Shadow Work pt.1 - The Simply Witchery Podcast

Hello witches, diviners and cosmic beings. I’m your host Laurel and welcome to the Simply Witchery Podcast. Where we discuss witchery ritual the divine and magic of all sorts.

This week I’m giving an introduction to shadow work. I’ll give you my best tips for getting started, explain the principles of shadow work, and talk about the five main categories of study. Next, I’ll move into the Meditation Station where we’ll discuss the Minor Arcana Affirmation Meditations for the Cups and Wands. Then its Tarot Time where I do a reading for the collective and a lucky listener. Stay tuned!

Shadow work is the process of facing our shadow self which is the the part of ourselves and our psyche that we are unaware of or consider negative and/or undesirable in someway and therefore repress it. Every aspect of the self has a shadow and when we do shadow work we challenge both the internal and external narrative in order to expand. That’s the core of shadow work and when we integrate shadow work into our practices it opens the door for huge growth and self knowledge. It challenges us to see the objective truth in reality instead of the illusions that we impose on ourselves as well as the illusions that are sold to us by the people, society, and culture around us. It challenges us to look at our whole selves without expectation or judgment and to change what we see for the better.

Shadow work requires a willingness to look at, unwind, and understand the things we don’t like about ourselves but it also challenges the things we place value on and see as positive qualities too. Biases of all kinds must be challenged and their sources must be found and understood. It is therefore not something one should just leap into blindly. Shadow work is difficult, and honestly oftentimes painful work to do. You have to be willing to feel the contractions that shadow work will cause and trust the the work will be worth it in the end. Trust me though, learning more about yourself is always worth it. Self knowledge will better every aspect of your life. The more you know and understand yourself the better you will be able to handle any situation that life throws at you. If you’re ready and able to put aide bias as much as is possible and really look at your self and life, I can’t recommend shadow work enough.

All of that said let’s start off with a few key things that I think are really important in regards to shadow work.

First off, I got started doing shadow work when I found a challenge by Unmaskingthedivine on tumblr. They also have an instagram and I’ll link to their accounts in the notes but they seem inactive these days, which is so unfortunate. They have made such wonderful amazing content that has really helped me reshape my life and heal a lot of trauma. The way I teach shadow work is influenced by the 31 day challenge that they put together. Be sure to check out their tumblr even if they are inactive it has a ton of great resources on shadow work and I really recommend doing the 31 day challenge.

Two, journaling is absolutely a must when doing in shadow work. Journaling through out the process allows you to have the perspective you need in order to be able to look back and see your progress. It is also important to keep receipts on your thoughts and feelings so that you can recognize patterns and understand what you believe so that you can figure out why you believe it. So write everything down.

Three, as you listen to this episode and as you ask yourself each question that I pose to you, remember that you should always be asking why. Seek to find the root of the answers you find. For example, this is a line of questions and answers that I went on when I confronted the part of my shadow that always wants to be rescued. I first asked why? Why do I want to be rescued? I want to be rescued because I don’t believe I can save myself. Why do I believe I can’t save myself? Because I believe myself to be a weakling and a failure. What taught me to have this belief? During my formative years I was always told that I was a failure. Nothing I ever did was good enough for the person who was supposed to be my protector and I internalized his lies and toxicity and formed the belief that I would always fail. Is this belief based in fact? No, I was a child still learning how to be an adult and struggling with the painful loss of my nurturer, other traumatic excrescences, and mental illness, on top of the regular growing pains of childhood. Furthermore no one is perfect and it was his flawed perspective and expectations that wanted me to be so. Mistakes are made all the time and there is nothing inherently bad about making them. I am not a failure or weak. In fact, there is a perspective that would say that I am strong and successful. Regardless, my value should not be placed in how successful I am at arbitrary expectations from parental figures, society, and culture. My value is inherent because I am a living person.

Four, keep in mind that It took me years to follow this line of questioning to where I am with it now and I am certain that my work with it is not done. It will evolve as I continue to uncover layers of my shadow and heal the wounds of my psyche. I’m at a point with this piece of my shadow where I am trying to integrate it into my light or higher self. This could be something I struggle with for another year, a decade, or for the rest of my life but the knowledge that this belief is baseless in and of itself allows me the space to seek different perspectives on my self worth and takes the power away from my wounded ego that cries to be saved by someone else by being aware of the fact that I can and will save myself.

Five, I also want to point out that dealing with ego is also a big part of shadow work as the ego the self serving voice in our psyche. It is very important that you have the right view of your ego before you struggle with it. The ego is not inherently bad or negative. It is in fact an important part of our minds that helps us protect and understand ourselves. The problem with ego is not that it exists. The problem with ego comes when we allow ego to inform every decision we make and be the driving force of our lives. The goal with ego is not to suppress it fully or to kill it off we must learn to control our ego instead of allowing it to control us. Keep that in mind!

Six, Tarot is a great way to gain insight on each of the aspects of your shadow. I pull a card at the end of every shadow work session to check  and see if I’m missing anything that I need to consider or if I need a different perspective on the situation. Some time the tarot says things that I do not like and that in itself helps inform my next step of the process. Sometime I just get confirmation that I’m in alignment with the aspect I’m dealing with and have a clear view. Its always valuable advice regardless of my initial perception of its positivity or negativity. I recommend using your favorite deck to help out as well.

Seven, Remember that the things that you see in a positive light are just as important as your negative experiences. Positive experiences create a shadow just as much as negative ones do. So be just as aware of how positive feelings and existences effect you as you move forward as well. For example, my experience growing up in regards to my siblings was a positive one. We had, and still have for the most part, strong and wonderful relationships and we helped each other survive our shared trauma. However, these positive formative relationships grew an unhealthy, overprotective, overly self-sacrificial attachment to them, which I am still in the process of unwinding years down the line.

Eight, Be sure to take things like this into account when you come to parts of your life that seem happy and healthy to you. Its possible that you’re positive experiences don’t require you to make any changes. You may be comfortable with the sacrifices you make for others. The point is that you need to be aware of your instinct to sacrifice. It doesn't mean its an instinct that you need to curbed if its not harming you.

Nine, Take is slow. Shadow work can’t be done in a day or a week or even a year. Shadow work is a life long process. You’ll pick it up and put it down over and over again as you grow and change because of it. Enjoy the journey no matter where it takes you or how long it takes you to get there.

Lastly number ten, as always I’m just giving you a starting point and my personal expediences here today. Show work may work in a totally different way for you and that’s ok. Experiment with your approach to he shadow and discard anything that doesn’t serve you. The point of shadow work is to work with your shadow. Do that in whatever way you need to to be effective.

I’ll start off by sharing with you what I believe are the five general areas to consider when doing shadow work: formative experiences, driving external forces, driving internal forces, external beliefs and values, and internal beliefs and values. These five categories sum up the entire human experience fairly well. I’ll be giving an overview of the categories. In our next episode Shadow work part 2 I’ll get more specific and break down the categories further. SO let’s get started

The best starting point, in my pinion, is at the beginning with our formative experiences. In this category you’ll take a look at your childhood and young adulthood. Here you’ll want to ask yourself questions like: What did the adults that raised me value? What did they expected from me as a child and into adolescence and adulthood? What did they consciously teach me about life? Who nurtured me emotionally? Who physically provided for me? Where there was an abundance of care, how did that shape me? Where there was a lack of care, how did that shape me? What effect did having siblings or the lack there of have on me? What did other children that surrounded me teach me?

Next we move onto driving external forces. These are the thing outside of ourselves that shape the way we view the world, other people, and ourselves as a part of the collective. Here we ask: How did the things that my parents unconsciously valued effect me? What were the big events in my young life? How did these events shape how I see myself and the world around me? What presence did religion have in my life? How did this inform my view of myself and the world? What kind of culture did I grow up in? How did the values of my culture effect me? Did I accept or reject the values of my culture? What kind of society did I grow up in? How did society effect my view of myself and the world around me? Did I accept or reject the values of society?

For me there is a whole lot of trauma in my early life and formative experiences. So I’ve spent a lot of time with these two categories in particular. It took me so long to to just lay all of it out in front of me and name it never mind start unwinding the consequences of it. I’m still working on healing and I imagine I will be for at least a decade or two more. The wounds of trauma were inflicted on me over the span of 25 years. I’ve come to accept that it will take as long if not longer to heal them. We all need to accept that if we want to successfully integrate parts of our shadow.

The third category is driving internal forces. The driving forces in our external world shape the narrative of our internal world. Your relationship with these things bring up questions like: What do I fear and why am I afraid of it? Does my ego control me or do I control my ego? What can I learn from the responses that my ego has to life? What am I attracted to and put value on in people and existences? Why do I value these things and what taught me to value them? What do I dislike, avoid, or hate about people and experiences? Why do I hate these things and what taught me to hate them? What things do I do habitually? What cycles am I constantly going through over and over again? How do these habits and cycles effect me mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually?

For me I couldn’t deal with the first two categories without also dealing with this one. When I began shadow work I was just barely breaking out of the conditioning of my family, the brain washing of my religion, and the paralysis caused by my many, many fears. All of these things were ingrained in me as fact during my formative years and you will have taught truths as well. With this category though instead of accepting what outside forces taught you, you are now required to examine what you’ve internalized and start ripping up the foundations where its needed. As if accepting trauma wasn’t hard enough for me I also had to take responsibly for myself and my actions. I want to be very, very, very clear here. No one is responsible for the actions of another person. No matter what was done to you or what bullshit reason the person who did it had, trauma is NEVER, EVER, EVER the victims fault. No one asks fro trauma with their actions or personality or whatever. That’s not what I’m saying.

To illustrate what I mean let me give you an example. I am not responsible for the religious brain washing that was inflicted on me by my religious teachers and family. However, I am responsible for the years of my life that I wielded christanity like a weapon because of that brain washing. I said horrible shit to people in the name of god, a savior complex, and a twisted view of love and that is on me. I have taken steps to apologize and heal wounds I caused in those years. I cannot excuse myself for hurting others because I was being hurt. A bully is a bully even if they say they love you while they’re hurting you. Taking responsibility here is important. Place the blame where it belongs even if its with yourself. Once you accept that you weren’t always a shining example of morality and justice you can then start being a better person. This of course assumes that anyone really is, totally moral and just. If you ever find a paragon of virtue that was like that from the get let me know. I’d like to see it. I don’t believe that they exist in humanity, to be human is to be flawed. The point of life is to leave the world better than you started both inside and out.

Now we turn to the self and your relationship with the world around you in your external beliefs and values. Ask yourself: Why you want the things you want? Why do you value the things you value? What patterns can be found in your thoughts, self talk, and snap judgments? What do you believe in and how does it cause you to take action? What do you know to be true in life? What gives your life direction and meaning? What do you desire above all else? Why?

Once I got through the first three categories I already had many of the answers to these question and only needed to dive deeper with them and spend time changing what I chose to value. It’s not super difficult once you’ve looked at your trauma and have considered how the values of others hurt you. This section often requires a person to reprogram their thoughts. This can be a pretty difficult thing to do even though the process of changing things isn’t all that complicated.

First just start by paying attention to your thoughts. Be aware of how you think about things and what snap judgments and how your thoughts and judgments effect your actions and feelings as you make as you move through the day. Once you have awareness you can start challenging thought patterns and as you challenge them you can change them.

An example form my personal shadow work is how I deal with paralyzing fear. I suffer from anxiety and for a long time anxiety dominated my life. I was so afraid of failure and the punishment that I expected to receive because of failure. I believed that I incapable of succeeding and so it was useless to even try doing anything. It paralyzed me and kept me trapped in an abusive home life for a long time. I began with awareness. I listened to my thoughts when I got overwhelmed and panicked. Once I understood that the anxiety was merely trying to protect me from pain I was able to develop a self talk script to sooth the fear so that I could move past it and get shit done. For me my anxiety assumes that the panic I feel means I’m dying and let’s be real that’s what anxiety attacks and disassociative episodes feel like. I still catch myself thinking, ‘omg I’m going to die’ in moments of anxiety. Now I have the tools to say in response, “no you’re not going to die. You’re safe and protected and you can handle this moment. How do you deal with this thing in front of you? Break it down into small steps and it won’t be so scary.’ Three years ago before I had this scrip I couldn’t have done anything that I do today. I couldn’t have a podcast, a tarot business, or even a social media presence. This is just a small part of the growth that working in this area of shadow has helped me with.

Finally come your internal beliefs and values. These are the things that you interact with on on internal and personal level. The questions to ask here are: What do you value in relationships? What do you think offer to a relationship? What do you base your view and expectations others in? What standards do you hold yourself to in relationships? What do you project onto others? Are you rejecting qualities about yourself that you don’t find value in? What do you believe you bring to relationships that is of value to others? What qualities do you value within yourself and why? What truth guides you though life?

These values can be very difficult to face because they are so often tied to our identity. Objectivity is never more important than here where we examine such deeply ingrained and long held beliefs. On my personal journey I found that the categories before this one had also given me many of the answers to these questions and it was again just a matter of unpacking the answers.

So those are the five categories and some of the questions that they prompt. You’ve spent a lot of time going over them and you’ve figured out where you want to make changes. Now what? Now you start a process that is called, . is the process of internalizing what you’ve learned and bringing that layer of shadow to the things. Basically you are taking step to become conscious of things that you were previously unconscious of.

I sort of mentioned how you do this when I talked about my personal experience with changing my thought process. It all starts with awareness. If you are aware of a problem you can change it. With awareness comes understanding and intuition and the source will bring the steps you need to take to you if you ask for them. This is also not a thing that happens overnight. Integration can take even longer than creating an understanding of your shadow can. Be kind to yourself and give yourself permission to mess up and have set backs. That is a normal and natural part of growth and learning.

Those are the basics of shadow work. In two week’s I’ll be posting shadow work part 2 where I’ll go into deeper detail on the 5 categories and break them down even further. Let me know if you have any questions about shadow work. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Next up is the Meditation Station.

Since I took a little break between episodes to get this episode out there are two new meditations in the feed since the last meditation Station, the Cups and The Wands. You can find them wherever you listen to this podcast and on the Simply Witchery youtube channel.

The Cups symbolize the element of water and deal with our emotions. They speak to it all from joy to sorrow and the spectrum of love from romantic to platonic and beyond. We look to the Cups to understand our feelings, to gain insight on how those feelings are effecting our lives, and to manage our feelings effectively. This meditation will helps you connect to your feelings in a meaningful and positive way in every aspect of life. Listen to it when you’re feeling emotionally fragile and need to gain insight on how to lean into your relationships.

The Wands are the representation of Fire energy in the minor arcana. They speak to our passion, ambition, and the drive to do and be. They guide us on the path to creation and completion and give practical advice and insight on how to get what we want by touching our own power. Do this meditation when you need a boost of confidence, to reconnect with your intuition, and a reminder that all the power you need it within you already.

Something I didn’t talk about with the Major Arcana Meditation is how an affirmation meditation works. These types of meditation gives you an affirmation that you can either internalize into your practice and spirit or externalize by projecting your desire to the universe. Either way the power of the affirmation realigns you by tangibly or spiritually attracting that power into your life. By speaking the affirmation over your life you invite its truth in and create opportunity for synchronicity. These types of meditations are perfect for those that don’t have a lot of time or who struggle with reaching a meditative state. Let me know if you want any specific affirmation meditations. I have a few in the works but I’d love to know what you’d like to see.

This week I felt called to pull three cards for the collective from the Everyday Tarot. If you’d like to see pictures of the cards check out The Simply Witchery Blog. I will also describe them here. I pulled Strength, Eight of Cups, and Ace of Swords.

Strength depicts a woman embracing a lion. She has three flowers adorning her chest and an infinity sign holding her hair up in a bun. Mountains can be seen blow her and clouds above. She looks down towards he mountain and her companion looks up at her.  

The Eight of Cups Depicts a person walking away from eight cups that are set in the foreground of the card. He walks along a body of water that separates him from a path that goes into the mountains. A crescent moon glows in the sky above them.

The Ace of Swords pictures a hand that holds a sword with the tip pointing upwards. A crown rests near the top and leafy vines are stranded through the crown.

This week the collective is called to lean into self confidence and discipline as we begin a new journey. Our mind is our greatest strength as we move forward. We must be determined to walk in truth and honesty in order to find victory and peace at the end of this path. The journey may be long so be sure to pace yourself. Endurance is needed and it won’t do to use up all your energy right out the gate.

I hope that this reading resonates with you and that these words lead you to a place of joy and prosperity.

Alright! This week’s listener question comes from Instagram. The listener asked: “What does tomorrow bring?” I felt called to pull three cards from the Ostara Tarot for you. I pulled the King of Wands, the Four of Pentacles, and Temperance.

I’ll describe the cards first as they have a united message for you this time abound. The king of wands depicts a buck. He bears a wand as he moves forward through nature. An ever burning fire crowns him along with his antlers.

The Four of Pentacles depicts a hare that has begun a journey. There is an eyepatch over one of its eyes, two pentacles adore one ear, and two more are worn around its neck. It sits in a ship that contains a bounty of treasures and it looks forward to the horizon as it leaves a great city behind.

Finally Temperance shows a young feminine person sitting on the grass at the center of the card. They are adorned with flowers in their dark hair and jewels around their neck. They hold box that is slightly open and from it pours animals of prey and their predators. The prey animals rise up in a could of green and the predators flow downwards along the ground in a blue wave.  

Tomorrow you step into your own power and gain the bounty of the world as you do. Temperance will guide you to balance and a great merging of energies and ideas within you. You have a huge passion that needs to be shared with the world and share it you shall by being honest with yourself about yourself and taking the necessary steps needed to share your journey with others. I’m feeling such huge potential and so much excitement from the source for you and what’s coming into your life. The Source has your back in a really meaningful way and the path you walk is the one to your highest good and calling. I’m excited for you my dear listener and I hope that this reading helps in some small way to propel you into this bright and wonderful future.

That’s it for this week’s episode. Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe where ever you get your podcasts and ratings and review would be greatly appreciated. If you would like a transcript of the episode please visit our blog at simplywitchery.wixsight.com/home. You can find daily oracle readings, magical tips, and spiritual musings at Simply Witchery on Instagram and Twitter. Check out our YouTube channel for guided meditations and lots of other magical goodness. If you’d like to receive a reading for yourself on a future episode send your question to simplywitchery@gmail.com or send me a direct message on any of my socials. The music in this episode is Where Was I by Lee Rosevere. Love and light to each and everyone of you and I’ll see you next time. Bye.

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