Q’uo today our group question is about the shadow side. Could you give us a definition of the shadow side? And then help us to understand how we may understand the shadow within ourselves and how we might balance the shadow side.

(Jim channeling)

I am Q’uo, and we greet each of you in the love and in the light of the One Infinite Creator. We thank you for inviting our presence this afternoon in your circle of seeking. It is always a great joy for us to be with you, for we are all brothers and sisters on the same path, moving in unison and harmony towards the One Creator, who though seems to be a distant entity, is within each of us. It is our great joy to be with you and to speak to your concerns this day. We would ask a favor to begin, that is, that you will take those words and concepts which we offer you and use them as you will, leaving behind any that do not feel right to you. We would not be a stumbling block to you, and if you will do us this favor, then we will feel free to share with you that which we have come to share.

You ask, this day, about the dark side, the shadow side, of the self, and what is it? Does it have a purpose and how does one balance it or use it, is this possible? My friends, this is a most important query, for within the cultures of your planet there are various mores 1 or customary expectations that are provided as givens, shall we say, that each within the culture must reproduce in some way, and if these cultural mores are ignored, or rejected for any reason, then there is the possibility of the entity so ignoring or rejecting a certain concept or quality [that it] then becomes relegated to the subconscious mind in order that it not be, shall we say, a bother or an irritating reminder to the conscious mind that it, indeed, exists at all. Various concepts throughout the many cultures of your planet may be found in such a darkened environment, shut away as within a closet, so that the conscious waking self may proceed on its daily round of activities without having to consider these qualities that are somewhat disturbing to it for whatever reason.

We find, in your particular culture, that there are aspects of the sexual life that are relegated to this darkened area within the mind so that various fantasies then become the leakage, shall we say, that then begin to haunt the conscious mind and distract it from the proper placement of this normal human function within the conscious mind.

It was mentioned earlier today that humility had a certain feature for the questioner that would nag at the conscious mind from time to time, reminding it that it had failed to exercise this quality. Other qualities that many have so dismissed could be the qualities of pride, the other side of humility, of self-worth when the self is seen as insufficient to a task at hand, or unable to comprehend the learning necessary to reflect the ability of the self to function as well as any other self. There may be features of certain relationships—of parent to child, of sibling to sibling, of friend to neighbor, and so forth—where it is the desirable nature of the relationship to express it freely and openly, and yet for some reason, which is perhaps not apparent or visible to the seeker of truth, this relationship has developed certain blockages, or diversions of freely expressed energy, thus making clear communication difficult and open-hearted love non-existent.

So, we would suggest to you, my friends, that the shadow side is that portion of any entity, especially the conscious seeking entity looking for truth in the life in the path, which cannot be dealt with clearly as a rule, and must be relegated to a safe place within the conscious mind, or more likely, for those who are not conscious of the seeking path, the subconscious mind. Thus, many of your peoples carry with them, what you might call “heavy baggage” that contains these qualities and concepts which are shunned, either by the culture as a whole, or by individuals according to unique personal experience. This “baggage” tends to weigh heavily upon each entity for it is that which is not understood, is not handled in a clear and open fashion so that there might be a fruit produced from the interaction of the entity and the concept. For, my friends, as we are sure you know, every experience that you have ever had has the capacity for teaching. Each person can learn a variety of lessons from any concept or quality of human behavior or endeavor.

When the mind and the heart are open to receiving any information that is available in the daily round of activities in an open manner, then there is a process of learning that is begun, oftentimes within confusion or doubt or disharmony, for these are those processes that, shall we say, grab one’s attention, and continue to offer the opportunity for balancing the learning within the individual according to the energy centers or chakras that are involved.

Each of you has a certain kind of energy body that is related to the various energy centers or chakras. As you move from the red ray of personal survival and sexual reproduction, this very basic quality of experience can be translated to the orange ray, where the individual expression of emotions and idiosyncrasies to one other being is primary in the beginning process of relating and expanding to others. As you move up the energy centers, the expansion continues within the yellow ray where the individual self is placed in groups, beginning with, in most cases, the family, the neighborhood, the school, the workplace, etc. In each level of experience, there is the opportunity to relate to others, whether individually or in groups, in a manner which offers each seeker the chance to explore whatever catalyst, or opportunities for learning, have been chosen by it before the incarnation to learn during the incarnation. Thus, when there is baggage of an unknown or unrecognized or unaccepted nature, this baggage becomes as a blockage in each energy center in which it might be expressed or discovered.

These lower three energy centers are critical for each seeker of truth to clear so that the energy of the One Creator may move freely through them and begin to open the heart center of universal love and understanding. When this is done, then there is the opportunity for the entity to move from the third density to the fourth density of love and understanding. However, the shadow side of each seeker, having been relegated to the closet, shall we say, at some point, finds a way to become noticed, whether it is the nagging of the mind, or repeated experiences that lead the seeker to the closet to unlock the door.

At some point, each seeker of truth must realize that this shadow side is a good friend, and has much to teach, for it is holding in reserve those areas of blockage which, when dealt with clearly, release the energy that is held in place by the blockage, that it might move upward along the line of energy centers, and release a certain kind of experiential energy at each level, for you all have planned, previous to this life experience, those lessons which are necessary for you, in your own estimation, to complete in order to become the whole human being that you desire to be, that being which sees all as love, gives and receives freely with each, the quality of universal love and acceptance. The effort that you make to uncover those hidden areas within you that can offer you learning to achieve this goal, is what is called the process of the polarization of your consciousness, for as those who are devoted to seeking and serving other selves, this positive polarization becomes the means by which you might open the heart energy center and release the unconditional love that abides therein.

So, we would suggest to you that you make friends with your dark side, with your shadow self. Embrace it with open-hearted love. Invite it to share with you those areas which you have ignored in the past, for here is the repository of growth. Here is where you unblock the energies that await release. Here, within the shadow side, you have that grittier, heartier, more substantial part of yourself that has had to fend for itself for quite some time, and has developed qualities of perseverance, of endurance, and of desiring to be noticed and utilized as a full and whole partner in your journey of seeking. When this unification of your light side and your dark side can be made within your being, then you have the opportunity of, shall we say, functioning upon all cylinders.

This is the reason for the incarnation, for your true home from which you incarnated, exemplifies unity, exemplifies the fact that the Creator exists in each entity, full and whole, awaiting discovery from the conscious seeker of truth. Here, within your third-density illusion, this is the concept that you take on faith, and with enough exercise of your will, can find that it is true for you; and, paradoxically, the light grows brighter as you are able to absorb and unify and balance and work with the darkness within. It is not an error or a mistake that such darkness exists for a period of what you call time. It is often necessary for some entities to use the dark areas of the mind to store the concepts that it is not ready to deal with. As you become more and more experienced in using the daily round of activities as food for growth, your own spiritual growth and the growth of those around you, then it becomes necessary to find those areas where you have stored that which you [then] wish[ed] to delay working with.

Eventually, when you have found each of these areas within your being, then the intelligent energy, or the prana, of the One Creator can move freely through your energy centers, and eventually you may be able to realize consciously, in this incarnation, your nature as being the One Creator. First, however, my friends, make friends with your dark side. It is simply another aspect of yourself waiting to share its gifts with you.

At this time, we would ask if there might be any follow-up questions for this question?

Is shame about aspects of oneself a way of identifying the shadow self or tendencies?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my brother. Yes, my brother, the quality of shame, or the discouragement from expressing certain features of the self, is a quality which is quite indicative of that area of the dark side or the shadow self, and may be followed as a trail of, shall we say, breadcrumbs to find the heart, or the source of such shame, so that it might be balanced and eventually erased, for, in truth, all is the One Creator, and there is no true shame.

Is there another query, my brother?

No.

I am Q’uo. We thank you, my brother, for your query. Is there any other query at this time, which we might address?

Q’uo, it seems that there are a variety of ways to work with the shadow side, depending on what the blockage is in what particular chakra. Would you say that there is one core way to work with the shadow side? That is to say, what is the final end or integration of the shadow side?

I am Q’uo and am aware of your query, my brother. We look now to the practice that was suggested by those of Ra, for the balancing of all catalyst is that process which can lead to the releasing of the blocked energies within each energy center. So, when you would see any quality which you would say was part of your shadow side, then within your meditative state, invite that quality to present itself to you in a manner which reflects its most recent appearance in your consciousness. Look at that experience and make it larger—magnify it until it becomes outrageous, and then, for a moment, within your mind in meditation, image the polar opposite. If it be shame, image joy or positivity, however the shame has been expressed, find its polar opposite and allow that, by itself, to become as large as the original shame. Then, simply accept yourself and love yourself for having both of these qualities within your being as means to teach you love. This is a simple exercise, which when accomplished on a daily basis, may remove those blockages that exist as accentuations of certain qualities that are without balance.

Each seeker of truth must realize that it is a being of completeness, that its mind contains all things, and as you discover more and more qualities appearing in your daily round of activities that knock you off your center of love and understanding, then it is necessary to balance each quality with its opposite—the good as well as the bad, shall we say, for the wheel of karma moves through good and bad. Once you are able to balance these qualities, then you are off the wheel of duality, the wheel of karma, and may move forward unimpeded in your expression of the love and the light of the One Infinite Creator.

Is there any other query at this time?

I have one query. How may the male adept balance the feminine shadow self?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my brother. In general, the male is that quality which reaches, is active, and is in motion. The female principle is that quality which awaits the reaching, is more inactive and ready to potentiate, shall we say, as it joins with the male. This may be seen as an expression of the conscious mind, the male, relating with the unconscious mind, the female, so that each has a role to play in the evolution of the mind, the body, and the spirit complex. Thus, if in your meditations you can see that quality of the male, active and reaching for new experience, and catalyst to process and lessons to learn, being potentiated by the female, which has a certain kind of wisdom that is not available to the male, then there is the balance between the two within you, so that you become both.

Is there a final query at this time?

No.

Q’uo, I have a question. If a seeker has, what might be described as an existential pain, an experience of isolation or lack or deprivation, and as a result, they seek communion with others in mind and body as a means to speak to this pain, is the seeking of communion with others misguided, and would it be wiser to focus upon the self-sufficiency of the self as the Creator?

I am Q’uo, and am aware of your query, my brother. We find that a simple and direct answer to this query is not possible, for there are instances in which each of your alternatives is appropriate. We would recommend that within your meditative state, you look at the existential pain, the moments in which you experience it, the effect upon your mind and your emotions, the effect upon your functioning, the total qualities then, of the pain, looking to any possible source within your memory for this pain. Perhaps it is from an early childhood experience, perhaps you have brought it with you into the incarnation. To answer questions such as these, we would recommend that you use your intuition, that which moves between the conscious and the unconscious minds, and brings back information from the unconscious mind to the conscious mind, to direct the activity of thought and behavior. Thus, there may be sometimes when retiring into yourself for self-reflection and illumination from the unconscious mind would be indicated.

At other times, it might be that the direction from the intuition would be to move outward into an expression of the self with others, for the purpose of gathering information that can lead to bringing forth this existential pain in a more conscious expression that might be worked with, both energetically within the heart, and analytically within the mind. Thus, both the experience of retiring into the self, and the experience of moving into social intermingling can be useful in seeing this pain from all angles.

It also might be helpful to keep a journal of these experiments in examining the existential pain, for in such journaling processes, you are also offering intuition an opportunity to express itself through what you might call “automatic writing,” or the revealing of thoughts moving upward from your subconscious mind into the conscious mind. It is a form of channeling, shall we say, from yourself to yourself.

Do you have a follow-up query, my brother?

Technically, not to that question. Another small one, if it’s permissible within the instruments energy, but no worries if not.

I am Q’uo, and we examine the energies of this instrument, and we would recommend the reserving of the query for another session.

Thank you, Q’uo.

We thank you, my brother. We thank each present for inviting our presence this afternoon. It is always a joy to be with you, for you are the most inspiring seekers of truth that we have seen in quite some time. We are, of course, not always able to join many of those upon your planet who do seek truth, but we can observe, from what you would call a distance, that there is a growing number of those conscious seekers of truth that move into realms of expression of love and light that are equal to those we find here. However, each of you is most dependable, and when we wish to be inspired by those who move through the heavy chemical illusion of your third density, we know that we will find such inspiration here. Yours is not an easy illusion in which to exist, but it is one that teaches more than any other that you can imagine. Take then heart on your journeys of seeking, and know that there is fruit being produced each time you meet a new experience, a new problem, a new solution.

We are known to you as those of Q’uo. We leave each of you in love and in light. Adonai, vasu borragus.

  1. mores: noun: the essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community. ↩