Call of the Wild

Take some time today to do some meditation. In your space, ground and take the time and exercises you need to get to your spiritual place. (If this is your first time doing a shadow work meditation, I strongly recommend selecting an object to hold during your meditation, to help ground you. Otherwise, have another person present who has some experience with meditation and shadow work, who can help ground you and bring you back if you begin to feel as if you’re drifting.) Think of a trait that you find in yourself which you feel is negative. Allow it to form into visible words in front of you. Focus on it, and let them begin to dissolve into a dark mist or pool of dark water. Step into it, and let it carry you to a room with a door.

Open the door and step into the room. It is a simple room, with several shelves and display cases. On one of these shelves is a mask. What does it look like? Does it glow? Or is it dripping with shadow? This is the mask of your negative trait. Pick it up. What does it feel like in  your hands? Put it on, and notice how well it fits. Then, ask it how  it affects your life. Remember what it tells you, then ask how you are keeping it alive in your life. Keep in mind what the mask tells you. Take it off, and place it back on the shelf now. It is more familiar now, and less terrifying to you.

Leave the room and step through the door. Let the mist or water take you back to your spiritual space, then from your spiritual space return to your body. Take several deep breaths, and ground. Take your time to reorient and return to reality - shadow meditations are never easy or for the faint of heart, but can often be necessary for challenging one’s own perceptions.

In your Book of Shadows, describe your journey, in as much detail as possible. If possible, draw your mask. Give it a name, and write down what you have learned from it. What kinds of things are you doing to give this mask so much power over your life, and how might you be able to affect it? What habits or behaviors can you change in order to lessen the influence this mask has? Let this be a difficult process - you need to be as candid and honest with yourself as possible.

For some, even the act of confronting the mask is enough to break its influence. But if you feel that it isn’t enough, don’t be disheartened. Shadow work is often an ongoing process, and you can take gradual steps to change the mask’s influence. Note that not all shadows are necessarily a bad thing to have - we all have shadows which help make us human. But if it’s something in our life that we can change, it is good to work toward making that change a reality.

For the remainder of the day, think over your actions and behaviors, and begin to make the changes you feel are necessary!

if you have something to say, SAY IT. you can’t live your life hiding your feelings from another person. you find a person and you think they are the one. you don’t know if they like you but you want to tell them you like them. whats the worse that can happen? they don’t like you back? i get it, that sucks. but you’ll move on a find someone else. so many times I’ve thought i found the guy, but then found someone just as good or better down the line. i realized that there is no better time in the present when talking to a guy i was so in love with. in the past we flirted and all but i thought it was just a joke. a couple of mouths passed and he got a girlfriend. i was so upset but i didn’t tell him because i wanted him to be happy even if it wasn’t with me. one day we were talking and i said “yeah before you started dating *his gf name* i really hoped it would be me and you together forever” and this boy had the blankest expression on his face then said “court i had no idea you felt that way. i wanted that too but i didn’t know if you did.” 

this just goes to show that if one of us wouldve stepped out of our comfort zone, we might be together right now.