The turning of a season, I’m thinking of the beauty of darkening colours and the shadows of autumn.

An astounding but simple littlebook exploring the shadow side of life is A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly.

Here is a quote from Richard Rohr, Franciscan contemplative, peace activist and another great writer from New Mexico. ‘The shadow self is…the unacceptable self. It is the side of us we don’t want to show to the world, or even to ourselves. But we need to understand that our more desirable qualities are invariably accompanied by their opposites, which live in the unconscious or “shadow” self. We need to do some “shadow boxing,” or we will lack any honest self knowledge or truth.

‘The shadow contains all the parts of the self that we have scorned and sent into exile. Yet we must eventually welcome them home because they have essential lessons to teach us…the important thing is to know your shadow self and face it honestly.’