Recommended Reading
Other topics:
The Human Shadow
A Little Book on the Human Shadow, Robert Bly. HarperSanFrancisco, 1988.
This “little” book contains a huge amount of life-changing information.
The Human Shadow, Robert Bly. Audiocassettes of a live lecture, edited by
William Booth, Sound Horizons, 1991.
This is a lecture given at the Open
Center in New York on the subjects covered in that “little” book above, and it
is without a doubt the single best work ever done by any one individual on the
human shadow. It’s dated now—he’s referring to George Sr., not George Jr.—
but it’s powerful. Bly uses poetry, story, music and compassion for his audience
to talk kindly yet forcefully about the human shadow. If you can listen to this
whole lecture without feeling uneasy about something, you’re dead already.
Perhaps if enough of us ask for it Sound Horizons will update and re-release this
lecture on CD.
Evil, The Shadow Side of Reality, John Sanford. Crossroad Publishing, New
York, 1994.
Don’t let the title scare you off. This is a very good book. Sanford
is an Episcopalian priest as well as a well-known Jungian psychologist and author,
so he’s examining the ever present problem of evil from several perspectives:
psychological, Christian, philosophical, mythological and literary.
Meeting the Shadow, The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature,
Edited by Connie Zweig & Jeremiah Abrams. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1991.
This is a treasure chest of information about the human shadow—it contains 65
different essays on the human shadow by everyone from Sam Keen to Scott Peck.
Highly recommended.
Owning Your Own Shadow, Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche,
Robert A. Johnson. HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
Johnson is a Jungian analyst
and the author of Inner Work, listed below in Dreamwork. Here he emphasizes
the necessity of looking beyond opposites, the importance of consciously
honoring the shadow, and the value of embracing paradox.
People of the Lie, the Hope for Curing Human Evil, M. Scott Peck.
Touchstone, 1985.
In this book Peck examines what often lies underneath the
“nice” in what we refer to as a “nice” person. It’s well worth examining. As Jung
said once, “I’d rather be whole than good.”
Romancing the Shadow, A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life,
Connie Zweig & Steve Wolf. Ballantine Wellspring, 1999. Paperback; (or) Romancing the Shadow, Illuminating the Dark Side of the Soul, Connie
Zweig & Steve Wolf, Ballantine Books, 1997. Hardcover.
The “introduction
to shadow-work” in these books is thorough and informative, as is the authors’
explanation of the difference between the over-medicated medical model of
psychology and the more introspective Jungian approach. Then they delve into
numerous case histories illustrating how the human shadow effects life and
relationships. Easy to read and extremely helpful.
Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales, Marie-Louise von Franz. Spring Publications,
1974.
As a student and close friend of Jung’s, von Franz has a unique historical
perspective. Plus, her writing is warm-hearted, direct and uncluttered. This
book examines how the shadow manifests in civilizations through fairy tales. More books by von Franz below in Jungian Thought.
SHADOW Searching for the Hidden Self, Archetypes of the Collective
Unconscious,
Vol. 1, Anthology, Tarcher/Putnam, 2002.
This gorgeous book has an
introduction by Robert Bly and 24 different stories by authors like Stephen King,
Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Sexton, Edgar Allen Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Plus, it’s illustrated on practically every page with full-color-artwork by modern
American artists. A beautiful, chilling glimpse into the shadow of America
through literature and art.
Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves, James
Hollis. Gotham Books, Penguin Group, 2007.
Alas, our good intentions are
often thwarted by our bad attitudes. And Hollis is brave enough to look at how
unrecognized shadow material affects us culturally as well as personally. Our
search for the “Other” as he calls it, for someone who’ll take care of us—or
someone we can blame—ultimately leads us right back to ourselves.