“The Shadow” Knows Everything

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“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole.” ― C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul

 

The creation and maintenance of a shadow aspect of the personal and collective psyche is an inevitable part of psychic life.  When consciousness and a sense of personal identity emerges, so does a shadow.

Recognizing your shadow and maintaining a healthy relationship with it is a central psychospiritual task. Owning your shadow is essential to self-awareness, ethical behavior, and psychological wholeness.

The dangerous machinations of the psychological shadow are revealed in this creepy adult fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

 

“If you imagine someone who is brave enough to withdraw all his projections, then you get an individual who is conscious of a pretty thick shadow. Such a man has saddled himself with new problems and conflicts. He has become a serious problem to himself, as he is now unable to say that they do this or that, they are wrong, and they must be fought against… Such a man knows that whatever is wrong in the world is in himself, and if he only learns to deal with his own shadow he has done something real for the world. He has succeeded in shouldering at least an infinitesimal part of the gigantic, unsolved social problems of our day.”

— C. G. Jung, “Psychology and Religion” CW 11


Photo by Matthew Ansley on unsplash

Transcript of “The Shadow” Knows Everything

Hello, and welcome to Myth Matters, storytelling and conversation about mythology and why myth matters to your life today. I’m your host and personal mythologist Dr. Catherine Svehla. Wherever you may be in this wide, beautiful, crazy world of ours, you are part of this story circle. 

I have a weird story for you today, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen called “The Shadow.” Andersen wrote this story for adults. It’s a dark story, creepy even for Andersen.

His fairytales have a shimmering beauty and an undercurrent of menace. This is often edited out of contemporary versions of his stories and yet it is the combination of innocent joy and casual cruelty that makes Andersen’s tales compelling, thought-provoking, and timeless. 

My telling is based on The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Julie K. Allen and Maria Tatar, edited by Tatar, who is the Dean for Humanities at Harvard. I recommend Allen and Tatar as they returned to the original Danish for their translation and capture Andersen’s complexity. “The Shadow” is one of a number of stories that Andersen wrote for adults, included in their collection.

“The Shadow”

I invite you to relax and listen to the story. Let the story take you where you need to go. Note the moment or detail in the story that catches your attention as this opening can show you where this story touches on your life right now. 

In the hot countries, the sun can really scorch you. People can turn as brown as mahogany, and in the hottest countries, they can be baked black. One day, a learned man traveled from the cold countries to one of the moderately hot countries. He was sure that he would be able to go about his business just as he had back home. But he soon discovered otherwise. Along with all the other sensible souls, he had to stay indoors. All day long, the shutters were drawn and the doors were kept closed. It looked just as if everyone was still sleeping, or not at home. 

The narrow street on which the man lived was lined with tall buildings, and was laid out so that it was flooded with sunshine from morning until evening. It was really unbearable. The learned man from the cold countries felt just as if he was sitting inside a blazing hot oven. It wore him out. He grew quite thin, and even his shadow began to shrink until it was much smaller than it had been at home. The sun took its toll on it as well. Not until the evening after sundown, did the man and his shadow come back to life. 

It was a real pleasure to watch that happen. As soon as a candle was brought into the room, the shadow would stretch itself out all the way up the wall. It would even reach the ceiling, it made itself so long. It had to stretch out like that to get its strength back. The learned man went out on the balcony to stretch. When the stars appeared in the lovely clear sky, he also seemed to come back to life. 

The Shadow by Vilhelm Pedersen

People appeared on all the balconies up and down the street. Things grew quite lively, upstairs and down. Cobblers and tailors and everyone else moved out into the street. Tables appeared. Then chairs. Candles were lit. There were over 1000 candles burning. One person would be talking while another sang. People stroll down the street. Carriages drove by and donkeys trotted along with their bells singing ding-a-ling-ling. Hymns were sung as the dead were buried. Urchins set off firecrackers and church bells rang. 

Oh, yes, it was very lively down in the street. Only one house stayed quiet. The one directly across from where the learned man was living. Someone must have been living there because there were flowers growing on the balcony. These were thriving, even under the hot sun, and how could they unless there was a person there to water them? And the door across the way was left ajar every evening. The door was open but it was completely dark inside, at least in the front room. From somewhere farther back in the house, you could hear the sound of music.

The learned stranger thought the music was quite fabulous. “But it is possible” he thought, ” that I am just imagining all of this? Because I find everything in the warm countries really marvelous, except for the sun.”

The stranger’s landlord said that he had no idea who was renting the house across the street, and as for the music, he found it terribly dreary. “It sounds as if someone is practicing a piece that is beyond him. Always the exact same piece” he said. “I’ll get it right one of these days he probably tells himself but he never does. No matter how hard he tries.”

The stranger woke up once in the middle of the night. He was sleeping right near the open balcony door and when a breeze lifted the curtain, he thought he saw a strange, shimmering light on his neighbor’s balcony. The flowers were glowing like flames in the most beautiful colors. Right in the middle of the flowers, stood a slender, enchanting young woman, and she seemed to be glowing too. 

He jumped out of bed and without making a sound, peered through the curtains. But the maiden had vanished, and so had the light. The flowers were no longer in flames and looked as they always did. The door was ajar and from far inside came the sound of music so lovely and soothing, that you could lose yourself in sweet thoughts. It was enchanting, but who was living there? Where was the real entrance? The entire ground floor was nothing but shops. 

One evening, the stranger was sitting out on his balcony. In the room behind him a candle was burning and so it was quite natural that his shadow appeared over on the wall, across the way. Yes, it appeared right there with the flowers on the balcony. Whenever the stranger moved, the shadow moved too, for that is what shadows do. “I think my shadow is the only living thing you can see over there, ” the learned man thought to himself. “Look how much at home it is among the flowers. The doors wide open. If only my shadow were clever enough to step inside, have a look around and come back to tell me what it had seen.”

“Yes,” he said joking, “you would be doing me a real service. Kindly step inside shadow.” He nodded to the shadow and the shadow nodded back at him. “Run along now, but don’t get lost.” Then the stranger rose. His shadow on the opposite balcony got up with him. The stranger turned and his shadow turned as well. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen the shadow enter the half open balcony door in the house across the street at the very instant, when the stranger returned to his room, letting the drapes fall close behind him. 

The next morning, the learned man went out to drink his coffee and read the newspapers. “What’s this?” he said, as he stepped out into the sunlight. “My shadow is gone. So, it actually did leave me last night and it hasn’t come back.” What annoyed him most wasn’t so much the loss of his shadow, rather the fact that there was already a story about a man without a shadow. Everyone back home in the cold country knew that story. If he returned home and told them his own story, they would just say that he was copying the other one. He decided to say nothing at all about it. That was certainly the sensible thing to do. 

That evening, he went back out onto the balcony. He put a candle directly behind him because he knew that shadows always like to use their masters as a screen. But he could not entice it to come back. He made himself short, and he made himself tall, but there was just no shadow. It refused to show up. “Ahem, ahem,” he repeated, but it was no use. 

This was all very annoying, but in the hot countries everything grows quite rapidly and in a week or so he noticed to his great satisfaction that a new shadow had started growing at his feet, whenever he went out into the sunlight. The root must have been left behind. Within three weeks he had a decent enough shadow. When he set out to go back north, it grew longer and longer, until it became so long and broad that half of it would have been quite enough. The learned man returned home. He wrote books about what was true in the world, and what was good, and what was beautiful.

Days turned into years, and many years went by. One evening he was sitting in his parlor and heard a faint knock at the door. “Come in” he said, but no one did. He opened the door and there before him stood a man so extraordinarily thin, that it gave him an eerie sensation. The caller was, by the way, dressed faultlessly, and was no doubt a distinguished fellow. “With whom do I have the honor of speaking,” the learned man asked. 

“Oh,” the distinguished visitor said, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t recognize me now that I’ve put some flesh on my body and have some clothes on. You probably never expected to see me in such fine shape. Can’t you tell that I’m your former shadow? You probably didn’t think I would ever show up again. Everything has gone exceptionally well for me, since I last saw you. I’ve become a wealthy man in every way and if I have to buy my freedom I can.” With that, he rattled a bunch of valuable seals hanging from his watch and began to stroke a massive gold chain around his neck. His fingers seem to glitter from all the diamond rings on them, and the jewelry was all real. 

The Shadow Kay Nielsen

“Why, I can’t get over it,” the learned man said. “What can this all mean?” “It’s definitely not something you see every day,” the shadow said. “But then you’re also no ordinary man, and as you know, I have been following in your footsteps since childhood. As soon as you thought I was mature enough to go out into the world on my own, I went my way. And now I find myself in splendid circumstances. But a strange longing to see you one last time before you die overcame me. You are going to die. You know, I always wanted to return to this region because we all love our homeland. I know that you have a new shadow. Do I owe you–or it–anything? Please let me know if I do.”

“Is it really you?” asked the learned man. “This is highly unusual. I would never have imagined a shadow could return as a human being.” “Just let me know what I owe” the shadow said, “because I don’t want to be in anyone’s debt.” 

“How can you talk like that?” the learned man said. “What kind of debt are we talking about? You are as free as anyone else. I’m just delighted to learn of your good fortune. Sit down, old friend and tell me how all this came about and what you saw in the house across the street in that hot country.” “I’ll tell you all about it ” the shadow said, sitting down. “But you must promise me that if we run into each other in town, you won’t tell a soul that I was once your shadow. I’m considering getting engaged, you know, and I’m wealthy enough to support more than one family.” 

“Don’t worry” the learned man said, “I won’t tell anyone who you really are. Let’s shake on it. I promise, and a man is as good as his word.” “And a word is as good as its shadow,” the shadow replied. For that was the only thing it could say. 

It was quite remarkable how human the shadow had become. It was dressed in black, with clothes made from the finest cloth, and it was wearing patent leather shoes along with a top hat that could be pressed perfectly flat until only brim and top remained. Not to mention those seals and the gold chain and the diamond rings. Yes, indeed, the shadow was exceptionally well dressed. And that’s just why it appeared to be so human. 

“Well, let me tell you,” the shadow said, stepping down as hard as it could with those new patent leather shoes on the sleeve of the learned man’s new shadow, which lay like a poodle at his feet. Maybe this was arrogance, but maybe it was just trying to make the new shadow stick to his own feet. The shadow on the floor didn’t move or make a sound. It was no doubt listening carefully so it could learn how to win its freedom and someday become its own master.

“Do you know who was living in the house across the street?” the shadow said. “She was the most beautiful of all creatures, Poetry herself. I was there for three weeks, and I might as well have been there for over 3000 years, reading everything that has ever been written. That’s what I’m telling you, and it’s the truth. I’ve seen everything. And I know everything.” “Poetry,” the learned man cried. “Oh, yes, she often keeps to herself in the big cities. Poetry. Yes, I saw her myself for one brief moment but my eyes were heavy with sleep. She was standing on the balcony, as radiant as the Northern Lights. Tell me more. Tell me more. You were up on the balcony. You went through the door. And then–“

“And then I was standing in the antechamber,” the shadow said. “You used to stare into that room all the time from across the street. There were no candles in there and the room was in a kind of twilight. But one door after another stood open in a long row of brilliantly lit halls and rooms. The blaze of lights would have killed me if I had gone all the way into the room where the maiden was. I was level headed, and took my time. That’s what you have to do under these circumstances.” 

“And what did you see?” the learned man asked. “I saw everything. And I’ll tell you all about it. But, and I’m not saying this to be arrogant, if you take into account that I’m a free man with considerable talents, not to mention my social position, and my considerable fortune, it makes sense for you to address me in a more formal manner. And I would be grateful for the courtesy.” “I beg your pardon, sir” the learned man said, “I’m just falling back into an old habit that is hard to change. You’re perfectly right. And I’ll be more careful now. But now, sir, tell me about everything that you saw.”

“Everything!” the shadow said. “You realize then that I saw everything and that I know everything.” “What did it look like all the way back?” the learned man asked. “Was it like a green forest? Was it like a holy temple? Was it like the starry skies when you stand high up on a mountain?” “Everything was there,” the shadow said. “I didn’t go all the way inside as you know. I stayed in that antechamber in the twilight. But that was the perfect place to be. I saw everything. And I know everything. I have been in the antechamber of Poetry’s court.”

“But what did you see? Did the ancient gods march through the halls? Were the heroes of times past fighting? Were sweet children playing there and talking about their dreams?” 

“I’m telling you,” said the shadow, “I was there and you have to realize that I saw everything there was to see. Had you come over there, it would not have made a man of you, but it did make a man of me. I learned to understand my innermost nature, what I was born with, and my connection with Poetry. Yes, back when I was living with you, I never thought at all about such matters. But you must remember how astonishingly large I became at sunrise and sunset. And the moonlight made me almost more visible than you. I didn’t understand myself at the time. But in that antechamber, I came to know my true nature. I became a man and returned completely transformed. But you were no longer in the hot regions. Being a man, I was ashamed to be seen as I was. I needed boots, clothing, and all the surface polish that makes a person recognizable. I went into hiding, and I’m going to tell you this because I know you won’t put it in a book, hiding under the skirts of the woman who sells cakes. That woman had no idea how much she was concealing. I didn’t venture out until evening and then I ran through the streets in the moonlight and stretched myself tall against the walls. It really tickled my back. I ran up and down the streets taking peeks into the highest windows, into parlors and into garrets. I looked in where no one else could look. I saw what no one else could or should see. If truth be told, it’s a nasty world. I wouldn’t even want to be human except that everyone seems to think that it’s so grand.”

“I saw,” the shadow continued, “what nobody knows but what everyone would like to know, the scandalous behavior next door. If I had written a newspaper, everyone would have been reading it. Instead, I just wrote to the people directly involved. And everywhere I went, there was a huge uproar. They were terrified of me. But they also became terribly fond of me. The professors appointed me a professor, and the tailors made me new clothes. In fact, my wardrobe is almost complete. The master of the mint coined new money for me. And women told me that I was quite handsome. And so, I became the man I am now. For now, I must bid you farewell. Here’s my card. I live on the sunny side of the street, and I’m always at home when it rains.” And off he went. 

“That was really strange” the learned man said.

Days and years past, and the shadow called again. “How are you doing?” he asked. “Not so well, I’m afraid,” the learned man said. “I’m still writing about the good, the true, and the beautiful but no one wants to hear about such things. I’m in utter despair, because I take it all personally.” “Well, I don’t” said the shadow. “I’m putting on weight and that’s what we should all try to do. You don’t understand the ways of the world and that’s why your health is suffering. You really have to get away. I’m taking a trip this summer. Would you like to join me? I’d enjoy having a traveling companion. Will you come along as my shadow? It would be such a pleasure to have you accompany me and I’ll even pay all the expenses.”

“That’s going too far,” the learned man said. “It all depends on how you look at it,” said the shadow. “It would do you a world of good to travel, and if you promise to be my shadow, the trip won’t cost you a thing.” “This has gone far enough!” the learned man declared. “But that’s how the world is” the shadow told him, “and that’s how it will always be.” And off he went. 

Things were not going well at all for the learned man. Misfortune and all kinds of trouble plagued him, and what he had to say about the good, the true, and the beautiful, was as appealing to most people, as roses are to a cow. In the end he became quite ill. “You look like a shadow of yourself” people said to him, and the learned man would tremble because it made him stop to think.

“You really have to spend some time at a spa” the shadow told him, when he came for a return visit. “It isn’t really a matter of choice. I’ll take you with me for old times’ sake. I’ll pay for the trip and you can write up an account and do your best to amuse me along the way. I need some time at a spa as well, for my whiskers are just not growing out the way they should be. That’s a trial as well because, well, you can’t get along without a beard. Come now be reasonable, and accept my proposal. We’ll travel together just like friends.” 

And off they went. The shadow was now the master, and the master was the shadow. They drove together. They rode together. They walked together, side by side, in front or in back, depending on where the sun stood in the sky. The shadow made sure that it always took the lead, and the learned man himself didn’t spend much time thinking about it, for he was a kind hearted person, exceedingly amiable, and gentle. 

One day, he said to the shadow, “Now that we have become travelling companions, and because we have been together since childhood, shouldn’t we call each other by our first names? That would be much more agreeable.” 

“You have a point there” said the shadow, who was now the true master. “What you say is very candid and tactful, and so I will be equally candid and tactful with you. As a learned man, you are perfectly well aware of how strange human nature can be. Some people cannot bear to touch gray paper, it makes them feel queasy. Others recoil when they hear the sound of a nail scraping against a windowpane. As for me, I have a queasy sensation when I imagine you calling me by my first name. I feel pressed down to the ground, just as I was in my former position with you. As you can see, it’s just a feeling. It has nothing at all to do with arrogance. I just can’t let you call me by my first name. But I’m entirely happy to meet you halfway and to call you by yours.” And from then on the shadow called his former master by his first name. 

“This has really gone too far,” the learned man thought. “Now I’m calling him by his last name, and he is using my first name.” But he had to put up with it. 

They arrived at last at the spa, where there were many people from foreign lands, among them a beautiful princess. She was suffering from the disease of being able to see too well, and that can be highly distressing. She noticed right away that the newcomer was a very different sort of person from all of the rest. “They say he is spending time here so that his beard will grow” she thought, “But the real reason is obvious to me. He can’t cast a shadow.” 

Once her curiosity was aroused, the princess went out for a stroll and struck up a conversation with the stranger. As the daughter of a king, she could come right to the point, and so she said, “Your problem is that you can’t cast a shadow.” 

“Your Royal Highness must have improved considerably, ” the shadow replied. “I know that you suffer from seeing things far too clearly. But you are getting over it, and I see that you are just about cured. Because as a matter of fact, I have a most unusual shadow. Do you see that fellow who is always by my side? Other people have ordinary shadows, but I’m not fond of the ordinary. Some people give their servants finer livery than they themselves wear. In that spirit, I’ve dressed up my shadow as a man. As you can see, I’ve even outfitted him with a shadow of his own. Yes, it’s very expensive. But it’s worth it to have something unique.” 

“What?” the princess thought to herself. “Can it be true that I’ve recovered? Why this is the best spa anywhere. And these days, the waters are said to have wonderful medicinal powers. But I’m not planning on leaving now because this place is just starting to get interesting. And I’ve taken a liking to that stranger. I just hope that his beard doesn’t grow too soon, because then he’ll leave.” That evening, the princess and the shadow danced in the grand ballroom. She was light on her feet, but he was even lighter. She had never danced with a partner like that. 

She told him the name of the country she was from, and he knew it well. He had spent some time there, but while she had been away. He had peeked in every window, high and low. He had seen this and he had seen that, and so he found it easy to talk with the princess, and to make references that astonished her. She was convinced that he had to be the wisest man on earth. His knowledge impressed her deeply. And when they started dancing again, she fell in love with him. The shadow was aware of this, for she was practically looking right through him. 

Then they danced again. And she came very close to telling him, but she hesitated. She really had to consider her country and her throne, as well as all of the people she would rule in her kingdom. “He’s a very wise man,” she said to herself, “and that’s all to the good. He’s a superb dancer. And that’s also good. But I wonder if he has a deep knowledge of things. That’s just as important. I’ll have to test him.” 

She began asking more difficult questions, questions she herself could never have answered. The shadow gave her a strange look. “You can’t answer my questions?” asked the king’s daughter. “They are mere child’s play,” said the shadow. “Even my shadow over there by the door could answer those questions.” “Your shadow” said the princess, “that would be quite remarkable.” “I’m not saying for certain” the shadow said, “but I believe he can, because he’s been following me around all these years, and paying attention. Yes, I’m inclined to think he can. But if Your Royal Highness will permit, I must explain that he is so proud of being able to pass for human, that if you want to put him in a good mood, and he will have to be in a good mood in order to answer properly, you will have to treat him as if he were a regular human being.” “That’s fine with me,” the princess replied. 

She walked over to the learned man who was standing in the doorway. She talked with him about the sun and the moon, and about people, what they are like on the inside, as well as on the outside. He answered her wisely and well. 

“What a man he must be to have such a wise shadow” she thought. “What a blessing it would be for my people and for my kingdom if I were to marry him, and that’s just what I’m going to do.” 

The princess and the shadow soon came to an understanding. But no one was to know anything until after she had returned to her kingdom. “No one, not even my shadow,” the shadow said. And he had his reasons for saying that. 

They arrived at last in the country where the princess ruled when she was at home. “Listen, my good friend,” the shadow said to the learned man. “Now that I’m as happy and powerful as anyone could be, I’d like to do something special for you. You can live with me in the castle, drive around with me in the royal carriage and make $100,000 a year. But in return, you will have to let everyone call you a shadow. And you can never claim that you were once a human being. Once a year, when I’m sitting on the balcony in the sunshine, you must lie at my feet as shadows do. I am planning on marrying the king’s daughter and the wedding is going to take place tonight.”

“No, that’s going too far” said the learned man, “I refuse. I refuse to do it. That would mean betraying the entire country and the princess as well. I’m going to tell everyone the whole story, that I’m the man and that you are just a shadow dressed up like a man.” 

“No one will believe you,” the shadow said. “Be reasonable or I’ll call the guards.” “I’m going straight to the princess” the learned man said. “But I’ll get there before you” said the shadow, “and you are going to jail.” And that’s exactly where he went, because the guards decided to obey the man who was going to marry the princess. 

“You’re trembling” the princess said, when the shadow came into her room. “Has something happened? You mustn’t get ill on the night that we are going to be married.” “I have just been through the most dreadful experience you can imagine” said the shadow. “Well, I suppose a poor shadow’s brain can’t take very much but imagine, my shadow has gone mad. He thinks that he is a human and picture this, he takes me for his shadow.” “That’s horrifying,” said the princess. “He’s locked up, isn’t he?”

“Oh, of course, but I doubt he will ever recover…” “Poor shadow” said the princess, “he must be terribly unhappy. It would be an act of compassion to liberate him from the little bit of life that’s left in him. If I stopped to think about it, there’s no choice but to do away with him, very quietly.” “How painful that is” the shadow said, “he was such a loyal servant.” And he managed to let out what sounded like a sigh. “What a noble character you have” the princess declared. 

That evening, the entire city was brightly lit. The cannons boomed and the soldiers presented their arms. It was quite a wedding. The princess and the shadow appeared on the balcony to be admired by all, and they received another round of cheers. The learned man didn’t hear any of that. For by then, they had taken his life. 

The end.

Stevenson Jekyll and Hyde, 1886

Andersen’s protagonist, the “learned man from cold lands” is Andersen himself. Through the story he explores the hazards of his profession as an artist, the problem of ambition, the double-edged seductiveness of beauty.

This story, which was written in 1846, also reflects the growing fascination in Europe and the United States, with the possibility of psychic multiplicity and deterioration, and with the image of a double, an evil twin, a doppleganger, or a shadow.

Today, “the shadow” is a potent and popular metaphor for the repressed part of the divided self, especially in depth psychology.

The creation and maintenance of a shadow aspect of the personal and collective psyche is an inevitable part of psychic life. The shadow is part of the unconscious. Our conscious reality is a very small part of psychic reality.

Furthermore, the personal ego is only one aspect or perspective of that consciousness. Jung described the personal ego consciousness as small and fragile, like a tiny boat floating in the sea. To build and ego and subsequently, keep it afloat, requires ongoing selective screening and repression of psychic contents.

All to say, the shadow is natural, unavoidable, and powerful. One of our tasks is maintaining a healthy relationship with it. Recognizing and conversing with it, and not being captured or taken over by it.

What constellates the shadow and drives its independence in this story? I think about the learned man’s vision of the “true, good, and beautiful,” with its overtones of purity and coldness. The learned man stays out of life. Maybe he tries to be above it. Recall the beginning of the story and the description of the street life that he observes, records, and yet doesn’t join. He labors away, alone in his room, to realize an ideal. 

You may not share Andersen’s drive for artistic fulfillment and public recognition, and yet this is a cautionary tale for every type of idealist. The plot twists and provocative images are an interesting map of the subterfuge between ego and shadow when you place yourself beyond the conflict. 

The learned man from cold lands is killed by his shadow and the princess. How can this happen? The shadow is a shadow! He has no substance beyond what he is lent or steals from others. The princess accepts the surface appearance of things and becomes an accomplice. Her own shadow beliefs and desires– that she is cured, that she is a wise ruler– are fed by the shadow, and she gives him a further measure of substance and reality by sharing the illusion. 

The shadow seems to understand this and to recognize that the source of his vitality is the learned man. “I’ll buy my freedom if I have to” the shadow says, “I don’t want to owe anyone anything.” The learned man thinks this is absurd—why you’re free as anyone else! he tells the shadow. Very high-minded of him. Also naive, irresponsible, and fatal. 

The shadow takes the learned man’s life and his place in the world. Will the shadow eventually be recognized for what he is? The story ends without answering that question. Here is the truth, we must admit, of our situation. There is no prescription for salvation, only the imperative that we accept the yin yang of our nature and the limitations of the ego, with its pressing need to see itself as singular and all-knowing. Yes my friend, in those words there is the echo of our learned man’s shadow.

Before we part ways, I want to give a big welcome to new subscribers: Michael, Pamela, Roxy, Paula, Marcia, and Sydney. Thank you for subscribing for email announcements about the podcast and my other programs. 

If you’re new to Myth Matters, I invite you to head over to the Mythic Mojo website, where you will find information about Myths Matters, a variety of ways to subscribe to this podcast, and also information about the other work that I do with people to use stories to gain insight into life. 

A shout out of gratitude to the patrons and supporters of this podcast whose financial contributions keep it all going. In particular, thank you to James for becoming a patron on patreon. Thank you James! And thank you to long-time patrons, Micael and Trish Lady Frog. 

If you are finding something of value here in Myths Matters and can afford $5 or $10/month to sustain this podcast, I hope that you’ll join me on Patreon too.

And that’s it for me, Catherine Svehla and Myth Matters. Thank you so much for listening. Feel free to email me if you have comments or questions about today’s episode. I always enjoy hearing from you.

Until next time, take good care of yourself and keep the mystery in your life alive.


Link to The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen

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