On your spiritual path, you will probably come across the term Shadow Work.
Shadow Work can be an essential part of your spiritual growth. It helps you reconcile past trauma and give you a stronger sense of your true self.
In the rest of this article, I will be sharing insights, techniques, and tips on how Shadow Work can help your spiritual quest towards self-actualization.
Shadow Work’s Role In Spirituality
Shadow Work was founded by Carl Jung and is a staple of Depth Psychology.
The theory of Shadow Work is that each of us denies certain aspects of our identity -things we are ashamed of (such as our sexuality) or things we view as uncivilized (such as jealousy or violence).
Pushing those parts away doesn’t mean they are gone.
A lot of times they bubble up unexpectedly and cause havoc and confusion in our life.
Shadow work is about seeing these parts of ourselves with compassion and bringing them closer into our conscious awareness.
New to Shadow Work? Check out this Starter Guide to Shadow Work
But how does Shadow Work play a role in Spiritual Awakening?
Shadow Work helps you integrate the parts of yourself that you repress or push away due to guilt. A person with an integrated psyche realizes enlightenment more easily than a broken, split ego. The purpose of shadow work is first to make the ego whole and integrate the entire psyche.
In other words, Shadow work helps you integrate your psyche as a whole. It would help if you had a really strong sense of self, identity, and self-knowing to pursue Spirituality.
Spirituality is often viewed as the result of breaking free of our individual psyche, but if you don’t face your trauma/shadow it will still come up to haunt you.
I have known so many vipassana meditation practitioners, yogis, and shamans that have told me the same thing.
You MUST face the trauma of your life if you are to transcend it.
I have also seen so many gurus who have denied their darker aspects, such as greed, power-lust, and sexuality. Eventually, these darker aspects have pushed up to the surface, and we have yet another story of a cult leader causing harm like Rajneesh Osho or Bikram Choudhury (Founder of Bikram Yoga that faced lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, assault, racism, and homophobia)
On a spiritual level, our souls want us to heal the wounds that have generated the shadow self —they want us to recover from feelings of inadequacy, embarrassing memories, and emotions we have been taught not to express in order to repair the wounds that have given rise to the shadow self.
It’s part of our spiritual responsibility to face our Shadow Self.
A good example of this is Luke from Starwars.
When Luke was training from Yoda, he had to face his Shadow before becoming a fully recognized spiritual warrior (Jedi.)
Yoda had him face his Shadow in a cave, where it was discovered that all the external evil that Luke wanted to destroy was also within himself.
Only after this realization was he able to help his father find redemption and resist the temptation of the dark side.
Without Shadow Work, Spirituality Is Doomed (Spiritual Bypassing)
How often have you heard someone use their spiritual practice to bypass deeper psychological wounds?
I once dated a woman that was devoted to Yoga as a spiritual path. She Was incredibly skinny and had a strict diet. At first, I thought she was more spiritually “woke” than I was for being so fit.
Over months of dating, it became clear that she was using Yoga to control her body in an unhealthy way. She was putting herself through physical torture not to get closer to God but as a way of feeling like she was in control of her life (That control was taken from her once as a child.) She was coming at it more from the ego.
Eventually, she admitted she had an eating disorder and was hiding it behind her spiritual practice.
Understanding your Shadow Self will help you see these unhealthy patterns that you might be bypassing through spiritual practice.
Our spiritual path should include anti-racism training, be trauma-informed, and help us integrate our Shadow.
If your Spirituality tries to just be “Love and Light” then you will eventually be blindsided by the ego.
“When transcendence of our personal history takes precedence over intimacy with our personal history, spiritual bypassing is inevitable. To not be intimate with our past—to not be deeply and thoroughly acquainted with our conditioning and its originating factors—keeps it undigested and unintegrated and therefore very much present,” ― Robert Augustus Masters Author of Spiritual Bypassing
Getting Started: Spiritual Tools to help Shadow Work
My life has been made so much clearer, easeful, and free through Shadow Work. What has helped me has been a mix of Traditional Shadow Work (therapy) and Spiritual Practices.
If you are getting started with Shadow Work, I highly suggest working with a Therapist. They can help you discover blind spots and make sure you are staying grounded during the process.
At the very least, talk to your friends and find support.
Shadow work isn’t easy, and you shouldn’t do it alone.
There are some Spiritual Tools I have found to be very helpful in exploring the Shadow.
1. Meditation
For years I was told by my therapists, friends, and spiritual leaders that meditation is ESSENTIAL. Well… it took me two decades to listen, but once I started meditating, I realized the wisdom.
Meditation helps on so many levels. It can help you regulate your mood, lower stress, and help cultivate the “overseeing” mind. Meditation awakens you to the deeper processes that are happening. Meditation has been found to help in recovering addiction and dealing with the harder aspects of Shadow Work.
There are also some great guided meditations for uncovering the Shadow through the app Insight Timer.
2. Tarot and Oracle Cards
One of the keys to uncovering the Shadow is to create a space for self-reflection.
Tarot and Oracle cards are a great tool for investigating your Shadow, providing you with enough structure to feel comfortable while diving deep and healing the scars under the surface.
>>> Check out this article to read more about using Tarot/Oracle Cards for Shadow Work.
3. Sacred Relationships
We can only learn so much by thinking in a room by ourselves. One of the best ways to uncover your Shadow is through relationships.
Romantic Partnership will enviably bring up your deepest wounds. If you can create a safe container for yourself and you’re beloved, it can be a powerfully healing place of self-growth.
4. Focusing on the Present Moment (Watching for Triggers)
This one is a little vague because it is more subtle.
We are constantly being triggered by things our partner says, moments at work, and even at the grocery check stand.
We often rush around and “in our heads” too much to notice these subtle shifts.
If you can practice deep awareness of the present moment, you will be able to catch the moments of tension and your triggers. This is the fastest way to pinpoint your Shadow Self.
Once you see the Shadow, it takes time to allow the feelings to be truly felt.
5. Dreamwork
Carl Jung was a big proponent of using dreamwork to uncover the Subconscious and discover the Shadow. Jung believed the symbols in a dream could be used to find the root cause for the Shadow and help integrate it.
Carl Jung described dreamwork as:
“Dreams are impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche, outside the control of the will. They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth and are therefore fitted, as nothing else is, to give us back an attitude that accords with our basic human nature when our consciousness has strayed too far from its foundations and run into an impasse.” — C.G. Jung (CW 10 317)
Myka’s process of using dreamwork has been potent in my own work. Here is their explanation of using dreamwork for shadow work:
In dreamwork, viewing the Shadow as unseen can be particularly useful. When an aspect of the Shadow tries to come forward into the light and into consciousness through a nightmare image, there are four processes a dreamer can use to befriend the image and bring its message to conscious awareness.
The four steps, described in detail, including
(1) gathering allies,
(2) gathering information,
(3) being patient, and
(4) bringing Shadow to light.
I highly suggest you check out the entire paper here: https://thecohort.org/index.php/cohort/article/view/882/712
Each of these tools can be used to unlock a deeper understanding of the Shadow. If you are new to this work, I highly suggest you work with a therapist and try to use only one of these spiritual methods.
If you have been doing shadow work for some time (or are really familiar with the tools), you can use multiple spiritual tools in your practice.
I personally use the Masculine Archetype Deck, Meditation, and dreamwork a lot in my own practice.
Want to learn about Rituals and Activities to connect with the Shadow?
>>>Check out this article for writing prompts, dreamwork examples, and more
Lightwork Vs Shadow Work
When I have talked to spiritual practitioners about Shadow Work, a common question has been how Shadow Work differs from Light Work.
Here is a basic definition of Lightwork and Shadow Work:
Lightwork is a spiritual practice that works with a higher dimensional, higher frequency of reality and tries to positivity into our current reality. On the other hand, shadow work is a method to shine a light on your subconscious tendencies to integrate the repressed parts of the identity.
In other words, Lightwork is about using your will and thoughts to connect to a higher frequency. One that is whole and full of love.
Shadow work is about looking at the harder, shammed, and repressed aspects of our identity and coming to terms with them.
Shadow Work IS NOT the worship of dark spirits.
The path of the Light Worker and the Shadow Worker is not at odds with one another. Shadow work is about integrating the broken aspects of our identity, which gives us more capacity for light.]
I get it though…
A lot of lightworkers find any negativity to be unhelpful and feel that Shadow Work promotes heaviness. It can sometimes seem like shadow work is just stewing in the “hard stuff” when it can just reach for the light instead.
The thing is, Shadow Work isn’t focussing on the negative energy to create more. It focuses on what is already there that a person is unwilling to see.
If you have a rock tied to your ankle and are trying to swim up for air, pretending it’s not there isn’t going to save you. You have to recognize it”
S effect and untie it.
I love this quote from Carl Jung:
“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole.” ― C.G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul
We all have Shadows. It is a part of being human.
We can’t change what we don’t understand. And, no matter how much we’d like it, we can’t be in that higher dimensional consciousness all of the time…
Our world is created by both our awareness and our Subconscious, and we must become aware of this in order to make a conscious decision.
We must pursue an understanding of our shadows to give us more potential to reach for the light.
Karama, Past Lives, and Shadow Work
There are some advanced ways of using Shadow Work when exploring Karma and Past Lives.
You return to a new life in order to mend the elements of your experience that you did not handle during your last lifetime. As a result, the Shadow is made up of not only your current life, trauma, and struggles but from your past lives as well.
In Buddhism, there is a belief that to be enlightened, you must unravel the Karma of your past lives —slowly letting go of all past attachments to allow your spirit to be free.
Sometimes our Shadow can be interwoven with our closest relationships from past lives. This can be a ripple of Karma that you are all working through.
Your closest relationships—parents, siblings, friends—are among the most prevalent avenues you have to ”repair what you came to mend.” You meet with them in the hopes of repairing your connection.
In Conclusion:
Shadow work helps:
- It helps you heal past trauma
- It enables you to recognize/avoid Spiritual bypassing
- It brings deep inner knowing/confidence
- It helps your spiritual growth
Shadow Work is an essential part of a spiritual path.
When I first started my Spiritual Path, I was fixated on the ephemeral. I’d look towards outward deities, illumination, and meditation as an escape from my current reality.
Sometimes I would reach deep spiritual places, but my life was in a shamble when I came back.
I was hurting my loved ones by being aloof, I could never fully commit to love, and the spiritual highs I found would leave me crashing.
It wasn’t until my 30’s did I start my journey with Shadow Work.
At first, it was incredibly hard.
I was facing childhood abandonment issues, dealing with my Mormon-religious past, and coming to terms with deep-seated shame.
Luckily I had help from loved ones and men’s groups to get me through the beginning.
After a few years, I discovered so much more freedom in my life -as if I dropped a great emotional weight.
This translated into my spiritual practice as well.
After a long meditation or spiritual retreat, I don’t feel like I am coming back to a life in shambles. Because of my shadow work, I have a deep inner peace and knowing of who I am. It’sIt’s allowed fertile ground for me to grow spiritually.
If you are on a spiritual path, I highly suggest you take the time to integrate your Shadow. It will give you so much clarity of will and compassion towards others.
If you are interested in learning more about Shadow Work, check out these articles:
