prior to the development of psychology, the only way to talk
about such things was through the use of metaphors. Hence,
our myths and stories are full of thinly veiled references to this
shadow self. Perhaps the clearest example of this is Robert
Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Jekyll and Hyde story uses the split-persona of the
good doctor to illustrate how the contents of the shadow bag
refuse to stay hidden. The highly refined and cultured doctor is
a very moral man. He puts aside his own human needs to pur-
sue medical knowledge for the good of others. Yet all the while,
somewhere else in the city, his “other self” pursues its instincts
without regard for the niceties of cultured society or the needs
of other people. The lesson here is clear: The contents of our
shadow bags may appear to be locked away from sight, but if
those disowned parts are not dealt with, one day they will reap-
pear “somewhere else” as a “monster.”
A more traditional folktale makes the same observation: A
man became so frightened of his own shadow that he tried to
run away from it. He tells himself, “If only I could escape from
this thing that constantly follows me, then I could finally be
happy and at peace.” But no matter how fast he runs, his
shadow is always right there, one step behind him. He grows
increasingly distressed, runs faster and faster, until finally he
drops dead from exhaustion. The irony of the story is that if he
had only stopped a moment to rest in the shade of a tree, his
shadow would have vanished immediately.
The more deeply we feel unloved, unwanted, and unac-
ceptable the harder we try to escape those feelings. But by
running away from those perceptions of ourselves we
strengthen our belief in them; we strengthen our fears. And
like the poor traveler stuck in quicksand, the harder we try
to escape, the worse our predicament becomes. Only by
accepting the exiled or buried parts of our psyche can we
end their haunting pursuit of us. When we stop rejecting a
part of our being, we cease confirming to ourselves our
sense of worthlessness.146 E-Motion Picture Magic