"Our dark shadow can be called a cellar of our unexamined shame. Our positive shadow is an attic of our unclaimed valuables." So writes David Richo, author of Unexpected Miracles: The Gift of Synchronicity and How to Open It. In this deep and spiritually challenging paperback, the author presents his ideas and exercises on how to transform our inner demons and awaken our dormant divinities.
Befriending our shadow is soul work, and it enables us to get in touch with lost parts of ourselves, to downsize our inflated ego, to develop more compassion for ourselves and others, and to become more creative. Perhaps Richo's most important contribution to this subject is this observation: "The greatest danger in the shadow of institutionalized religion is its tendency to make us doubt the abundant resources within ourselves."
A major challenge of adulthood is to reintegrate our positive shadow. Here popular culture conspires with religion when it constantly compels us to give away our inner gold by focusing our attention and energies on celebrities. In both cases, we do not "acknowledge our own powers and enthusiasms. We may lose the incentive to rise to our true potential."
