In the video, I speak about how transformation isn’t only a movement “upward” into transcendence, but also “downward,” into shadow, earth, body, and ground.
>>Access Spirituality, Shadow, & the Figures of Light video here
We are wired as relational beings to attach and connect with others, and as little ones with open and sensitive hearts, brains, and nervous systems, we’ll do whatever it takes to feel safe, seen, held, and included.
In order to be received and to feel that we truly belong, we inevitably disconnect from parts of ourselves, aspects of our personalities, and vulnerable pieces of our souls. These split off shards– the “lost orphans of psyche and soma” – are relocated and sequestered into what is referred to as “the shadow,” where they remain, awaiting a time when it is safe to return.
One of the consequences of this material remaining unilluminated and unintegrated is that it can lead to the experience of depletion, loss of energy, or soul loss, which is a condition that so many of us feel in the modern world (at least from time to time).
We all have strategies – including at times the use of our spiritual beliefs and practices – to keep us out of too much pain, fear, panic, overwhelm, and shame, from a direct confrontation with our own trauma and attachment wounding, and from the terror of rejection, blame, and abandonment.
By bringing curiosity and discernment to how these strategies may be manifesting in our lives, we can discover the light and the gold that have been sent into the shadow, and what it would mean to provide a home, or sanctuary, for this material to return home, back into embodied, conscious awareness. For it is through this sacred return that we are able to live a life of wholeness, purpose, meaning, and aliveness.
I hope you enjoy the video and find it evocative and of benefit.
Photo by Muntaha Nega
