We have arrived at my favorite time of the year.. The liminal space between the end of one year and the beginning of another. In my tradition at least. It is the time to clean out the closets, sit with yourself and make your hearth the best space it can be. It is time to take long walks watching dappled sunlight create shadows. It is time to sit in front of the mirror, lights off, candles lit and see what you need to recognize in your own reflection.
Samhain marks the end of the working year; the harvest has been brought in and now we can gather at the hearth with our beloveds. As the nights grow longer and the veil thickens, a quiet settles on the land. We wait in limbo for the light to return at Yule.
In the waiting, we have an opportunity to do the mundane work of clearing the clutter and the spiritual work of understanding our shadow selves.
Shadow work is a very personal way of weaving together magic and self empowerment or care. It is the practice of taking time to look at our innermost workings to manifest the best version of ourselves so we can achieve great things. Shadow work can be the picking apart of negative behaviors or it can be learning new communication styles. It can look like intense meditation sessions or a tarot spread surrounded by chunks of amethyst. How is not as important as why you are doing the work or what you want to achieve. Shadow work is digging in and unearthing the parts of your unconscious or personality that are maladaptive or so repressed that they manifest in ugly inconsistent ways.
There are plenty of ways to get started from journal prompts to Jungian texts to new-age podcasts. A few minutes on your favorite search engine will help you find a tool to kick-start your journey. I can recommend Kelly Ann Maddox and Christine Jette, as they have both helped to form my understanding and practice of shadow work. I will put links to their work in the comments.
After the hustle and bustle of the summer and then the harvest.. It is time to intone the Iza rune and listen to what the vibrations shake loose. I encourage you to sit in front of the mirror with nothing but candle light, to answer hard questions in a fancy notebook or meditate on a mountain trail and find a better way forward.
Many blessings on the journey!
Jean Loomis
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