your inner male and female. If you don't like what you see, change the inner world. The South African Inner Male Essence and Inner Female Essence Combination Essences are a valuable adjunct to growth when working with these aspects of self.
Because so much of the resistance to growth and to attaining enlightenment is tied up in the Shadow, the South African Lotus Essence works on a very powerful, spiritual level. It is of great assistance in helping us integrate and incorporate our Shadow Selves. It connects us to the resonance of our Higher Selves, breaking down the resistance to growth. It allows us to release the pain and anger of the past and transmute the energy to a higher level.
This, ultimately, is the gift of the Shadow Self - to use the discarded aspects of self it has lovingly kept for us throughout our lifetime and become whole.
Editor's Note: A version of this article was also published in "I'm Fine - Learning to
Unblock your Emotion" by Dr Andrew Tressider, and published by Macmillan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jannet Unite-Penny made the South African Flower
Essences on the slopes of the magical Table Mountain in the Cape of Good
Hope, which lies at the southern tip of Africa. Here the energy ley lines,
which run the length of the continent, converge, amplifying and focusing the
continental energy. Table Mountain is an enormously powerful energy site and
is regarded by many as one of the twelve chakras of the planet. The San
(Bushman) and African people hold it as a sacred place of healing in their
traditions. For more information -- and more articles -- visit the South African
Flower Essences web
site. These essences are distributed in the United States by Healing Waters.
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