The Shadow is one of many “archetypes” we’re born with. An archetype is a patterned way of perceiving the world. For example, everyone is born with a sense of what a mother should be like. Jung would call this the “archetypal” mother. This is an archetype, not to be confused with your real, biological mother. However, this archetype does shape what you expect from your real mother. There are many archetypes—Mother, Father, God, the Devil, to name a few—and each has a profound effect on how you experience the world.
