Halloween is not quite done with us...
Passing through my neighborhood several days before Halloween, the spirit is high. Normally, my neighbors have a perfectly manicured lawn with flowers in bloom. But approaching Halloween, my neighbors have caution tape lining the perimeter of their home, lights that reflect dancing ghouls on their house, and giant spiders pinned to the corners of their porch. Halloween is a time where we can celebrate the dark side of the human (or inhuman!) experience...there is something oddly intriguing about death, horror, things we typically regard as terrible and distasteful. But for one month out of the year, we allow ourselves to indulge in the dark side, dress as the things that scare us, and usher the creepy into our lives...but from a safe space. We can always turn off the horror movie or leave the haunted house!
Our November Forecast is asking us to use this same principle, indulging in the hidden/dark side of life, and apply it to ourselves.
Let's break these cards down.
Charged cards - the woman is meant to represent you as an individual. Since I am a woman pulling the cards, the card came up as a woman. If you are a man reading this, it can also represent you. It's just meant to stand in as you.
Book + Woman = Hidden knowledge, information about ourselves
Woman + Heart = Loving yourself/a loving person
What is hidden in you?
This is a month of self exploration (the good and bad) from a loving, accepting position. As we move through our day to day lives, we often shove down traits, qualities, and desires that do not align with the way our lives our currently constructed. We may have shoved down our innate talents and abilities so we "fit" or are accepted more by others. For instance, what if we were called "bossy" as a child and never let this confident side show again? Is that confident person lurking beneath the surface, waiting to be built back up?
On the flip side, we may have behaviors, patterns, or circumstances that are present in our life that our conscious mind desires. For instance, maybe your health habits are not where you want them to be, or maybe your romantic partners are less than stellar. Where do these patterns come from? Some exploration is needed here to begin identifying what is the underlying cause. Hint: it's often ourselves standing in our own way.
Like something hidden in the dark, we are afraid of the unknown. As long as the unknown resides in our subconscious, it has power over of us, often ruling us without our knoweledge
If you think about it...the suspense and the build up of the unknown is what gets us to jump and scares us silly. Often times, the monster in a horror movie isn't scary at all. In fact..it looks usually looks ridiculous if you were to pause the movie and actually examine it. You may see the caked on make up, the bad graphics, the pixels from the special effects. Even with the advance of movie magic - we know once we see the monster, it loses it's hold on us.
But you are not a monster...
You're a human that may sometimes have dark thoughts or hide the parts of yourself that you view as unsavory. But...what if, just for a little while from a safe space, you shined a light on whatever was lurking in the darker parts of your soul and said: "I give acceptance to the hidden parts of myself." What if you shined your heart on the creepy crawly in the dark and said "I accept you now, in whatever shape or form you are in without shame or judgement,"? Even if the thought/feeling/quality you are shining a light on does scare you, if you fully see it and accept it, it loses its power and you are able to then move forward to brighter and more aligned thoughts.
As we begin excavating our inner worlds, it's so easy to get critical and shame ourselves. After all, these things are the creepy crawlies of our lives. That's why the heart is so critical in this spread. This isn't about feeling bad about how we got to where we are now. It's about embracing, approving, and accepting our lives as they are now. If we fully embrace, approve of where we are now, the shamed or unknown part of us that may be ruling part of our lives loses it's hold and allows us to move forward, with more desirable outcomes.
We call this process shadow integration
What I'm talking about here is lightly brushing the surface of Shadow Integration. If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend getting some more resources on the subject. I am currently taking Carolyn Elliott's "Influence" course which is a practical magic course with plenty of shadow integration work. She also has This Article on shadow integration that explains it a bit more thoroughly. There are a plethora of books and other resources out there on the topic as well. I will say, it can be emotional work and you as you will find in resources, you should not embark on Shadow Integration if you are at all feeling down or depressed. I do highly recommend Carolyn Elliott's class or finding another medium that speaks to you.
So how do we even begin this excavation?
I am currently deep in shadow integration work and I have been meditating each day, asking allowing my shadow desire to arise so I can acknowledge it, send it love and approval, and hopefully, send it packing.
You can journal and ask these questions, just as starting points:
"What is a hidden talent I may have?"
OR
"What is a hidden desire I may have?"
"How can I fully acknowledge and accept this talent/desire?"
Pulling a Tarot card with each may be helpful.
You can also Get a Reading to assist with this and we can formulate questions together or read for yourself if you are a reader.
Happy shadow excavation :-)