The nature of the Shadow can be understood abstractly
by realizing that the ego is a structure,
and that any structure (or form) divides the world
into what is inside and what is outside of that structure.
Consciousness is the inside content of the ego-structure;
the unconsciousness, the outside darkness.
The Shadow is the result of the crossing of the threshold
from the lighted room of the ego to the dark outside.
As one turns one's back to the lighted realm,
one finds that the outer darkness is like a "black mirror"
(such as painters have used
in order to get a sense of plastic and light and shade values
without the glamor of colored surfaces).
This black mirror reflects the shape of the ego,
minus the light and the glamor of the usual conscious feelings about oneself.
This shape is the Shadow -
a harsh, coldly objective, unfriendly and pitiless image
of what makes one "different' from the whole world,
what isolates and compels one to follow a particular and lonely road
as the Karmic result of past frustrations, fears and evil deeds.
As we clearly and coldly see what our ego has become
as a result of being imprisoned within walls built by our insecurity and fear,
we become aware of it having turned into "the Shadow";
and it can be a sobering and, in some cases, a frightening experience.
