according to the depth psychological tradition, the shadow is a term used to describe aspects of our psyche that are essentially hidden from our conscious ego. the shadow consists of complexes that are submerged in the subconsious because they do not fit into our ego's accepted view of itself or reality. a shadow is something that is created when a light source is blocked by an object, and in the case of the psyche, we tend to associate the shadow complexes with this image of darkness and ambiguousness (shadows can look very different from the object that is casting it). however, if we were to accept that the shadow is a patch of darkness then we are essentially saying that the source of the light is outside of ourselves, and that our ego represents that object which is casting the shadow.

when i was about 15 years old i had a dream... the dream was seemingly uneventful but it struck me, then and now,as the most important i would ever have. i dreamt that i was outside, in a sort of meadow, but there was a cliff in front of me, and the cliff was at sich a height that i could jump high enough to just see over the top of the cliff onto this beautiful plateau. the plateau was a neverending green meadow and overhead was the most beautiful aurora one could ever imagine. it was the kind that came both from earth and sky, with pink light waves dancing everywhere. i jumped and jumped, stealing glances of this perfect paradise, knowing that i could not, at the time, climb that cliff and get to this level of divine beauty. i was so close, yet i simply could not make it. i awoke not feeling hopeless or sad, but rather exalted at the experience of having witnessed this amazing sight.

i don't think our shadow is a shadow at all. if the shadow and the subconscious contain the wealth of knowledge of ourselves, our families, our ancestors, and all of mankind, than how could it be dark. i believe that our shadow is really our light, and the reason that we cannot fully comprehend these hidden complexes is not because they contain some dark wounds inflicted upon us in childhood, but rather, because they contain the magic and beauty of the entire universe, and we are simply too small to be able to contain that wisdom. from now on, i think we should call the subconscious, the conscious, and the shadow, the light.