Shadow work seems very mythical and magickal, but really it is a scientific technique
It is just used a lot in the magickal communities because it is natural and it is effective
Shadow work works great if you are in a pretty good place when you start and ready to put in the work. Shadow work isn’t going to just give you the thing you need and heal all your traumas in a week. It takes time and effort to pull out the trauma and beliefs from your shadow. So be ready
Your shadow is the part of you that contains all your subconscious beliefs, pain that you pushed away, and parts of you that you don’t accept
Your shadow is the banished part of you
Everyone has one, but some are large and out of control
When people banish a part of themselves that they don’t like, they cannot live a whole life
They will have to be on guard to make sure that part of them never shows
This is why some people will never talk until they have a chance to analyze what they are saying
They want to be consciously in control of all their responses because they don’t trust their subconscious to answer
I am one of those people
But shadow work is how I am learning to let go of the things that don’t serve me and accept the things that are just part of who I am
What does Shadow work do?
I break my shadow work into two parts
- Discovery
- Connection
Discovery is the shadow work that you have probably heard about
It is journaling and discovering things about yourself that you didn’t know
But there is a lot more to that too
If you are good at getting your thoughts onto paper, you probably don’t need journal prompts…
BUT they are still VERY helpful
Journal prompts help you dig into the things you don’t think about
I am not great at freestyle journaling so using prompts is important for me
You don’t need a lot to do the connection shadow work
Connection shadow work is the process of visualizing the version of you that was hurt and giving them what they need
It is the more magickal version of the two
But they each do something very different
Discovery helps you find things that you don’t realize affect your life
Connection lets you give something healing to a past version of you that never got what it needed
Keep reading for a detailed explanation of how to do both
Is Shadow work a magickal technique?
While shadow work is commonly used and talked about among witches, it isn’t actually witchcraft
Shadow work was created by a phycologist named Carl Jung
He was an incredible man of science
Out of the two shadow work styles that I do, the connection shadow work is more magickal
But even then, it is a visualization
That isn’t really witchcraft
It is like energy work
And uses science as the reason it works
The subconscious can’t tell the difference between what is real and what you visualize
That is why visualization is so powerful!
When you visualize your past self getting exactly what they needed, your subconscious believes that it really did happen
The healing that comes from that is incredible!
How to know if Shadow Work will work for you
Shadow work only works if you are willing to put in the effort
Even if you are feeling skeptical, it will only work if you put in the effort
Shadow work is not a one-and-done kind of strategy
If you do it once and feel no different, that is normal!
Real change and progress come from weeks, months, or even years of effort
It all depends on how much time you put into it and how much trauma and pain you have to work through
For me, I expect Shadow work to last for years
I have years and years of childhood trauma, and trauma as an adult too
Life is crazy so I don’t think there will ever be a time when I don’t have to work through something
And I am ok with that!
I just hope that I never have to work through something worse than childhood abuse
But I will never know what life brings
How to get started when you are skeptical
When I am researching journal prompts, I write down a lot of them for later use
Since research is easy to do with my kids, I do my prompt research when my kids are with me
But I do the actual shadow work when they are asleep
I write down all the prompts that I find on social media or Pinterest
If you are using a premade journal, you can skip this step
Then when I am ready to start my shadow work, I read through the prompts and just listen to my intuition
This takes practice too
But I just get a feeling that a question is the right one
I write that prompt into my journal and meditate on it for a while
I am not screening my thoughts or judging them
All I am trying to do is get the thoughts moving
This may take more time when you are new
When you have thoughts flowing, even if they are a mess, you are ready to start writing
Write down EVERYTHING you are thinking
Don’t think about what you write down
Just write anything and everything that comes to mind
You are going to keep doing this until your mind goes silent
This may take a while!
It does for me since my mind is rarely silent
But it does go silent
If you are having repeating thoughts, just write them down
The goal is to get all your thoughts out of your head and onto the paper
You are going to do this at least three times a week for a while
You need some documentation to be able to see patterns
When you have a lot of your thoughts on paper to look at, start looking for patterns
The things you think once on a bad day are not what you are looking for
You are looking for your subconscious beliefs
What comes up over and over?
That is a belief
I call this discovery Shadow work because you are discovering limiting beliefs that affect your life without you knowing it
Connection Shadow work is the use of visualization to give a past version of you something that she needed
To do this, you need to sit down somewhere comfortable
Make sure there is a seat in front of you too
I like to use my bed
I spent a lot of time in high school sitting with friends across my bed so it reminds me of that
Then you need to do some breathing exercises
By this point, you need to know what version of you that you want to work with
Discovery Shadow work is a great way to decide
If you found a trauma through discovery shadow work, think about what you looked like when that trauma happened
Get very specific!
Think about what your face looked like, what hairstyle you would wear, think about the makeup, remember what you smelled like
Try to remember everything about that version of you and visualize them sitting in the seat in front of you
Start talking to them like they are a different person
Ask them how they are doing
Ask questions about the trauma and let them talk
Let them tell you everything that is on their mind
When they are done, visualize yourself giving them exactly what they need
Some examples of this are:
- Giving them a hug and telling them it isn’t their fault
- Forgiving them
- Crying with them and telling them they are alone
There are so many things that you could offer this past version of yourself, and only you know what to give them
The subconscious brain controls our lives
And it doesn’t know the difference between a real experience and a visualized one
So when you visualize yourself giving this past version of you exactly what they need to heal, your brain thinks that really happened
It is the closest thing to changing the past that we can do!
This may take a few tries
But keep doing it until you feel like you met the need of that version of you