The Shadow Self.
"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."
The Litany against Fear, from "Dune" by Frank Herbert.
Good does not become better by being exaggerated, but worse, and a small evil becomes a big one through being disregarded and repressed. The shadow is very much a part of human nature, and it is only at night that no shadows exist.
Carl Jung.
"Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man...? The Shadow Knows"
The Shadow. (Radio drama.)
Carl Jung defined the Shadow Self as "that which we think we are not." In the process of becoming All that Is, that which we think we are not must be embraced as an aspect of the Greater Self, and integrated. You may believe that you are not like your neighbor who does this or that bad thing, but if those negative qualities you judge, were not also a part of you, then they would not trigger your emotions.
You may believe that you are a spiritual person who is not cruel or unjust, but that belief is a blockage that casts a shadow that can blind you to the cruelty within your ego that is hidden. The shadow shows the "Ugly Mirror of All that Is": you are what you judge yourself not to be. You are what you judge others to be. Katie
Sometimes people resist the Shadow's reflection so much that it takes them over, like Pro-Lifers who bomb abortion clinics. So invested in their accusations of murder that they feel justified in becoming murderers themselves. Some of the most abusive passive-aggressive people I have met, insist that they are gentle nonviolent beings simply because their aggression is hidden under an ego of "good intentions".
We all have a shadow, and that shadow is a force that is both creative and destructive. We all have an inner demon who can be the violent eruption of repressed anger that makes a crime of passion, or the companion to a passionate life that makes skydiving fun because it is scary.
If the Divine Beloved is the representative of God-dess Light within, the Shadow is the reflection of the dark wall of Karma that separates you from knowing yourself as Light. It is a reflection, a dark mirror of Karma. It can perhaps best be understood, in Shamanic terms, as the Portal Guardian.
The Portal Guardian is a creature of non-dual light, unconditional love manifest. It has no duality of it's own, no emotions... it is pure light. However, in order to descend into duality-space where humans live, it must have shadow, and since it has no shades of gray within itself, it often first appears as a negative polarized image of darkest shadow. However, it truly has no darkness of it's own, it's is simply a reflection of your own fears, your Karma. It reflects your dark side.
It is the Shadow that teaches what is hidden on the dark side of the moon.
The Shadow is the voice of your conscience, reminding you of what is unforgiven. It may show up, when you are making judgments of someone else, to remind you of how you are the same as what you judge. When you make judgments of another, you are projecting your own Shadows onto them. You are seeing a reflection of your own inner judgments, not the Divine Perfection within them.
The Portal guardian is the boundary between your conscious and unconscious mind. It is the protector who keeps you from being overwhelmed by all of your memories at once, by all of the archetypes and minds of the collective consciousness,
...and it is the Gatekeeper who decides what memories are allowed to surface into your consciousness. Some people, like myself, have to learn to love the Gatekeeper unconditionally before we find access to the Twin soul of the Divine Beloved.
You know the old expressions, "the Devil made me do it"... this expression is a cop-out line for people who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions, unwilling to admit to the hidden, inner fears and desires that motivate their actions.
There is no big bad guy prince of evil. There is no supreme lord of all darkness. Nothing like that.
Why would Unconditional love make a being whose only purpose is to make your life miserable?? That makes no sense... There is no Satan.
I have done hundreds of heart chakra openings. When I am dealing with a Christian, I always be sure to get them to ask the heart voice if Satan is a real creation of God or an invention of the minds of men.
It ALWAYS denies the reality of the devil. Heart chakra says there is no being of evil sent to harm, there is only humans making up reasons for not trusting in the Unconditional love of Creator. By fear, we maintain the illusion of separateness from Creator.
Don't take my word for it, get grounded and ask your own heart: Is the Devil real?
What there is, is an inner aspect of your own Divinity, whose job it is to reflect your fears and doubts back at you so you may forgive them. People make their own demons, when they refuse to see love in the nagging voices of conscience and worry. The voice of the inner critic who shows you the fearful beliefs that are the content of your Karma.
There are only humans, being human, acting from fear instead of love... making their own demons. Free Wills is Goddess' Law, so She allows it... She knows we are truly infinite, aspects of Her Self, expressing and sharing love in a game of limitless manifestation.
Demon comes from the Latin "Daemon", which means "inner self". The Divine Beloved is Love. The Shadow is love, too... but it is unconditional love, tough love that spanks. Unconditional love as energy, not emotion.
It is an aspect of your Self that has taken on the thankless task, of being a reflection of your fears, so you can grow. It is manifest so that you can have the opportunity to face your fears, surrender them to Divine Will, and get past them. It will show you the selfish expectations hidden under your generosity, and the manipulation behind your martyrdom. It will keep you humble.
It is said, that there is an angel with a flaming sword that guards Eden, and only those who are without fear, can pass under it. Eden is Nirvana. Ascension. Heaven on Earth. To get there, you must integrate your shadow. Fear of the Devil, or not being able to love your own shadow, is a no-go. Getting past the sword is a process of learning to love your own ugliness, unconditionally, and finding a positive outlet for it. What is repressed, comes up ugly... so the shadow side reflects all the ugliness that is repressed. The parts of yourself you are ashamed of, and deny. You must learn to love them, in order to surrender them to Divine Will.
In the dark unknown of the unconscious, "here be dragons", but it is the Portal guardian who protects from those dragons, it is the boundary that protects, and makes sure the dragons come to visit one at a time, at a pace where you can make friends with them. It is the gatekeeper, and the being that keeps you from approaching the void, before you are ready. The shadow is terrifying, in proportion to your uncleared Karma. The shadow is fear of death. The closer you get, to the light, the less death seems like a scary idea.
That too, might seem like a scary idea, but consider the phenomena of NDE: Near Death experiences. People who have died and returned to life usually have the experience of going through a tunnel to come into the light of "heaven". From this it can be understood, that it is through death that we become re-unified with the Divine.
I'm not suggesting anyone kill themselves to seek unity, that is NOT the meaning. However, it is not uncommon for people who are going through the process of Kundalini, to go through a phase where it seems like death has come courting.
They have dreams of their own death, which may be quite frightening, if they are not understood as metaphor. This is not a premonition of physical death, but rather a premonition of the death of the ego. The body is not in any danger, but these dreams come at a time when the Veil of Forgetfulness is about to be torn away. When the ego is preparing to ascend into the light, so that the Higher self can fully occupy the body, to be Spirit having a Human experience. Ego death is not about death of the body, but it is about living fully, in the Light of Spirit.
