When you hear this phrase shadow or soul work what does it mean to you? I’ve noticed since these terms have been gaining traction over the last few years there is still a bit of fear and confusion understanding what that means.
To deep dive into our shadow self can be very uncomfortable and even scary .The fear is what stops most people from digging a little deeper .
When we face our little or big demons ( our shadow side )then we start to know ourselves more. This leads to greater self empowerment, awareness and self esteem. Which in turns starts to unlock so much inner growth that will ultimately shift your entire outer world in a more fulfilling and positive direction. From jobs, friendships, locations to new opportunities.
For those that are just starting out on the journey it can seem daunting.
I get the images of a classic scene from a thriller/ horror movie as metaphoric symbolism of shadow work.
Where the main character finds themselves in an old haunted home. Floor boards creaking lights flickering and the part where they decide to go down into the basement to investigate the strange noises.
Almost no one can watch these classics scenarios without feeling some sort of emotional response. That’s why that template of suspense is used.
Symbolically the house represents our body, the basement is about going into the subconscious mind trauma that has been stored away, forgotten or repressed dark secrets.
A basement can also be seen as a place where we can seek refuge in a storm or it could become a prison.
Carl Jung saw the shadow self as representing the hidden and “undesirable” aspects of the self. We punish or push away into the unconscious as they are inconsistent to the persona or face we show to the world. To remove that would mean we would have to raw, vulnerable showing our authentic selves. Yet this is where our true inner strength lays.
The shadow self is our more baser animistic reactionary qualities that come out when we feel our safety or security threatened. That is basically, I feel our animal nature coming to the surface. When we truly are pushed or triggered in a way that it will bring that dark primal energy force to the surface, it can be truly terrifying to witness.
Yet its only terrifying if we don’t know when to become a lion and when its time harness the essence of a bird, wolf or lamb. The animal kingdom teaches us so much about our own primal nature that we can learn from. Ironically in higher states of self awareness you merge the shadow primal self with your higher self. That is the balance that occurs when we do the shadow work . Accepting, understanding how and when to use these sides of our nature and then implementation of those sides of ourselves in our daily life.
With a higher understanding like in Sun Tzu’s “ The art of war, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
That can be applied metaphorically ( energetically ) or literally inwards ( the self ) out wards ( others) depending on the circumstances.
The bottom line is that when we look at ourselves, our behaviors , actions and our world as separate entities. We allow our pride to dictate our thoughts, behaviors and actions. Trying to obsessively make things straight, organized and sensible only adds to our suffering. When we don't allow for our natural intuitive flow to have some fun too
Rather than seeing we are part of a complex flowing organism. Yes we have an I AM persona, or personality. No different than distinguishing a flower from a tree. ( Not the same as I AM interconnectedness)
When we deny our shadow nature we are denying another aspect of ourselves that is there for a reason. It too has a purpose. I think we have been sanitized into believing we must fit perfectly and neatly into the the world , society , cultural views, religion, family units… ect. In order for us to have a civilized and orderly society.
But what if all that repression and lack of acceptance of our dual natures is exactly what is creating so much chaos and disorder in our world.
The soul longs to be free and we are already a part of the natural world. We don’t need to be told this when we are little children. Only as adults do we need to be reminded of this. What have we forgotten?
It certainly isn’t the harsh life lessons.
We forgot how to play .
That may sound silly to some and down right childish to the sophisticated minds.
Life is very serious, you know. Your life is at stake here.
Doing the spiritual work is serious, paying your bills is serious, raising a family , serious business every where you turn.
Facing our shadow self maybe doesn’t need to be viewed as such serious work. When we allow our imagination to take over and the playful spirit to emerge.
That's where the true magic really lives. And those who wish to practice high level magic have to reach these states of pure divine playfulness. The inverted attempt is allowing the carnal desires to consume and take over in selfish indulgences. That's not what I'm talking about here.
It simply requires for us to look at our shadow nature and unhealed parts to just simply acknowledge that it exists.
Grieve or give a nod to that dark nature seeing that it is there. The pain, that trauma is what made you who you are . Wearing those soul scars as badges of honor, rather than hiding it in shame.
When I first really encountered and saw my shadow self. A dark scary distorted version of me that had been created through a lifetime of self inflicted and external abuse and trauma. I sat with that realization for a while and reflected what that really meant.
It was that moment of realization I was no longer afraid to go into the dark and spooky basement of the subconscious mind. I explored those parts with an open mind, child like curiosity and with joy knowing it was just an illusion.
When I let go of the fear of what I would see, or questioning if I had the strength and ability to stay balanced . I felt more confident in myself that I had enough will power / self control with a logical temperment to not act upon or fall into the emotional abyss of that darker nature. I leaned to trust in myself and also a higher power was there to support me if I did fall.
That was an enlightening and very liberating moment.
I was able to recognize my own inner divine light . It is through the darkness we find the light. This symbolism is universal and we can see examples in our natural world all the time, from the sun rising and setting every day, to life /death and the seasons changing.
We are born from the dark waters of our mothers womb and return to the darkness of the earth when we die. This primordial darkness is a very important part of our world, yet we are conditioned to fear ,deny, repress and attempt to control it.
The Yin energy is symbolically black, which isn’t the absence of colour. It is actually the presence of all colours.
That is another fascinating correlation that I made when thinking about how we have become so out of balance with the shadow of our natural world, partly because we are not in harmony with the Yin and the Yang aspects of ourselves .
The balancing of our emotional/ intuitive side of our minds with the practical and logical side of our minds nature.
We live in a society ( not world) that is dominated and even glamorizes by the distortion of those energies.
The feminine energy is mocked, the softer, sensitive, intuitive, receptive, healing, compassionate nature. It is viewed as week and vulnerable. Something to be denied if you are to be viewed as strong and a leader. Which is quite opposite of the reality of true healthy feminine energies.
The masculine energy- action orientated, logical, rational , predictable, focus, stable, grounding nature is being exploited.
In order to measure your “success,” it it based on working in unsafe or unreasonable amounts of time put in to creating a “stable “ life for yourself (family) and hyper focused on material gain.
The game is rigged. The only way to transcend that and make some real shifts is to acknowledge it is what it is . Then have fun with the inner knowing, life is not meant to be so serious. That we are dancers in a giant cosmic dance with each other and the universe.
The only time we our “out of sync “ with it is when we try to control the dance of the stars, the rhythms of nature and cosmic order that is always in motion. Wither we are here living breathing or not. Life always goes on we are so very important, yet not at all. Just like our problems and the shadows they cast over our emotions and lives.
Yet the shadow play is just as important as light “work.” The light that comes from our love, joy and laughter is music to the universe’s ears.
The only time it becomes work is when we approach it with a serious mind with dire consequences.
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