Images of demonic forces are universal. They exist everywhere. These images appear to speak of the shadow side of human nature. The shadow is the partner to the light. There cannot be one without the other. We each possess a shadow side which cannot be refused by neglect, tamed by good behaviour or silenced by the voices of piety, but instead is integrated into wholeness.However, embracing the unloved is both painful and challenging.
This 'invisible twin' which lives just behind our life, or just beside our life, is the shadow ... created in the dark cavern of the unconscious by those feelings which make us uneasy (hatred, rage, jealousy, greed, competition, shame, lust) and the by those behaviours which are deemed wrong by our culture (addiction, laziness, dependency) ... producing what can be called the shadow content.
It is the dark twin of fairy tale and myth; it is the archetypal devil ... and the split in the self is a rift or wound waiting to be healed. It exists as the battle between 'good' and 'evil'. The battle of these two principles is perhaps the most fundamental of all themes. It takes shape as legend,
myth, epic saga, folklore and is the inescapable impact of a history riven by war, crime and despicable acts ... yet these are paradoxically matched by heroism and generosity.
Jung provides a psychological key to this conundrum through the concept of the shadow ... that unwanted, despised and destructive force within the self: 'to become conscious of it involves recognising the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. The act is the essential condition of any kind of self knowledge and it therefore as a rule meets with considerable resistance.'
Meeting with The Shadow in the self demands personal courage, honesty and truthfulness ...
Source: The Kabbalah Experience by Naomi Ozaniec