Heal Yourself Through Shadow Work

Watch an example of Shadow Work in this video, or read below

​​​Do you know what this is?

I'll let you know shortly, but first, we humans are afraid of things we don’t know. And so we judge them as good or bad, based on our experience and our perception.

The term 'shadow' was coined by Carl Jung, who taught that we all have hidden part of ourselves that we hide from the rest of the world. Shadow work is about uncovering these parts of us that we've denied or repressed, and integrate them, so that we are whole.

What you hate in others, or what you judge, is often that which you have repressed or denied in yourself. When you integrate the shadow, you are no longer triggered, and you live from a space of choice, rather than reaction. 

Here’s an example:
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Let’s say you are behind someone in traffic who’s driving slowly, and then turns without indicating. It drives you mad and you land up yelling in your car. A few more incidents like that on your way to work, and you are wound-up, stress-out and irritated when you get to your destination.

The driver triggered a response in you because you may have had a thought like this “he’s so inconsiderate”, or “he thinks he owns the road”, or “I would never drive like that”.

What you’ve done is project behaviour (that you've denied about yourself) onto the driver. You don’t allow yourself to be inconsiderate, own the road, or drive that way, so dare dare he.

However, we are both good and bad, considerate and inconsiderate. When someone else does something that you don’t allow yourself to do, you get mad. “Why is he allowed to behave badly, when I can't?”  The truth is, you can if you wanted. You just choose not to. When you admit that you've driven badly sometimes too, then you own your shadow.
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That’s all that shadow work is. Going within and owning your own 'faults'.

Let’s give you another, but more painful, example:

Let’s say you're in a relationship and your partner is cheating on you. You might say “I’ll never cheat, I am loyal”.  

To the logical mind, and the outside observer, you're not cheating. You choose not to be seeing other people.  But it’s not always about the other person. You could also be cheating yourself. You are giving all your energy to someone else instead of to yourself.

The shadow can also take different forms, and may not be exactly like-with-like. Cheating can also take different forms.

You might find that you're not honest in other ways. You say you are happy, but inside you are miserable. You show a smiling and obliging side, never letting your guard down, but you are not obliging in your mind. You're hiding an aspect of yourself from others, and until you own it, you will keep ‘cheating’ yourself.

To get back to the photo.

Some people say that shadow work is evil. It's simply owning our dark side, which everyone has. The irony is that the more you own your shadow, the lighter you become. 

It's like having a garden filled with weeds. If you were to close the curtains, you won't see the weeds, but that doesn't mean they'll go away. In fact, they'll take over and eventually kill every good plant in your garden. 

When you pull out the weeds, you're allowing your garden to grow, and are making space for beautiful flowers. 

The picture is of a pentacle which you hang outside a door for protection. It's made to protect the people that live there. 

A pentacle is the opposite of Baphomet, which is the Satanic symbol. Everything in Satanism is an inversion of what is good and pure and wholesome.  You can tell the difference, because the pentacle has the point at the top, and two points at the bottom. 
The satanic symbol has two points at the top, to represent horns, and one point at the bottom to represent the chin.

​So the question is, are you looking at it in fear, or understanding and an open mind?
​I'm not here to tell you what to believe in, only what exists in the world today. 

Till then, Soul Seeker

Natasha "Lightbearer" Williams

​PS. There is a lot more to shadow work, so keep following as I share more.

PPS. If you want to integrate your shadow and heal your relationships, your health, your finances and be more present, then sign up for my Shadow Work Course and Journal. You'll have access to my powerful framework to identify and heal the wounded parts of you, so that you free up energy to live a lighter, more joyful life. The course is launching mid November 2023!