in a few words:
The theme of this book of Shadows
is about how some aspects of ourselves seem to escape us and, even if they are non-conscious and non- mentally perceived, they are able to critically affect whatever we are doing or not doing at any moment. It is a visit “down there”, at the sanctuary of our moments and of our selves.
This book is actually a thorough study and at the same time a proposal
about (a) the grandeur (and the drama) of how our experience is composed on both a micro (no-conscious) as well as on a macro (conscious) scale, (b) the architecture of the Shadowed “home” of what is usually called “inner child” – who is not only sad but also very angry…
a detailed description:
A book that deals with some very common (but equally tormenting and paradoxical) phenomena of our daily lives and relationships.
The core of such phenomena consists of some unexpected “deviations” between our real-life events and our expectations about their development – as if we enter a kind of twilight zone, where cause and effect are not necessarily connected in the way that we thought they should be.
In other words, sometimes, things do not go as we expected or we thought was natural to go.
This of itself, indeed, is not so strange because life is well able to move on without asking about our opinions or wishes…
However, things are different when we feel that we ourselves have involuntarily participated
in the unexpected turn of events – without wanting to do so or understanding how this happened.
So, there are times when we set out for “there”, but in the end, without really understanding how it happened, we end up “elsewhere”. We are astonished to find that our own selves can act in ways that lie outside our conscious intentions.
Of course, each time we state that now we have learnt our lesson and that next time things will be controlled. Still, next time comes, and often it’s more of the same.
Therefore, in some situations is is:
*** As if we were hosting a stranger inside us, who sometimes suddenly takes control of our behaviour: an intruder in our own homeland, who is a part of ourselves as well as something alien, something threatening.
*** As if he or she lives in hiding among the footnotes of our very being and our relationships – a silent partner in our manner of organising our lives and what we do with other people.
*** As if there were some landscapes in our personal world which we may never visit, but the winds that blow from there often define our whole individual reality.
*** As if exactly when we need to call upon those aspects of ourselves which we need in order to deal with some situation, we are mysteriously unable to do so.
“I would say that these somehow forbidden aspects of ourselves are potential ways of interacting with the world, yet they remain unavailable in practice.
In order to describe such potential but actually inaccessible aspects of self, I consider the term “Shadow” elegant and useful – a concept coined by Carl Jung, which I use, explore and enrich in my own ways.”
So, my Shadow is present when, in a manner both honest and schizoid, I say:
“I want to do something but when it comes to action I make things difficult for my own self; moreover, even if I clearly do not at all know quite why I inhibit myself, if my mind insists that I have no reason to inhibit myself ”.
Thus, the Shadow is a metaphor describing an area within our whole being, immobilised and strongly isolated from consciousness.
This “Shadow”, how it is created beyond our consciousness and logic, how we often handle it, and how it bothers us when we neglect it, are the central themes of the book.
And this book is a visit just down there, to the basements where our Shadows forge as one of the many ways to surprise ourselves – who at times seems to get away, jump out of the mirror, daring to spoil our own image.
Also, the Shadow is the place where our so-called “inner chid” resides – another important
concept that is thoroughly explored in the book.
In fact, the book of Shadows is a special mirror, which kindly and carefully reveals the dark aspects of our inner child, full of terror, shame, regret, anger, sadness, and loneliness.
Such aspects were once unacceptable to the environment (usually the family). And now, as frozen sources of energy in our past, influence the present and secretly create the dead ends of our adult lives.
In the corresponding sections of the book, it is emphatically emphasised that our inner child is not only sad – as is often shown by several approaches that (unjustly) identify the inner child with the nostalgia of a lost childhood.
In the book it is underlined that our inner child is very, very angry and not willing to “forgive” – at least as the modern fashion of “love” and “spiritual development” perceives the word.
In the pages of the book, there are constant references to this concept which, as the author points out, is greatly abused by the so-called “pop-psychology” of social media and the Internet in general.
And yet another phenomenon that the pages of the book are studying
and which is rooted in our Shadows are the famous “repetitive scenarios”.
These are some characteristic for one person “patterns”, according to which several events in this person’s life seem to evolve. The result? It is as if he/she “watches the same show” in his/her life. Only, because of her/his Shadow and without even knowing it consciously, he or she themselves are the “show’s” secret protagonists and producers.
In any case, the book of Shadows is aimed at any reader who is
interested in getting to explore the nature of our Shadowed architecture and our inner child’s home, as well as some extremely insidious and violent Shadows of the family system, that are rarely touched and explored.
It is a journey of intense existential nuances, which requires no relevant or specific knowledge of concepts and terms.
And yet another distinctive feature of the book is an innovative idea:
there are scattered “Quotations” each one of which, like an epilogue, “closes” one section. They consist of excerpts from poetry, prose and lyrics of songs, with the aim of creating another text, a “sub-text” which is intended to make the reading more “experiential” – and enjoyable.
As the Chapters progress, the steps of our possible “dance with the Shadow” are built one by one.
They are sketched out of a very rich and well-grounded theoretical material, with lively and poetic language as well as with frequent references to literature, legends and fairy tales.
The whole atmosphere of this journey to our deeper landscapes is clearly existential, yet beyond the fashion of a love that can “repair” all and everything, beyond superficial optimism and the compulsive tendency for the so-called “positive thinking”.
The style is flowing and simple, but without compromising the seriousness or quality of the abundant information that this book provides, combining many identities:
* From enjoyable reading to an in-depth study of how our Shadows are formed we are seamlessly synthesising our moments, both in the unconscious micro-scale as well as in the conscious macro-scale of our daily lives.
* From a solidly structured point of view to the grandeur (but also the drama) of whatever may mean the expression “I am alive”, to an encounter with our past frozen experiences – experiences which have once been forgotten in limbo in our memory, but still remain suspended and threatening to our flowing present time.
This is a book which when read leaves a sense that our wholeness took a deep breath, beyond prejudices about who we are and we do not want to be – or simply we fail to accept.
A book which contributes to the development of our skills to give meaning to our present connections with Others, so that we can honestly envision from a stable present position the potential of our oncoming days.
SHADOW: our silent companion through life’s journey
…. a visit to the sanctuaries of both our humble and great moments …
INFO: [378 pages] [14,2 X 20,2 cm] ISBN 978-618-00-1371-9
1st edition in English: 100 numbered and signed copies.
This edition is published by the author and is to be distributed exclusively
in Greece or delivered in other countries only by order to the author:
[email protected] +30-6977-210469 +30-2310-262872
[email protected]
A video in first person on the central
ideas of the book and its features
2 short videos (no-words) on the ideas of the
SHADOW and the INNER CHILD
