A Little Book on the Human Shadow

Robert Bly, renowned poet and author of the ground-breaking bestseller Iron John, mingles essay and verse in this profound work of mythology and Jungian psychology to explore the Shadow—the dark side of the human personality—and the importance of this inner work in confronting it.

What happens when we ignore the parts of ourselves we’ve locked away?

• The Long Bag We Drag Behind Us: Discover Bly’s famous metaphor for the repressed parts of our personality and why retrieving them is the key to a full life.
• Eating the Shadow: Learn the practical, transformative process of reclaiming lost energy by integrating the unconscious―what Bly calls ‘eating the shadow.’
• Projection and Perception: Understand how we project our own darkness onto others, from personal relationships to national politics, and how to take that power back.
• Mythology as a Map: Explore timeless stories like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to see how ancient myths provide a guide for modern inner work.

Robert Bly's books of poetry include The Night Abraham Called to the Stars and My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy. His awards include the National Book Award for poetry and two Guggenheims. He lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota.