A big part of my journey and what helps me most to help others is my own descent into darkness. You can't learn true healing through academic study alone. You have to go there, like Inanna - traversing the seven gates on her journey to the underworld, letting go of everything material along the way. No one ever totally understands another person's specific trauma, but when you have had a higher than average number of rounds in the ring, you can recognise the power and resilience that gave you. AND once cleared and fully healed, you can KNOW in your body a depth of darkness others can't and you can also carry a torch to show others the way back - because you know from experience it is possible. You can even look at your life experiences as an incredible gift when enough time has passed.
Dancing Innana
We have all felt lonely or isolated at times, walking past the brightly lit house or church (as shown above) or been left on the shelf, been ill or alone or had to mask the way we feel. And that is ok. Sometimes we have to go through periods of darkness to appreciate the light when it returns. But exploring our hidden selves, and actively welcoming them to come out to play is a big part of the healing process,. What we resist, persists, So saying hello to your shadow and embracing the fear, shame, guilt and pain that it holds helps it to feel acknowledged and show up less in other people's reflective behaviour,
I personally think that the shadow is one of our most powerful allies. If not acknowledged or worked with, it remains projected. But like death it is constantly stalking us. The shadow seeks acceptance of our whole self, GOOD BAD AND UGLY. It asks us to face it in bright light and look at what we prefer not to. I noticed amusingly mine getting a lot lighter whilst in Lodz, Poland recently. Maybe it was because I had just completed an intense deep dive shamanic retreat or maybe it was that I was in a city where nobody knew me, so I was free to be Meo. For 3 days anyway 🙂
You can rise like the phoenix, and start dancing again in whatever form works for you.
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