Apparently “Jung’s ‘Golden Shadow’” is one of those things like some of the well-intentioned but misquoted, misinterpreted, or kind of just made up things listed on the Buddha poster I bought at Blockbuster Video, back when they were still a thing. Carl Jung never actually used that phrase, as far as I could determine.

However, there are some interesting concepts he did bring up. I found a great quote on Carrie Mallon’s blog. https://carriemallon.com/blog/the-golden-shadow/

(I love her Tarot interpretations of the Wild Unknown deck and was delighted to see she’d discussed this topic in fair detail back in January of this year.)

If it has been believed hitherto that the human shadow was the source of evil, it can now be ascertained on closer investigation that … (the) shadow does not consist only of morally reprehensible tendencies, but also displays a number of good qualities, such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights & creative impulses. -Carl Jung

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The theoretical idea of a “Golden Shadow,” while deemed an “unnecessary neo-Jungian invention” by a forum participant Mallon had discovered, might still have some usefulness.

Mallon goes on to quote a passage from Tarot Celebrations by Geraldine Amaral & Nancy Brady Cunningham. As they observe, the Golden Shadow contains “…your highest potentials and abilities, the inner aspect of yourself which is your best and brightest aspects (which) may not yet manifest themselves in your life.”

What I really liked about the idea of the Golden Shadow, which I just bumped into, was an emphasis on creativity and imagination.

Therapist Shelley Klammer had a fascinating post about the Golden Shadow on her blog. My favorite parts involved the subconscious mind’s inability to distinguish between past and present, meaning one can travel back to difficult periods of one’s life and imagine an alternate outcome until the alternative memory convinces the body that was how the events truly unfolded.

I’ve visualized meeting my childhood self and hugging her. I think that’s adjacent– fulfilling one’s own unmet needs.

Klammer also stressed that this imaginative play within the mind is particularly effective for people with creative tendencies, which naturally sparked my interest.

Here’s a link to the entire post: https://intuitivecreativity.typepad.com/expressiveartinspirations/2012/02/the-golden-shadow.htm

I’m not sure I agree that we choose to injure ourselves in ways that distress those in our lives, as a response to trauma… the wording of that rather irked me. Maybe in the most abstract sense, I agree that unhealed trauma perpetuates itself; however, I think there’s also room to believe that it takes time and distance and maturation of the whole self to begin the necessary healing.

Do we choose depression? I don’t think so, myself. Maybe it passes down through families, through communities, etc.

I’ve seen a great reel about that subject on Instagram, about how pain travels through families demanding to be felt until someone arrives who breaks generational trauma. The actual verbiage was more poetic than that, but that was the overall gist.

Nonetheless, this quote from Klammer’s post stood out to me: “Your unique gifts live behind the gate of your emotional pain.”

Creativity can be such a healing thing.

Personally, I know I function so much better, even sleep better, and experience generally less anxiety and depression, when I’m regularly involved in creative activity.

Creativity is also a mindset that can be applied to the everyday, like snapping a photo of an oil slicked rain puddle on your way to your car, or creative solutions to day-to-day problems, and many other things besides.

This blog has been an awesome medium for me to express myself, and share my thoughts and creative projects.

Have any of you heard about the “Golden Shadow?”

P.S.: While I didn’t find it in time for my Shadow Work post on Self-Sabotage, the featured image in this post is a photo I took of my own shadow while I was on a walk, I believe during the shutdown period of the pandemic. I added some gold to it for flavor. Enjoy!