November is full of darkness and shadows — and that’s actually good news…
I love going out into nature to receive healing and answers. Recently, a magpie has been visiting me.
“I don’t like magpies,” I’ll tell myself. “They’re ugly, aggressive, greedy. What does it want?”
So I pulled one of my HEAL cards (I’ll tell you more about them below) to get clarity.
This is what the card said:
Carl Jung, the founder of depth psychology, called the parts of our personality that we do not want to acknowledge the shadow.
The shadow is everything you don’t want to see in yourself — and everything you’re not aware of.
The shadow appears very concretely in your life when you project onto others the negative qualities you are not willing or able to own in yourself.
Right now, in our world, we all have a choice:
We can project our shadow onto others and go to “war” with them…
Or we can finally bring it home.
When you get to know your own shadow, you grow stronger and more whole — able to hold yourself as the complex human being you truly are, containing selfishness and generosity, hatred and love, weakness and strength.
You’ll also find it easier to like and be close to others, because you’re no longer fighting your own shadow in them.
“To deny the so-called dark side of existence is to accumulate even more darkness.”
— Lars Muhl, musician, author, spiritual teacher, mystic
A shadow story from the Danish islands
In a little village on the island, behind the small fishermen’s houses, there was a tiny yellow hut where an old woman lived alone. She was strange, people said. They whispered that she “fell about” in broad daylight if she had harmed someone the night before. They also said she possessed The Black Book — a kind of witch’s manual — passed down through generations in her family.
In truth, the woman was very sweet, and the children were often asked to bring her extra rhubarb porridge or liver pâté their mothers had made. But they hated touching the old tarred half-door when they knocked, so they drew lots to decide who had to do it.
After knocking, they ran away before she could open — trembling with fear and excitement.
A creative exercise for meeting your shadow
If you want to work with your shadow and set yourself free, try this:
Think of a conflict you often have with your best friend, partner, parent, or boss.
Notice what you always think they’re doing wrong. Write it down.
Then write down all the examples — even the secret ones only you know — of times when you have acted exactly the same way.
Now let go of the idea of right and wrong.
Explore your shadow side:
Write a short story about the part of you that behaves in the way you dislike — as if it were an independent character.
Let your shadow live and step into the light.
Understand it as an important part of you — one that can help you become whole.
“Your life will be transformed when you make peace with your shadow.
The caterpillar will become a breathtakingly beautiful butterfly…
Then you will have the freedom to create the life you have always desired.”
— Debbie Ford, author, teacher
The story, quotes, and exercise come from HEL-kortene in Danish.
If you want to be among the first to know when they come out in English next year, just let me know!
With love and creativity,
Karin
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