Section 2.
A good place to start is by exploring the idea and practice of excavation, as it pertains to the shadow.
When we are called to dig deeper into our experiences and emotions, and into our experiences of our emotions, that means we are called to shadow work.
This world provides endless kinds of distractions from our inner worlds and inner process. Our world provides countless ways to get out of shadow work and as a friend recently pointed out to me, "Shadow work is not for the faint hearted." This is true, so why do it? Why not go the easy route? Why not sail through your life and barely touch down on the ground, and only touch down when you have to for practical reasons? If you want to barely touch down, then you are nowhere near ready to excavate. I explain a little bit in Section 1 about what may motivate some to explore the shadow.
Our consciousness is more like a river than a dense, solid place. Emotions, thought patterns, beliefs, all pass through the river. However, there are places where parts of our psyche may get stuck. This time of being stuck brings stagnation. Stagnation causes disease. It is for this reason, among many others, that it is useful to excavate what makes up that which, due to vibration and content, could cause stagnation, lack of wellness, lack of balance. Many teachers and others have taught us and reminded us to Know Ourselves. This self knowledge, if it is to be useful, if it is to be complete, must include the excavation of what we know are the uglier, more frightening, distasteful parts of us, which compose our shadow.
The next level for lots of us who wish to do this kind of self work, is acceptance. It does us no good to deny shadowy places and hidden pieces we are carrying. Ideally, upon seeing what we need to see, through dreams possibly, or by keeping a journal, or talking to someone you deeply trust, or through an art form, these are all ways to begin to integrate that which has had some power over you, shadow that has had power in the form of shame or denial and so on. The process of integrating what you know is no longer necessary to fear or hold onto is one that says, until the components of the shadow have been identified by you, you cannot fully integrate them.
This integration has the power to neutralize the effects of the shadow. Anyone, whose intentions are purified, who knows why they want to undergo a process like this, will likely have some success. What does it look like when the process is complete? It is different for everyone. For some, it may look about the same from the outside, but feel dramatically different inside. For others, they may change outwardly, they may change how they walk in the world, how they relate to others. Each person has a unique chance to excavate, integrate and accept the shadow they walk with.
Of course, there could be many layers to this experience and for some it may last a very long time. One might feel they are done with it, but more work appears. Also, one may have done excellent work with the shadow for a certain time in their existence here but they may find more challenges surfacing when it seemed it had been completed.
Each part of this is a gift, though it may not feel like it at all and it is good to honor yourself and your journey with shadow integration as much as you can. Give yourself sincere praise and reward yourself in ways that make sense to you, for doing this. I say that because if you are sincere in this work, and you keep meeting and agreeing to face the struggles on this path, you are doing a great service to the rest of us.
"the alchemy of this conversation
brings me to a brilliant celebration
the alchemy of your sweet words
leaves me high, oh, high as the birds
don't want to come down
don't want to climb down
I will be waiting for you up here
As you release all that fear
the alchemy of a collective manifestation
causes me to question the nation
where we going, where we been?
we need to start again
take me to the place where we can
start again
so sick of where we going
so sick of where we been"
-Imaya
Monday, August 22, 2016
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Is love and light really all we need to say and think about? Why keep invoking the shadow? --Section 1.
Section 1.
I am so glad you asked. Ok, technically, I asked but you get what I mean.
Let us think of it this way. If all we ever feel the need to say to people is love and light, we are denying, instead of integrating the parts of ourselves, our minds and hearts that we have hidden. We hide so much in the shadow for many, many reasons. The shadow, individually may be composed of painful memories and trauma, it may be lies and layers of deception, it maybe be truth that feels too scary to put out there. It may be the part of you that has been or wants to be violent. It might be the part of you that delights in harming other living beings. These pieces of our psyche are just as real and alive in our consciousness as are the messages of love and light.
The energy of love and the energy of light, cannot by themselves, cancel out your shadow. In my humble opinion, you cannot get around your shadow and hide from it, and deny it, by creating a persona either within your self or one that is more well known, that only exists in love and light. You would be transparent, and at some point, you will be seen through.
Your actions and motives would be more easy to detect due to the fact that your denial of shadow leaves you unfamiliar with what makes up your shadow. Now, this can be a dire situation for a person who counts on people to have a certain glowing, shiny, pretty perception of them. If you need an example of this, think about most celebrities or most politicians. It is in the best interest of many of these folks that they create veils and smoke screens to encourage the public to harbor illusions of how harmless and wonderful they are, when in reality their intentions, actions, habits, and so on might be highly questionable and in many cases, very harmful and rather dangerous.
For a person who has worked to identify the main components of their shadow, they are essentially more protected. They are protected because spirit has assisted them, with their permission and woven a tapestry of non-physical vibrations and energy woven together that permeates the physical layers and systems through acceptance and excavation.
It would be good to talk more about acceptance and excavation, because both of these are involved in one method I can describe, which will lead to creating a strong tapestry of self awareness and likely provide protection in what can be a terribly hostile world.
First, acceptance of what makes up your shadow is part of a process, it often begins the process of what many feel is the rug being pulled out from under them or the roof falling in on them. It is uncomfortable at first, when you begin to accept and acknowledge parts of your self, some may call them your "demons", some may talk about this sort of process as a "Saturn return", in astrological terms. There are many ways to talk about it.
Until you have begun the process yourself, this will all sound strange and foreign. If you have begun to unearth what you came to earth with, or what you have gathered into shadow while here, you will not be bothered at all by what I am telling you. In fact, you will welcome it as a viewpoint intended to help you unchain and unburden yourself.
It is good to approach your shadow, and the collective shadow, which I will address later, with love. How can that be? Did I just contradict myself? No. I will explain why.
Acceptance that all of your psyche is not love, this disturbs your ego and takes compassion like energy and love like energy to really be successful with this integration. Admitting and accepting to yourself at the least, that you are capable of ugliness, and how much ugliness varies from person to person, will lead to an ability to transform and release what you see no longer serves you. If you are willing and able to forge through these challenges, you will be richly rewarded by unlocking a deeply embedded part of yourself, that in modern times we often leave undefined but what would long ago be called, the Alchemist.
Alchemy, if you look up common definitions, deals with material substances and transformation. This inner alchemy that I am pointing to as a way of integrating the shadow, has in many places and for a long time, been lost or distorted. Change can be unlocked by any living being who really seeks it, if they purified and distilled what they want, that change will come a bit more easily. This refinement of the mixing and excavating what and who you are is what they alchemist seeks to improve. The resistance to dramatic change, dramatic shifts and improvements for the highest good of the planet is often fear based.
The fear based resistance is what creates the old paradigm, the one that is inherently toxic and poisonous. What an alchemical change would bring to the collective and with it, the collective shadow, is great big breaths of fresh air. These big breaths of fresh air will likely come in the form
of new stories. New stories can encompass the nuances of being multi-dimensional and humans are inherently multi dimensional, and able to move through the
You are meeting yourself more deeply when you admit this. It will allow you to meet others more deeply, which inherently leads to more truth sharing and healing, than if we are to skim surfaces of our multidimensional beings by claiming just the pretty stuff, just the yummy stuff, just the good stuff, just the.....love and light.
Next, we look at the excavation. This is a part of the process that follows some acceptance, but for some the excavation is what begins the process. There is no final word on how this kind of blessing and challenge comes about. When we excavate our minds and hearts, for the purpose of integrating shadow, developing a layered, complicated and rich tapestry, we do so in many different ways.
Section 2 coming soon............
I am so glad you asked. Ok, technically, I asked but you get what I mean.
Let us think of it this way. If all we ever feel the need to say to people is love and light, we are denying, instead of integrating the parts of ourselves, our minds and hearts that we have hidden. We hide so much in the shadow for many, many reasons. The shadow, individually may be composed of painful memories and trauma, it may be lies and layers of deception, it maybe be truth that feels too scary to put out there. It may be the part of you that has been or wants to be violent. It might be the part of you that delights in harming other living beings. These pieces of our psyche are just as real and alive in our consciousness as are the messages of love and light.
The energy of love and the energy of light, cannot by themselves, cancel out your shadow. In my humble opinion, you cannot get around your shadow and hide from it, and deny it, by creating a persona either within your self or one that is more well known, that only exists in love and light. You would be transparent, and at some point, you will be seen through.
Your actions and motives would be more easy to detect due to the fact that your denial of shadow leaves you unfamiliar with what makes up your shadow. Now, this can be a dire situation for a person who counts on people to have a certain glowing, shiny, pretty perception of them. If you need an example of this, think about most celebrities or most politicians. It is in the best interest of many of these folks that they create veils and smoke screens to encourage the public to harbor illusions of how harmless and wonderful they are, when in reality their intentions, actions, habits, and so on might be highly questionable and in many cases, very harmful and rather dangerous.
For a person who has worked to identify the main components of their shadow, they are essentially more protected. They are protected because spirit has assisted them, with their permission and woven a tapestry of non-physical vibrations and energy woven together that permeates the physical layers and systems through acceptance and excavation.
It would be good to talk more about acceptance and excavation, because both of these are involved in one method I can describe, which will lead to creating a strong tapestry of self awareness and likely provide protection in what can be a terribly hostile world.
First, acceptance of what makes up your shadow is part of a process, it often begins the process of what many feel is the rug being pulled out from under them or the roof falling in on them. It is uncomfortable at first, when you begin to accept and acknowledge parts of your self, some may call them your "demons", some may talk about this sort of process as a "Saturn return", in astrological terms. There are many ways to talk about it.
Until you have begun the process yourself, this will all sound strange and foreign. If you have begun to unearth what you came to earth with, or what you have gathered into shadow while here, you will not be bothered at all by what I am telling you. In fact, you will welcome it as a viewpoint intended to help you unchain and unburden yourself.
It is good to approach your shadow, and the collective shadow, which I will address later, with love. How can that be? Did I just contradict myself? No. I will explain why.
Acceptance that all of your psyche is not love, this disturbs your ego and takes compassion like energy and love like energy to really be successful with this integration. Admitting and accepting to yourself at the least, that you are capable of ugliness, and how much ugliness varies from person to person, will lead to an ability to transform and release what you see no longer serves you. If you are willing and able to forge through these challenges, you will be richly rewarded by unlocking a deeply embedded part of yourself, that in modern times we often leave undefined but what would long ago be called, the Alchemist.
Alchemy, if you look up common definitions, deals with material substances and transformation. This inner alchemy that I am pointing to as a way of integrating the shadow, has in many places and for a long time, been lost or distorted. Change can be unlocked by any living being who really seeks it, if they purified and distilled what they want, that change will come a bit more easily. This refinement of the mixing and excavating what and who you are is what they alchemist seeks to improve. The resistance to dramatic change, dramatic shifts and improvements for the highest good of the planet is often fear based.
The fear based resistance is what creates the old paradigm, the one that is inherently toxic and poisonous. What an alchemical change would bring to the collective and with it, the collective shadow, is great big breaths of fresh air. These big breaths of fresh air will likely come in the form
of new stories. New stories can encompass the nuances of being multi-dimensional and humans are inherently multi dimensional, and able to move through the
You are meeting yourself more deeply when you admit this. It will allow you to meet others more deeply, which inherently leads to more truth sharing and healing, than if we are to skim surfaces of our multidimensional beings by claiming just the pretty stuff, just the yummy stuff, just the good stuff, just the.....love and light.
Next, we look at the excavation. This is a part of the process that follows some acceptance, but for some the excavation is what begins the process. There is no final word on how this kind of blessing and challenge comes about. When we excavate our minds and hearts, for the purpose of integrating shadow, developing a layered, complicated and rich tapestry, we do so in many different ways.
Section 2 coming soon............
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