Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature

Now updated with a new epilogue--an essential read for anyone interested in Shadow Work

Cheating... lying ... jealousy ... blaming ... greed ... shame… These forbidden feelings and behaviors erupt from the dark, denied part of ourselves-the personal shadow. But they erupt with a purpose: They are trying to tell us their secrets.

Meeting the Shadow is a landmark collection of 65 wide-ranging essays by thought leaders – including Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Ken Wilber, James Hillman, Susan Griffin, Harville Hendrix—on the dark side of human nature as it appears in families, intimate relationships, sexuality, work, spirituality, politics, therapy, and creativity. It presents tools for Shadow Work that enable us to make a conscious relationship with the shadow, defuse negative emotions, release guilt and shame, achieve a genuine self-acceptance, and heal our relationships.

Although we think of the shadow as containing only darkness, as Jung stated, its essence is "pure gold.”

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. –C.G. Jung

Connie Zweig, Ph.D., is also author of Romancing the Shadow; Meeting the Shadow on the Spiritual Path; The Inner Work of Age; and a novel, A Moth to the Flame: The Story of Sufi Poet Rumi. Her Podcast, Dr. Neil’s Spiritual Awakening to Non-Duality, posts on all platforms. 

Jeremiah Abrams worked as a Jungian therapist in Northern California and retreat leader in Ubud, Bali, until 2022.