Hes the bane of NPCs and the establishment. He single handledly kept the value of mythology, supernatural and the paranormal alive during the peak years of modernism and post modernism. Academics, modern Europeans, and experts have been trying to destroy him ever since.
But the establishment is in decline. They have to watch as all their worthless ideas (like new-atheism, and moral relativism) all fall into the waste bin of history while Jungs ideas get stronger and stronger.
Jung's major beliefs is that a primary goal of every human is/ought to be the process of individuation (the processing of becoming a self)–which he wrote on the backdrop of rising collectivistic pressures via shifting global geopolitics. For Jung, there is a distinction between ego and self, where ego is a narrow band of consciousness that exists primarily in a space of tension between unconscious factors (which includes shadow) and social presentation (persona).
He further believed that people share a collective unconscious, which is that we inherit cultural motifs and symbols that then get continuously represented across different cultures and time; however, they manifest in a way relative to the culture of the time. So, 'Hero' may be an archetype, meaning stories involving heroes transcend cultures and time, but 'Batman' is a specific manifestation that emerged in American culture in the past century.
One archetype then is the 'shadow', which represents unconscious elements that are in conflict with our ego ideal (how we think we should behave or be–especially in front of others). These can include unfulfilled desires, fears, perceived weaknesses, shame-inducing idiosyncrasies, etc. The idea is that the 'self' in the Jungian conceptualization involves actively seeking these archetypes out via either psychological analysis or a process Jung calls Active Imagination. In either case, the general idea is to actively confront these aspects of our unconscious and integrate the awareness–and the process by which the awareness was obtained, into our conscious understanding of self.
Jung's ideas overlap with the likes of Jacques Vallee in terms of the intersection of psychological concepts and the mystical. Myth and folklore were of prominent sources of information in Jung's formation of his ideas; however, there is an impact of poor translation and creative liberties taken in sources Jung used unwittingly.
Any Jungian insights are welcome
archetypes aren't really real its just the various ways that bodies have performed in social environments
its like saying weve discovered every 'genre' of music or movies. its just some way weve organized things and think that's that
that said, you may find yourself occupying certain established tropes, or wish to occupy others
jung was flirting with a tantric concept of inversion
life is more a game of perpetual dosing of balance than it is about something being inherently right or wrong
within broader society, there is generally facets of who we are that we don't get to feed. say our 'darker" sides, but this is just societal perspective
really if you think about a shadow, its just something that isn't being given light
so to become a fuller version of yourself, you must find the aspects of yourself that have been put on the shelf in order to bring the current parts of you forward
if you are timid, it means being bold
if you are bold, it may mean becoming reserved
if you are rigid, it may mean loosen up
if you are flimsy, it may mean discipline
find the parts of you that have had to be repressed in order to bring the current parts of you over
you will know if you're "doing it right" if your life has a lot of motion and advancement
My understanding is Jung's theory of integration is it's always personal and even happens by itself. A natural process. But there is a tremendous benefit in being conscious it's happening or happened. And one might accelerate the process.
One way to do this is by analyzing the unconscious, your daydreams, fantasies and dreams. All believed to be bridges.
The shadows a particularly tough one as it's the parts you're unconscious of. This is why a psychoanalyst or just speaking to someone about your dreams, has a tremendous impact. This also seems to trigger more dreams, or a finalization of a dream story.
Jung always stated his work was based scientifically from his experiences and observations, both personal and of his patients.
His method was active imagination. Which is daydreaming without imposing your control. He would then analyze these daydreams, or active imagination sessions, psychologically and symbolically.
Believing them to be from his unconscious. In the end, for him, possibly even from the collective unconscious.
Archetypes are more patterns in the human psyche and can be seen in myth and fairy tails as heros, gods and creatures.
Your shadow is the archetype of your unconscious. The parts of yourself, deliberately or otherwise, you've repressed or forgotten.
So yes. I'd say they are real.