Illuminating The Dark Side Of The Soul
Within each man and woman, the dim cavern of the unconscious holds our forbidden feelings, secret wishes and creative urges. Over time, these dark forces take on a life of their own, forming an intuitively recognisable figure - the shadow. The shadow is like an invisible twin, a stranger that is us, yet is not us. When the shadow is in control, we may feel overcome with rage, obsession and shame or succumb to self-destructive lies, addiction or depression. These appearances of the shadow introduce us to the Other, a powerful force that defies our efforts to tame and control it.
Meeting the shadow - seeing it - is the first step. Romancing the shadow - learning to live with it - is a life-long challenge. Shadow-work means reading the messages encoded in the events of everyday life in such a way that we gain consciousness, substance and soul. In fact, shadow-work is soul work.
'Romancing The Shadow' weaves together the rich perspectives of Carl Jung and James Hillman with timeless Greek myths, universal archetypal images and contemporary experiences of people exploring their dark sides. Breathtaking in scope and eloquent in style, this book is a landmark investigation of the soul's hidden face.