I may have mentioned this before, but probably my favorite periodical is Parabola, a quarterly journal on Myth, Tradition, and the Search for Meaning. The "Summer 1997" issue has as it's theme, The Shadow, and I believe this issue ranks as one of the best.

One of the article talks with Robert Johnson, a Jungian author who has written a book called, Owning Your Own Shadow, and I thought some of his ideas were very interesting ...

Our youth is spent in dividing characteristics into useful and not useful ones, good ones or bad ones, the sheep or the goats...

Which vary culturally.

My favorite is that in the East, you burp after a meal to let the hostess know how good the food was. In the West, we wouldn't dare do that. In India, you take your shoes off as a sign of respect in the temple or the house. Here, they won't let you in the place unless your shoes are on. In this culture, one has one , and you're damned if you try more. In many other cultures, if you're anybody, you have several wives.

He basically explains that as we grow, our culture dictates what is good and bad. The bad parts of our personality are regulated to our shadow...

The characteristics that are culled out don't go away. You can't get rid of them any more than you can get rid of the physical organs of the body. When I am taught which are right and which are wrong, the wrong ones go into the shadow. That is the definition of shadow. Shadow consists of the characteristics which are not welcome in your life.

He goes on to explain that our shadow characteristics need to come out or at least be recognized. However, it is best if these come out in a safe environment...

On a cultural level, our ancestors understood this, as so we have things like Halloween, May Day, and Mardi Gras... times when we can pretend we are someone else and live through our shadow playing practical jokes, etc.

On a personal level, many people release the shadow by writing dark and scary stories...

If the shadow isn't experienced, it begins to fester, until it begins to show up on in unwelcomed situations like nightmares, anxiety attacks and even physical illnesses. According to many of the articles in this journal, the goal of wholeness comes from accepting your shadow, by letting it out in a controlled way...

I believe that this is the reason why many people love horror movies, as it allows them to release their shadow.

We have stories like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and from South America, we have the story of the Rolling Skull, that talk about the dangers of letting one side of our being control the entire creature. A balance needs to be struck...