What is the shadow in Jungian psychology

The shadow is the sum of the qualities a person does not see in themselves, or does not want to see. The term was introduced by C. G. Jung. It is not the “bad side” — it is simply the part we have not admitted to.

There is one reliable way to spot it: we project it onto others. What irritates you about someone out of all proportion is more often yours than theirs.

Why it is worth knowing

The shadow does not disappear because you look away. It comes out in other ways — in outbursts, in what you avoid, or in the people you keep drawing towards you.

Jung summed it up in the thought that what you do not look at within, you will live through outside — and call it fate.

How the shadow is read from a chart

From the places where a force in the chart has no clear path — tense aspects, planets in difficult positions, parts of the chart that contradict each other. These are exactly the places that are harder to live, and so they are the first to be pushed aside.