Each and every one of us has a side of ourselves so well hidden, that even we don’t know it exists. This Shadow Self is made up of the parts of ourselves that we decided were “unacceptable” and rejected. The problem is, there was never anything wrong with these traits. Often times our parents simply had a preference for one trait over another (i.e. a more quiet child versus a more vibrant one). Society also often expresses a preference for the way children should be.
As young children, we are dependent on these adults for survival and take these messages very seriously, absorbing it all like a sponge. The thing is, you can’t really get rid of core parts of yourself, you can only mask or hide them. They are still buried deep somewhere within. Like trying to push down a beachball under the water, every now and then the Shadow will burst forth to the surface. We see this manifest in the form of anger issues, anxiety, judgment, “ego”, criticism, outbursts, etc.
A lot of people have had the experience of having had psychic abilities as a child, but then suppressed them due to disapproval from others. Those abilities are still there. The Shadow has been holding on to them for you.
The way to access these abilities, as well as your true and authentic self, is to do the work of healing and integrating the Shadow. Commonly, this is known as Shadow Work. In my latest video, I discuss The Shadow as well as how to do the work of integrating it. You can watch that video here.
I have also created a simple guided meditation for healing the Shadow that can be found here.
As well as a previous blog post where I discuss how to do Shadow Tarot.
Enjoy! 🙂