Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche Paperback – February 17, 1994

Clear, concise, to the point, helpful, and quickly readable.

I just wrapped up this book. It's a pretty short read at approximately 120 pages, and you can easily finish it in one day. I read the reviews before purchasing, but I decided to buy it anyway I had just Robert Johnson's other book on active imagination and dream work, which is phenomenal. It completely changed my life, and I highly recommend it.When I saw comments complaining that this book focuses on Christianity or that Robert Johnson is trying to push his Christianity on you, I thought, "Okay, that seems strange, but let's read it anyway." I'm super happy I did. I'm not a religious person, but I know there's a lot of symbolism in Christianity and the Bible. Even Carl Jung references God often in his works. Robert Johnson makes these references not to push religion on you, but to help you understand the shadow through a different lens. He uses symbolism in the Bible to explain and emphasize the concepts.If you're really turned off by the Bible and religion, I highly recommend Jordan Peterson's YouTube series on the Bible. It serves as a perfect primer to this book, with approximately 17 hours of lectures explaining the psychological significance of the Bible and its stories.Overall, this book is another amazing work by Robert Johnson, and I highly recommend it. It feels like a gem that many haven't discovered yet, and quite frankly, I'm surprised there are negative reviews for this book at all.

At only 118 pages, this is a great beginners book on the shadow. It is an easy read and I actually read the book in one sitting.The first chapter is all about explaining the shadow and how it relates to the ego. I thought the author did a great job of defining the shadow, providing examples and going into a discuss about how we treat our shadows. I did find him repetitive toward the end, as if he was trying to make a word requirement. I can’t judge him too harshly for that. We’ve all been there.The second chapter is about Love and the last is about the Mandorla but really the next two chapters are more about how Christian’s can live a good life in the eyes of God by reconciling with their shadow. This religious aspect may be off-putting to non-Christians. He uses mostly biblical stories as examples of the shadow at work which is fine, it’s when he gets slightly preachy that I have an issue. The author just assumes that everyone reading the book is Christian and gets preachy but those are easily skipped without losing the main point. He doesn’t disrespect or bash other religions and actually uses examples from the Ancient Greek Gods, Buddhism and Hinduism. I wish the author would treated Christianity like the other religions he uses and been more non-bias.

This book will help anyone understand and apply shadow work. Easy to read, straight to the point, and could change your life! Or at least help lead you in the right direction. Read many reviews of different shadow work books and none of them sounded good at all. Took a chance with this one and so happy I did! It might be the best one out there. Worked for me 100%

This is a small book with a stream-of-consciousness writing style. Some people may find it more relatable, but I found it disorganized and hard to follow the author’s thoughts and sometimes disconnected examples.

This book was a random purchase because it stood out to me in the bookcase. I didn't expect much, but what I got was an eye-opening, life-changing experience. This author is phenomenal, his writing is such so that anyone can read it with ease. The way he flows his words and thoughts together are an art form. The subject matter is admittedly a overly saturated genre, mostly everyone saying the same thing with their little spin on it.Not with this writer. His views on the shadow self, human nature and the universe itself are unlike any I've ever read or heard. Yet he doesn't try to force it down your throat, he's not trying to convince you that his theory is right above all others. He just lays it out for you to make up your own mind. I'm not going to spoil the story for anyone, it's an experience that will be different for everyone I'm sure.I don't ever leave reviews about books. But I have given this book to probably 10 different people since I've read it. Given my own copy to people and ordered another one many times. He is in a league all his own..

I highly recommend this short but potent book. Johnson writes succinctly and with great clarity. In the book he talks about recognizing and owning one's own shadow, and that it's the MOST important thing a human can learn to do. The ending on paradox is especially enlightening.

This is an incredible book. It really helps you to understand some of the principles of Carl Jung (my favorite avenue of psychology and psychological analysis) in a way that is relatable to the average person. The author does an amazing job of bringing in examples from across time and the globe to help illustrate the points presented and even talk you through how to find the balance for yourself that doesn't involve releasing your shadow side on a poor unsuspecting clerk at your local grocery store.Honestly, if more people knew and understood their shadow side and how to find that balance in their own lives, there wouldn't be the level of craziness we are currently seeing out in the world. I whole-heartedly believe that. I would recommend this to anyone. Period.And the writing is so easy to understand and apply. I think that is one of the best parts. There are a lot of books that examine various aspects of psychology that are not really accessible to the average person. This is not one of those books. This book is actually easy to comprehend. And after a long day of work, that's what I really need!