The Freedom of facing our Shadows
Nature is all about balance. There are usually two sides to everything we experience in nature. Two opposite, but necessary energies, that join together to create a whole that we see as perfect and natural. When ever we are moving through our day we know somewhere else in the world will be experiencing night. When its cold and wet, somewhere else will have sunshine and drought. There is always somewhere or someone experiencing the opposite to what we are within their external and internal environment. Here in the southern hemisphere we are charging towards summer while those in the northern hemisphere turn inwards in preparation for winter, energetically, at this time, we are given a potent opportunity to work with the natural seasonal cycles for change, growth and transformation. Both spring and autumn are seasons of action.
There is much work to be done in autumn in the natural world. It is a time of action, planning and preparation. Animals and birds are busy finding or storing food, raising young, finding shelter or a home for the winter. It is a time in nature for letting go and stripping back, a time for taking care of basic essentials, food, shelter and nurturing the next generation. We can work, on a personal level, with these same energies, by doing what needs to be done in order to organise and clean up our own world. Autumn can be a time to put long neglected plans into action. If we have been nurturing ideas or inspirations, autumn can offer us the push we need to turn daydreams into reality, but only if we are willing to do the work and allow ourselves to let go of what no longer serves us.
Spring on the other hand, is a time of re connection and rapid growth in the natural world, there are flowers to pollinate, seeds to be planted, birds are nesting and the animals are very busy courting and mating and preparing to raise a family during the warmer months.
As we connect to the energy of these seasons, the space between the light of summer and the darkness of winter, we can start to see how our external world can be reflected within our personal life as well. Everyone is made up of his or her own extremes bubbling away inside. Within each one of us, we have a volatile mixture of positive and not so positive traits and experiences that forms the basis of our character and personality.
Shadow work is best described as working with our own personal darkness. Its working with the parts of our character that we try to disown or pretend are not there. It may be negative emotions or personality traits that have caused us pain and frustrations. Examples can be a bad temper, a jealous nature, inability to trust, not being able to voice our own opinions, relationship baggage, negative thought patterns, the list is endless really and you will know what things about you that you dislike, hide or wish to change. They are the personality traits you wish were just old patterns, but you just cant seem to shake them no matter how much work you do on them.
There comes a time though, when you need to make friends with your personality as a whole. You need to love yourself for the good, the bad and the ugly and understanding how you can give voice to all the emotions that you will experience as a human being. It is a really important element to accepting and truly knowing yourself. There is a real power that comes from embracing the whole of you.
In order to work with our shadows we first must learn what it is we fear, hide and how we react to different circumstances and events within our life. Often understanding our emotional reactions, our fears and our perceived personality flaws can help not only better understand ourselves but teaches us how we can allow others into these shadow spaces and allow them to also know more about who we are as a whole.
Working with Moth energy can be especially potent at this time. Moths are associated with our shadow self and the darker/ secretive areas of our psyche. They are drawn towards light, yet are most active in the darkness of night. The remind us that we all have things that we need to bring forward into the light in order to see the beauty within the darkness. As a messenger it is associated with hidden meanings and information.
Snakes are also a powerful animal energy to work with at this time, Snakes are symbolic of the process of letting go, they have the ability to shed their skin, a process they need to do in order to grow, it is not an easy process as they need to twist and turn or rub against something in order to let go of the skin that no longer fits them, but the process is necessary for survival.
Crows and ravens have a long history of being birds of communication and lore. They remind us about natural lore and justice and the idea that our words have power. Their message is to be mindful of the actions we do and there long reaching consequences. Its important when making friends with our shadows that we are aware of the lore of return and that what we put out comes back and we need to remember to take responsibility for our own choices and actions
Finally any animal messengers that are both black and white in appearance can be worked with energetically to help us balance extremes. They remind us that there are two sides to every story. They challenge us to review our ideas of right and wrong, to understand why we take the moral stance that we do in different situations. They encourage us to find balance and to understand why the duality is needed both externally and internally
Personally I find using a journal is a really good way of allowing my self to our own thoughts. You will find when you start exploring your own shadows a whole lot of deep held stuff will come out. Be gentle on you. You can be friends with your shadows it really just comes down to leaning how to balance.