If you are here, let me be the first to bow my head to you and honor your sacred journey. Shadow work is a very vulnerable, raw, cathartic process, and though we all experience it in our own way, it most certainly isn't easy for any of us.
You may already have an idea of what the shadow and the purpose of this work is, maybe you're actually pretty well versed in this type of work and you're here to expand on your practice. But even if you don't even know what the Shadow is, I can assure you that this is a concept actually much broader than witchcraft, any spirituality or religion. The scope of this spans every culture, every age group, every gender, sex, generation, financial or living status, every single demographic you can think of. Witches, pagans, and mystics tend to refer to the concept as shadow work, but it goes by many names. Therapy, healing, processing, rectifying, amending, self-improvement and personal development, self-exploration, finding one's self, authenticity journey, evolving, rebirth, leveling up, glow up...and on and on I could go. Hopefully you're already starting to think, "Ohhh. Well I know what that is." Yes! Exactly. This is much more of a natural process than many of us initially realize, simply because the term Shadow Work can sound very ominous haha. In reality, this is human, this is rooted in our subconscious, and this is a truly universal practice.
In witchcraft, mystic, and occult spirituality, the term Shadow comes from the theory credited to psychiatrist, Carl Jung on shadow integration. Jung believed the shadow was comprised of various facets of our personal shame—brought on by anything from trauma, wounds, humiliation, isolation, etc.—and that though our reflexive nature is to avoid or detach from these aspects of ourselves, in fact the most effective way to overcome one's shadow is actually to integrate, not reject it.
An Introduction to Shadow Work on That Witch Podcast is an excellent place to start learning more about what our shadow is, the purpose of integrating, and how to begin working this into your own spiritual practice. You can listen to that episode here, as well as my first episode on getting started in shadow work back in 2022! Both of these have helpful resources to get you started.
Once you feel informed, prepared, and ready to start doing the work, you can download The Shadow Work Guide ✨
This is a guide I created that I have used many times with my 1:1 clients and I wanted to drop this incredible resource here for you in That Witch School as well.
You'll find all kinds of interactive goodies in here, like our shadow work tarot spread, birth chart tips, inner child work, Self-Care Bingo, and more :)
Comment below with any questions you have. Sending you all my love and the warmest hug on your shadow integration journey.
xoxo
Dani
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