{"id":62412,"date":"2012-11-21T11:47:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T16:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=62412"},"modified":"2012-11-21T11:47:46","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T16:47:46","slug":"an-interview-with-the-shadow-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/reading-tarot\/an-interview-with-the-shadow-part-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with the shadow, Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

At a time of personal reckoning and responsibility that has felt both broad and deep beyond understanding, I\u2019ve realised how tricky it is to approach the matter of our own personal work without either minimising it or descending into melodrama and fear. We’ve had enough of those last two, methinks!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With the astrology the way it is, and the tarot readings that have been presenting themselves to us recently, there is a lot to be said for the need to descend, discover, give up the old and gather the new. I felt just such a surge into descent this weekend in the form of what felt like a panic attack. It knocked my psyche sideways temporarily, seeming to come out of the blue, when, in fact, it was likely because my attention wasn\u2019t trained on the direction of its approach — the stuff of shadow indeed. As Amanda pointed out last week, watch out for what you\u2019re not watching out for.<\/p>\n

And such experiences are not necessarily what we might first perceive them to be. This reminder was invaluable to me as I hit panic mode after being hit by a wave of \u2018otherness\u2019 on Sunday evening. The reason for my panic: that there was<\/em> no apparent reason for my panic. In that moment, there seemed to be little link between cause and effect.<\/p>\n

Couple this with what I have just read about Ketu and the south lunar node in an illuminating discussion on Facebook, and I have been able to slot my very personal experience into a transpersonal perspective. Because, really, it isn\u2019t completely personal, even though it might feel like it. We are not being punished; we are taking part in something that is impossible to define but yet feels akin to a rebalancing and course correction. And I don\u2019t believe we are doing it just for ourselves. We are also working together on this, whether we know it or not, whether we want to or not.<\/p>\n

So while I do not want to downplay the trials and tribulations on the Hero\u2019s Journey that each of us is undertaking, I do want to bring some light, and lightness, to the proceedings. Not because I am attempting to imbue the story of the search for our shadow natures with some form of false hope in an attempt to reassure.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

No. Because, as I have written the past few weeks, this is <\/em>about light, not darkness. It\u2019s just that in those moments that feel convincingly dark it is hard — perhaps one of our greatest challenges — to allow for this notion.<\/p>\n

Today, I want to allow for this notion by rebalancing our own approach to the shadow in this column. This article will be short, but no less relevant than the others. On the contrary, without all three, the exercise would be incomplete.<\/p>\n

So, if you have worked with the shadow exercise from last week<\/a>, this week is the opportunity to come back to the wholeness of yourself by grounding into your deeper being. In other words, I am going to ask the tarot to assist in a centring exercise — one that is practical and tangible, and which puts you back in touch with your body. Even if you haven\u2019t done the previous exercise, this one is useful.<\/p>\n

Grounding with the tarot — an exercise<\/em><\/p>\n

Using the law of synchronicity, shuffle your tarot deck (or find an program online where you can either draw a single card, or where you choose to work with a particular card in the layout before dealing). Like before, ask that you are divinely guided to a card that you are ready and able to engage with<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Then draw your card.<\/p>\n

Look at this card as if it holds a clear instruction as to how you can ground yourself and integrate what is emerging in your life. You will know what it is because you\u2019ll get a sense of recognition and certainty. It might work with the card\u2019s traditional meaning; it might be literal, describing visually what you can do; it might connect with you on a level that is entirely personal. And it doesn\u2019t have to be \u2018spiritual\u2019 in nature. You will, simply, feel it and know.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to provide examples because I don\u2019t want to affect your own communication with your card. But feel free to email me at sarah [at] integratedtarot [dot] com if you feel stuck, or you want a sounding board, or if you have a question. Or share it, and your experience, here.<\/p>\n

Once you have the information, it is yours to apply. Above all, enjoy the process. Some enjoyment is due.<\/p>\n

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
\n— Siddhartha Gautama<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\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 At a time of personal reckoning and responsibility that has felt both broad and deep beyond understanding, I\u2019ve realised how tricky it is to approach the matter of our own personal work without either minimising it or descending into melodrama and fear. We’ve had enough of those last two, methinks! With the astrology … 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\/62412"}],"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=62412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}