The shadow material consists of the supressed and repressed material in the unconscious mind which has been blocked off from conscious awareness
Now when we think of the shadow we think only that the anxiety provoking negative thoughts , feelings and emotions are repressed
But as much as we fear our negativity and anxiety
We also fear our greatness and positivity
This repression of the positive qualities in a person gives rise to what is called the golden shadow
How many times have we seen people respond when we appreciate them that No I dint do it , it was by luck , it was by chance , it was by god’s grace ,so people aren’t ready to accept their good qualities and their greatness and this leads to their supression and repression
When these positive qualities get pushed into the unconscious they are not seen as a part of oneself but are instead projected onto the outside world
Jung called the golden shadow as “ *the submerged unlimited creative potential which has been forgotten* “
Projection of golden shadow is rampant in our culture without us even realising it
Deity and idol worship
The idea of worshipping an all powerful God , a Mythic figure with magical powers , supernatural abilities and all the virtues that one can imagine is a prime example of golden shadow projection
So what actually happens is when you worship a diety , you are projecting your own positive qualities on the object of worship and those qualities then seem to be lacking in you
Thus the idea presented to us by the worlds great religion and wisdom traditions that we humans are lowly , sinful beings that need to please and worship a god that is outside of us who possess all the good qualities that we lack and can bring us well being and salvation is an example of golden shadow projection
Another example of golden shadow projection is the intense admiration of celebrities , rockstars , and athletes , so much so that they become known as gods in their respective fields
When in reality what is happening is we are projecting our own submerged creative potential on them and then feeling inferior to them and then elevating them to a god like status
Whereas the older generation had photos of god’s and goddesses on their walls , the newer generation now has photos of celebrities on their walls
Now this does not mean that we should not worship a god nor does it mean that we should not admire the good qualities in others but when doing so we should not feel that we lack those qualities and feel inferior to them
But instead when we experience an intense admiration for someone to the point that we start getting goosebumps we should realise that we being so much inspired by this quality that we are willing to invest our time and energy in it means that we have this quality which has been forgotten and supressed and then engage in the golden shadow retrieval process
This process involves reowning of the positive qualities which we admire in others in our psyche.
Now most of us don’t know that Freud never used the term Id or ego in his writings , he referred to ego as “I” and the Id as the “IT” in German but to sound more scientific Freud’s English translator James Strachey translated the I as the Ego and the IT as the Id
Whereas what Freud actually meant by the I was 1 st person attributes which we are consciously aware of in ourselves and the IT as our own 1 st person attributes which are reapresed and projected on others and seen as 3 Rd person attributes
And according to Freud true healing occurs when I becomes the It that is the person accepts the projected 3 rd person attributes in others as his own attributes
So for eg if you admire someone’s loving , caring and compassionate nature , on top of admiring that person if you reown that quality in yourself by saying I am also loving , caring and compassionate you are making the 3 Rd person attribute into a 1 st person attribute and reowning your projected golden shadow
At first on a superficial level it seems that declaring and reowning your greatness is narcissistic but in reality you are reowning the lost positive aspects of your own being and instead of becoming egocentric you become more loving , caring and compassionate as you start reowning these qualities in yourself