Whenever a group, society or nation strongly believes in its own moral righteousness, superiority or entitlement, the collective shadow is present. In regards to cultural self-development, the shadow work definition defines shadow traits as usually undesirable ones based upon race, culture, politics, religion or other qualities that are disowned by a collective mass of one group and are placed onto another group or population. This communal phenomenon can exist from small groups (e.g., sports team or church) to an entire country.

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Some ideas to help you better identify and work with (withdraw) shadow material.

You may often be fascinated by finding images seen in the shapes and textures of clouds. Is that the profile of Gandhi or a rabbit? The well-known Rorschach inkblot psychological test works in this manner. How do you get from that cluster of clouds or blob of ink to a distinct image?

When unrecognizable images are shown to you, your conscious mind cannot logically figure them out. In order to make sense of the image you use ideas that emerge mainly from your unconscious in a process in shadow work therapy called projection. The author Anaïs Nin’s succinctly described projection: "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."

For more ...  Working with Shadow Projection

For those new to the topic or wanting to solidify your understanding.  A basic overview.  

Depth psychology deals with unconscious feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. It can also be seen as the psychology of the soul. In practice depth psychology seeks to explore the underlying motives behind our behaviours.

Although depth psychology is usually associated with the founding psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung, it is found in the post-modern schools of thought of Gestalt, Archetypal and Imaginal Psychology.

Jungian psychotherapy is based upon the works of the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). Jung founded a distinct school of psychotherapy based upon concepts often heard in conversation such as introvert and extravert, synchronicity, archetype, shadow, complex and individuation.

For more ...  What is Depth Psychology