Evil and The Shadow

“Evil is a source of moral intelligence in the sense that we need to learn from our shadow, from our dark side, in order to be good.” - John Bradshaw, American philosopher.

The reality of evil has been very much in the news recently. The little town of Uvalde, Texas, USA, where a gunman slaughtered children and their teachers, will forever be associated with the reality of evil. However, this small, sleepy Texas town wasn’t the first to be impacted by evil, and it won’t be the last.

Dark Paganism honors the Self. And to truly honor oneself requires that we recognize all aspects of the self, both the good and the bad. Both the conscious and the unconscious. This means recognizing the Shadow Self.

The psychologist and philosopher Carl Jung postulated that there exist four universal components of the mind that he called archetypes. He called the four archetypes the persona, the shadow, the anima or animus, and the self.

Each person’s shadow is the product of socialization. From birth, we struggle to meet the expectations of others. In the course of trying, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that our parents and peers find unacceptable are shoved deeper and deeper into our unconscious. These unacceptable attributes settle in the unconscious like silt in a river, forming Jung’s shadow.

Just because the shadow is part of the unconscious doesn’t mean that it does not influence our behavior. On the contrary, the shadow constantly exerts a significant influence on us. We just don’t always know it.  

The key is to recognize the shadow. However, accepting the reality of the shadow doesn’t mean we have to act on it. In fact, by accepting its reality, we can consciously choose what we do and don’t want to act on from its influence.

I’m not saying that the shadow was the cause of the gunman’s murderous rampage in Uvalde, Texas. I doubt we’ll ever know what drove him to such evil acts. I’m saying that we each must strive to understand and accept the reality of our shadows. If we don’t, we risk being controlled by them and hurting ourselves and others.