Shadow Magick

Though many people think of shadow energy as negative and light energy as positive, it?s not that simple. Shadow energy can be positive or negative. If it?s energy that you have suppressed and it now resides in your subconscious, it is considered shadow energy. But what do you mean by energy that resides in your sub-conscience? Well, it means, simply put, any talent or personality trait that you have suppressed. After some time of suppressing that talent or trait, it simply becomes second nature to your body to not indulge in that trait, and you quickly forget it. When we come into this world, we are influenced by a number of different things such as the people we encounter, conflicts we experience, and the environment we grow up in. The lessons we learned during these formative years tend to stick with us, turning into beliefs that affect how we act and react as we move into adulthood.

For example, if your soul is naturally creative but your sibling made fun of your drawing skills you might have suppressed that talent and taken on the false belief that you?re not good enough to make art. From that point on, you might always admire other people who could draw or paint, but you?d never attempt it yourself because you?ve adopted the belief that you?re not good at art. You might spend your whole life avoiding all experiences where you?d need to call on your artistic talents because of a seemingly insignificant moment from a long time ago. Another example is if you have an inclination to be outspoken and to be a charismatic leader, but that behavior is discouraged by your parents because they are focused on raising you to be polite and obedient. This could result in you either denying your true self all your life or embracing your desire to lead but at the same time feeling a curious sense of guilt about taking charge and speaking up. Basically, whatever talents or personality traits you have hidden, is called shadow energy.

When you do Shadow Work, you face those hidden energies and awaken them, and are able to use them once more. There are a few steps to this-

Step 1- Figuring out false beliefs by triggering something

Because we learn to suppress certain parts of ourselves in order to please our parents, fit in with friends, or do well in school, we usually have no idea that we?re suppressing anything. We just think we?re being good functional humans. But then, something triggers us. A trigger, in basic sense, is anything that makes you feel angry, sad, or any other extreme sense of emotion.

You might get triggered when you arrange to meet up with someone cute from your dating app and you get stood up. Perhaps this experience makes you burst into tears at the restaurant and vow to never use a dating app again. Your friends might tell you to get over it but you just can?t get over your hurt from the situation. This is probably something you can heal through shadow work.

Step 2- Understand your feelings

Your feelings are what alert you to any resistance, false beliefs, or emotional wounds that are hidden in your subconscious. It?s important to acknowledge these feelings because your subconscious issues could stop your spells from moving forward. Never push your emotions down, or beat yourself up for having them. That will only wedge those false beliefs and emotional wounds further into your subconscious and make you feel worse.

Step 3- Find out what the story is

There has to be some reason why you feel this way. Let's go back to the dating app example. Everyone get's stood up sometimes, so why did you react like that. It's understandable that you would feel sad, but that doesn't mean that all people will be like that, so why give up dating apps cause of one bad date? There could be another story behind it. Maybe your parents divorced, and your mother or father finally found someone they liked, only to then get stood up and come back in tears. Contrary to what many parents think, children know when you're sad and when you're happy. And waking up to see your parent crying and weeping isn't exactly the best thing for a boost of happiness. After you were stood up, it could have brought back painful memories that you didn't want to relieve

Step 4- Heal your wounds

Now that you know the story, change it. It doesn't matter what changes you make, as long as they make sense, they'll work. Let's go back to the dating example. Maybe instead of, "He/ She clearly stood my mother/ father up, because they were bad people who would clearly not make for good husbands/wives. Same with my date". It doesn't really matter what changes you make. If the new story feels right, then leave it that way. Thank the universe for giving you the strength to do Shadow Work and go through such painful memories.

Step 5- If the last step didn't work

It can be hard to believe something you just made up, which is why I made this little ritual to help. Take two sheets of paper, ruled or blank, whichever you prefer. Write the heading on one paper as "The True Story" and leave the other without a heading. Write the new story on the paper with the heading, and write the old story on the other paper. Dispose of the one without a heading, either by burning, burying or whatever you want. Keep the other paper, and carry it around for a few days. If you want, you can hang it on your wall in front of where you sleep, so that every time you wake up, you'll see the story. Also, when you wake up, try saying something like "This is my story" and then read the story to yourself. Do this as long as needed