Definition.
Shadow is the parts of ourselves — or the place occupied by those parts of ourselves — which get suppressed because we perceive them as dangerous, inconvenient, too fragile, or otherwise undesirable. The shadowing of our inner parts is not necessarily a conscious process, and often it is strongly interwoven with fears about survival or being excluded from the tribe. Complexes (with the exception of the ego-complex) are generally said to dwell in the shadow region of psyche, and can certainly be understood as shadow-selves.