Courage in the Shadow
Dear Ones,
Our Shadow Shamanic Healing Initiation Process (SHIP) is coming up soon, marking our thirteenth Shadow SHIP offered here in the Heartland.
Our exploration of the shadow has shifted over the years, corresponding with what is happening in our collective psyche. Personal and collective changes mirror each other as they support evolutionary change.
What is the shadow? The shadow consists of those aspects of ourselves that have been deemed unacceptable by others or by ourselves, denied, and often deeply buried within our psyche. These rejected parts are shaped by our experiences and by the structures of the systems in which we are raised. These systems include family, church, school, culture, and race, among others. Each of us is unique and finds a way to cope within these structures, which determines what gets put in the shadow.
Yes, this means we each create a different reality, seeing the world through our own lens, which creates a unique false narrative or a partial truth. This shapes us into a shadow expression of ourselves, someone wearing a mask to conceal the unacceptable parts that we or others deem unworthy.
We become compromised, not whole. We each have a shadow. Institutions also have a shadow.
Shadows are supported by patterns of behavior reinforced by defense mechanisms and our views of the world. Essentially, our overdeveloped ego, whose job it is to keep things buried and protect us, will fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo. We don’t want to change because it brings up what we have so desperately tried to hide.
As we heal through this powerful evolutionary time on our planet, the shadow forces surface, and repressed feelings, hatred, fear, control, and more rise to the surface and begin to be acted out in society. It is as if the spotlight is now shining its bright light on the unacceptable parts of ourselves. And they are stealing the show.
Remember that if our experiences are not digested, supported, processed, and integrated, they stay in the body, becoming distorted, denied, obscured, and then projected onto the other. Someone becomes the scapegoat of the repressed emotions from an experience we never resolved and re-generated.
In our collective, we are seeing a lot of shadow behaviors rising to the surface, acting out in destructive ways towards others to keep the status quo. Shadow is calling us to transform.
We are in a period of profound evolutionary change, the energy of which demands an upgrade to our operating systems and calls us to become more whole, conscious, loving, and mature human beings. As the old systems dismantle, we can transform the shadow by releasing old narratives, biases, and unconscious conditioning.
We will build healthier foundations to regenerate and restore ourselves and the world by doing our personal shadow work to become more individuated, whole human beings who can stand in truth and act from love, thereby creating a better world.
Over the years, I have come to understand that shadow behavior is close to the surface and ready to be met and transformed. Part of us wants to come home and be integrated, so we are more whole. My view of the world has shifted through ongoing self-examination and shadow work. This work has helped me and many others find peace, integrity, acceptance, strength, and the courage to live a more fully authentic life.
Hope to see you all soon!
Much Love,
Carley and John