{"id":62353,"date":"2012-11-14T12:24:19","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T17:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=62353"},"modified":"2012-11-14T12:24:19","modified_gmt":"2012-11-14T17:24:19","slug":"an-interview-with-the-shadow-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/reading-tarot\/an-interview-with-the-shadow-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with the shadow, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Sarah Taylor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow — no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real.<\/p>\n

— Amy Grant, musician<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but the year so far has seemed to be about an inner search and transmutation of a particular kind: that of a confrontation — whether gentle and measured, or fierce and fast — with monsters and demons. Or, rather, with what we believe<\/em> is monstrous and demonic about us. The truth tends to be far removed from what we fear is real.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It is this that prompted me to return to the subject of the shadow two weeks ago<\/a>, and it\u2019s what I am continuing with today, aided by the Scorpionic territory we are inhabiting, and a retrograde Mercury. It is also reflected in yesterday\u2019s momentary disappearance of the Sun behind the Moon — symbolic of the light of what is conscious and understandable making way for what is shadow-bound and intuitive.<\/p>\n

There is such a strong current available to us that I thought I would get practical this week with a tarot exercise on the shadow. What I have done in past exercises is suggest that you pick a card that resonates with your shadow: one that is simultaneously repulsive and fascinating. It is an effective exercise, but only one of the ways that tarot can be used for shadow work. Moreover, its approach is predominantly psychological because anyone taking part has an active choice in the card that they pick. It does not depend on one of the most powerful aspects of tarot: synchronicity<\/em>, or meaningful coincidence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Today, then, I\u2019m going to suggest we use the tarot as both a psychological and a divinatory tool by leaving it to synchronicity to come up with the card that will best express what shadow work means for you.<\/p>\n

A tarot exercise in shadow work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take a minute or two to centre yourself, shuffle your real deck (or virtual deck — one that allows you to pick a single card), and ask that you are divinely guided to a card that you are ready and able to engage with<\/em>. Then draw your card.<\/p>\n

Make a note of your first impressions, with no censorship or judgement. Write them down if that\u2019s helpful.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now look at the card more closely and see what it reveals to you. Does it expand on your first impression? Does it contradict it? Does it seem to have no connection to it at all? Again, write down what you think, what you feel, and what you sense. There is no wrong way to do this.<\/p>\n

Once you feel that the card has given up to you what it wanted you to see, ask yourself this final question:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does this show me my light?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It is the answer to that final question that is the essence of shadow work. It is not an exercise in darkness; it is one of bringing the darkness into the light. We create the monsters to mask the outcast parts of ourselves that are there to be disengaged with (because they aren\u2019t ours), transformed (because we don\u2019t recognise their value), or embraced (because we don\u2019t recognise ourselves in them).<\/p>\n

If you want to share what you have found here, then please do. If you want to message me privately, you can by using the email: sarah [at] integratedtarot [dot] com.<\/p>\n

A few things to hold firmly in mind:<\/p>\n

– Try to approach the exercise in a spirit of playful curiosity<\/em>. In other words, this exercise should have a \u2018voluntariness\u2019 to it, not obligation. If you feel somehow compelled to do it while also feeling uncertain, I\u2019d suggest that is the start of your shadow material right there, and you need not pick a card. Simply sit with those feelings and see what comes of them.<\/p>\n

– View the exercise as a conversation with a well-intentioned and benign part of yourself that is wise and wants what\u2019s best for you. This helps to engender that sense of playful curiosity. After all, we are working with the energies of Mercury too, which adds a lighter touch to the proceedings.<\/p>\n

– If you feel you want to talk to someone to further the discussion, find a trusted third party who is able to provide the space for you to do that.<\/p>\n

– Finally, remember that the shadow also reveals what you unconsciously believe to be too good for you to own for yourself. So if you find yourself facing a card that feels \u2018too good to be true\u2019, consider the possibility that it is<\/em> true, and see where that takes you.<\/p>\n

Other articles on working with the shadow in tarot:<\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Journeying into a tarot card — Queen of Wands, Sacred Circle Tarot<\/a>\u00a0(by Emma Sunerton-Burl)
\n–\u00a0Working with the archetypes in tarot<\/a>
\n–\u00a0Tarot — dreaming while you’re awake<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free\u00a0tarot spread generator<\/a>\u00a0using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread.\u00a0This article<\/a>\u00a0explains how to use the spread.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Sarah Taylor Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow — no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real. — Amy Grant, musician I don\u2019t know about you, but … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}