Ah yes, the shadow. Remember the expression from an old radio show, "the shadow knows"? Remember as a kid playing with your shadow, trying to step on it, trying to catch it? Never could master it though, the shadow was tricky from the get-go. It stretched, moved around, would even become invisible at times. Where did it go, where did it come from? Was it alive? Did it have a life of its' own? Today as an adult even though I have an intellectual understanding of both the physical shadow and its psychological counterpart-- those aspects of ourself that our ego dislikes, is threatened by, rejects and will not allow into daily consciousness, I still do not have control, nor do I know it, in its' totality. The shadow is a doorway to mystery, a "nierica" as the Huichols say. "It IS the mystery" say others. Poet and social critic Robert Bly speaks of the shadow as the bag we all carry around on our backs, the bag that gets bigger and bigger the older we get , for it contains all that we repress and deny about ourselves and about our lives. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, believed that exploring the shadow, bringing the light of conscious awareness into its dark contents, is one of the primary growth-tasks of the later adult years, and that without it, the process of individuation--of growing into the full potential that we have, can not be achieved.

The contents of an individual's shadow vary from person to person containing not just those "dark" aspects of self, but also positive ones that we are not comfortable with or have never been developed, such as creative and artistic potentials, leadership skills, inner strength, and healing capacities that we don't even know are there. The shadow is a repository of all kinds of energies and they exert an effect on our lives every day and in many ways. "What we don't know, controls us" was the way one shaman succinctly put it. When we do not make an effort to befriend our shadow, to get to know and explore its contents, it can set up a situation where the pressure gets so great that the repressed forces within suddenly burst forth into uncontrolled behavior, the "shadow eruptions" that we hear about everyday in the media.

Not only do all individuals have a shadow component to their psychological make-up, but so do groups, organizations, even nations. For instance, the United States has a huge amount of energy invested In its shadow denial of the genocidal treatment our ancestors afforded the indigenous peoples of this land, as well as the enslavement of Afro-Americans and the exploitive use of their labor, as well as of other "minority groups" such as the Chinese People used to build the intercontinental railway and the Mexican people whose land we stole through our aggressive imperialism. As always, the impact of what is held in the shadow reaps its' effects on our lives and we do not have to look far in todays society to see how this is playing out now.

Fear of the "other" who is different, projecting onto them our unowned aspects of self too difficult to face as our own, guilt at what was done and is still being done to marginalized groups--those who by color, nationality, race, religion, sexual preference, etc., are different from the mainstream. Unacknowledged guilt at what we are not doing to address the evils of racism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice and discrimination, all this and more adds to the complexity of our "national shadow" and the perpetuation of the poor quality of life that is a daily reality for so many today. Yet this plight itself is in shadow for so many of us here in affluent Marin County, California and in the other enclaves of comfort and security that we are able to live in because of our privileged status--privileges such as being of the pigmentation our culture values as "best", educational privilege--knowing how the system works and how to work it, and language privilege--speaking fluently the mainstream language

Our comfort zones insulate us from the sufferings of those less fortunate. What is insidious in all this is that for this oppression to continue does not require that we act in overtly racist or sexist or discriminatory ways. It is not required because it is built into our societal systems, it is institutionalized into the way that daily business is conducted, children are educated, health care is delivered, and the laws of our land are enforced. And all this is done below the threshold of ordinary awareness, we do not see it. It is in shadow. Yet marginalized people live in its reality every day. It is not in their shadow. Just the other day I saw an article in the San Francisco Chronicle of the fifty highest paid CEOs in The Bay Area. Not one woman, not one Afro-American! I was astounded. This is a dramatic manifestation of the institutionalization of our national shadow "isms" that are wracking our society.

For those of us interested in spirituality, attitudinal healing, shamanism, ecology, building a sustainable future, and community, shadow work is inextricably interwoven with our intentions. We can not successfully address these concerns without also turning to face the shadow energies--both individually and collectively. I struggle with my own shadow energies daily. Just this morning while out on my run, I got pissed off at the lazy, unconscious schmucks who enjoy their cigarettes and then throw them on the ground, filters and all, without any concern or what happens to them after they leave. "The nerve of these turkeys. Who do they think they are?! What do they think happens to these butts--that somebody else comes after them and cleans up?!" My judgements go on and on as I project onto others all the evils I do not face inside my self-righteous self. What about my own unconscious dumping of

garbage energies- unconscious prejudice, racism, sexism, discriminatory behavior, oppression of others. What about my own polluting of the environment due to unconscious behavior driven by shadow forces--snapping at others, unkind remarks, insensitivity, taking my "moods" out on others? What about my own not taking responsibility for my life and blaming others, feeling victim, doing "poor me" routines, being so self-absorbed that I fail to notice the plight of others around me who are really suffering? What about taking without giving--food, drink, clothing, houses, cars and gasoline, the warmth of sun? If I take, if we take, from anyone or anything, withou giving back in some meaningful way, then we are contributing to imbalance and disharmony, the opposite of healing, the opposite of building healthy and sustainable community.

Attitudinal Healing is premised on helping people discover and remember the power to choose love, healing and inner peace. This involves bringing conscious, compassionate and loving kindness to our individual and collective shadow forces. As individuals and as members of a healing community, it is imperative that we turn to look inward, behind and below us, to bring awareness to that which has been denied, projected onto others and/or repressed altogether. Through heightened awareness of these forces and their impact in our lives, we can forge a collective intent to do something about them, through action, prayer, how we treat ourselves, each other, those that are "different", Nature, and all our relations. We are all already involved, we just have to wake up, and support each other in waking up, in seeing the role we play in the perpetuation of unhealthy systems, and in owning the power and creativity we all possess to get involved so that we are part of the solution, and not part of the problem.