Our Shadow Selves are those dark and mysterious places within us that we have refused to shine the “light” on, for one reason or another. The human shadow contains every thought, feeling, desire, and personality trait that we have rejected or suppressed.
How dominant is your Shadow Self and what effect does this have on your life? Find out by taking our free Shadow Self Test.
I’ve been extremely spiritual and gifted since I was born, but I just discovered it recently. I’m 51 years old and all my life I’ve tried to ignore and hide what I couldn’t from others about the REAL ME, because I was teased, bullied, hurt and so much worse. I just turned 51 yesterday and the last 6 years EVERYTHING has come back to me FULL FORCE. I can’t run or hide from my true self any longer and I don’t want to. I’m always looking for help with all of these things I’m trying to process and I’m very thankful for your site. I’ve tried to talk to others about all this and all they want to do is refer me to counselors, psychiatrists and other crap like that. Those things don’t help me. I just wanna talk with people about my experiences and have real friends, with real connections. Right now it’s pretty lonely and I’m having a really hard time with all of this, but I know that I don’t need people who don’t understand trying to make me conform to their beliefs, rules or systems. Please don’t think I’m crazy like most do and suggest I see some kind of “help”. I just wanted to share this and hopefully, someday I will have some close friends that I can really trust. Maybe have some lifelong connections.
Much Love & Light Always
Namaste
I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling alone with this Anna. It really is quite a lonely path sometimes (hence our websites name). What you describe as deep connections and friendships is something many of us struggle with, all these topics are very much peripheral to societies values but slowly it’s becoming more main stream. This hopefully means we’ll be able to create those connections we crave. That said, I do think the counselor approach is still very helpful. As someone who has training in counseling, there’s a broad variety of people who use these ‘systems’ in different ways and operate from the heart, but the methods/systems help protect you both from ‘overflowing into each other’ as can often be done when dealing with these delicate topics. It’s not a ‘friend’, but they can serve immensely in guiding us and helping us feel seen, if only our shadows don’t get in the way of accepting their help.
All the best!
I never knew why I felt depressed and I found out why. One thing that at five yrs old I didn’t know how to deal with shaped my pain and kept me around toxic people. I cut them All out of my life and I am happier.
What does it mean if you do a lot of shadow/inner work and your actual shadow becomes huge?
If your shadow seems to become larger, it might mean that you’re focusing on it more, F. After all, whatever we focus on in life tends to enlarge. Because your shadow was previously in the background, it may have seemed smaller than what it actually was. In any case, I’d recommend seeking out a depth psychologist (guides who work with the shadow) if things get too tricky or overwhelming.
MEDIUM Shadow Self That’s what I got, and after the other on point test results I have zero doubts that this results is correct. So I have a new thing on my schedule. Thank you 7 3 8 3 7
Me & my SMALL shadow… The quiz results indicate that I’m fairly well-adjusted, as in “don’t tame your demons, but keep ’em on a leash” (Hozier). Even so, for me and hopefully for others like me, let us not underestimate the potential of finding good things in small packages! We are all “the entire ocean in a tiny drop,” the “universe in a nutshell” and “infinity in an hour.” Shadow work is necessary, even for the lil ones :) Thank you, friends, for the opportunity to utilize the Shadow Self Workbook and for the work and wisdom shared on your site. Be blessed, Beloved!
Great reminder Dodi, the shadow can easily sneak up on us especially when we feel ‘free’ from it.
LARGE Shadow Self
You most likely have a LARGE or significant Shadow Self buried deep within your unconscious mind. Almost all of us are raised believing that we have to hide, repress, or reject parts of ourselves which are “unlovable,” “unacceptable” or “taboo.” Every outlawed part within us forms what Jungian psychoanalysts call “the Shadow Self.” As a result, most people have Shadows, or dark sides. However, the longer we repress parts of ourselves, the bigger our Shadows grow. This can lead to problems such as self-hatred, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, neuroticism, and relationship dysfunction.
As you have a large Shadow Self, you might find that your Shadow frequently sabotages your happiness, work life success, and relationship harmony.
Interesting Abby, so that the assessment you have on me or my answering the questions?
Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about Shadow work also take the tests to assess myself.
I usually examine my experiences, engage in self-conversation to see what is happening within me.
There are things i am already doing but did not know was part od Shadow Work. Now i can integrate this
as continue my shadow work. So thank you for this new adventure in shadow work.
I cannot do any tests. I click the freebies page, select tests, and there are no links or prompts for me to follow that allows me to take the tests.
Hey Cassie, it sounds like it could be a conflict in your local cache. Can you try using a different browser or using incognito/private mode in your current browser? This should fix it.
This website is exactly what I needed, I’ve been on my journey for just over a year after 45 years of being in a rudderless ship, and lately I’ve felt stagnant and in search of the next step or direction to take. I feel renewed and am going to review the material again and think it over as I was thinking shadow work journal was perfect, but after reading everything I may start with the inner child journal. What I know for sure, my intuition is telling me that no matter which this website contains the next leg of my journey. Thank you for being a guiding light.