November 14, 1989
In western psychology, the shadow is composed of the parts of ourselves that we don’t have conscious access to or have disowned, avoided, or shut down. These parts come from the behaviors that were not welcomed or perhaps even punished by those around us when we were young children. For example, when I was a child, and I expressed anger (or threw a tantrum), I was punished and sent to my room. As an adult I may not allow myself to express, or even feel, angry. In the Kundalini tradition these parts are called the Hidden Self and sometimes the Reactive Self. When these parts are cemented or dug-in over time, the resulting personality is called the Mask or the Subconscious Reverse Personality.
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it… But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected, and is liable to burst forth suddenly in a moment of unawareness. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.” – Carl Jung, C.W. Vol. 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East
In seeking to avoid or control these parts of ourselves that we judge undesirable, we push them underground or into the subconscious. What lives in the subconscious can begin to take on a life of its own, outside of our control, precisely because we are not conscious of it. These parts often try to get their unfulfilled needs met with a Hidden Agenda, which leads us to speak and act in ways that can shock us. It can become entrenched and begin to take over our lives, becoming a Subconscious Reverse Personality that acts against our interests. For example: If I didn’t experience acceptance as a child, my Hidden Self might make a Hidden Agenda to meet this previously unmet need. To do that, it creates an imaginary personality that it thinks will get it the acceptance it needs. This Reverse Personality may do things that are not really in my best interests or that don’t reflect who I really am, in order to meet its need for acceptance, and they may operate outside of my control.
