DAY 3: Tarot for Shadow Work

Let's uncover the subconscious messages of your Shadow!

How can we understand and integrate our shadow if it is hidden in our psyche?
How to bring something unconscious into our consciousness so that it doesn’t further sabotage your life?

I want you to understand that the Shadow is not inherently bad, it is necessary for our psychological system to be in equilibrium. There can’t be light without a shadow. At least not in our human form, we might as well believe there to be a shadowless-light in a different realm, should you have ever touched the source, been in enlightened state or taken Bufo you know what I mean ;) - nevertheless on this planet in this physical body and reality we get to experience variety, polarity, duality, all facets of life that are under the umbrella of oneness.

And the fact that this oneness exists makes the shadow equal to the light, not lesser than. This is crucial to understand.

Because should we wish our shadow to go away it grows stronger. Same goes for suppressing and not acknowledging parts of us we fear or prefer to avoid.

We can’t shame ourselves into love.

True transformation comes from acceptance and a curious willingness to feel what is uncomfortable. And yes it often is uncomfortable - why would we have needed to hide it otherwise?
This is why we do this work with ceremonial grade cacao!

Cacao helps us to truly feel the emotions which we subconsciously try to avoid as they once represented real danger for our nervous system and even though you might be in a totally different situation right now, the survival mechanism is still on. Cacao get us into a state of receptivity and safety, which creates for the perfect foundation to do inner work!

This is the first step to opening the portal for our Shadow to be invited out of hiding.

The second is to find a method that works for you to understand your Shadow.

One such method is tarot. It presents us with symbols and pictures that speak to our subconscious and helps us unlock wisdom from within, including revelations about our best kept subconscious secrets. If we allow ourselves to recognise them!

The following Cacao Ritual and Shadow Work Practice is part of the guided 14-day Cacao Dieta EQUILIBRIUM. You can still join by becoming a Magic Member today.
Manage your subscription on your desktop to Magic Member for a whole year full of guided Immersions and Cacao Magic (YES the spring Dieta is included in the price!)

Tarot is archetypal which means that all cards have light and shadow. I highly recommend reading WITH your reversals (that means if you pull a card upside down) as they often reveal those uncomfortable truths we rather avoid.

Please resist the urge to draw again and again and stay with your first set of cards.

Even if they don’t make sense in that moment or you prefer to have other cards, these are you messages and need to be recorded and noted in your journal. I promise you once you walk further on this journey and open to the subtle messages of yourself, the cards will become clearer and eventually you will be able to distill the teachings they have for you. Also check various meanings of the cards and add your own interpretation of what you see before! What is the first thing that comes to mind?

Today I will leave it up to you to speak your own words of intention as an invocation to cacao and to the tarot cards. If you don’t have tarot cards you can use this free website: https://www.llewellyn.com/tarot_reading.php?Deck=1&Layout=6 on which you can choose a beautiful deck that resonates with you and a layout. Unfortunately the shadow work spread I am proposing for today is not a choice on there but you can do several one card picks or just choose the Celtic Cross spread because it is equally in depth! Some questions you could ask when pulling cards are:

• What is currently in shadow?

• What hidden influences am I not recognising?

• What in this situation is difficult for me to see?

• What inner dynamics am I projecting onto this situation?

• What positive or beneficial trait is currently in shadow?

• How can I integrate these elements of shadow?

The Shadow Work Tarot Spread

This spread is from

Alyssa Polizzi

and it is incredible. And a bit unusual as you have to first sort your cards and separate the minor from the major arcana and further put each element (swords, wands, cups and pentacles) on a different pile.

This leaves you with 5 piles.

1. The first one you pick from is the pile with the major arcana cards (the archetypal cards from Fool to the World). With the question:

   What aspect of the Shadow is in focus?

2. The second one you pull is from the pile of cards with the wands (fire) symbol:
   How does this aspect of Shadow influence my confidence and outlook in life?

3. The third you pull from the pile of cards with the cups (water) symbol:
   How does this aspect of Shadow appear in my relationships/emotionally?

4. The fourth you pull from the pile of cards with the swords (air) symbol:
   How does this aspect of Shadow distort reality?

5. The fifth you pull from the pile of cards with the pentacles (earth) symbol:
   How is this aspect of Shadow embodied?

Engage in a sacred container, experience more magical rituals and deepen your journey into shadow work towards fulfilling your personal potential in the guided 14-day Kakao Dieta EQUILIBRIUM. You can still participate by becoming a Magic Member. Manage your subscription on your desktop to annual and you'll have access to a full year of guided dieta and cacao magic. The spring Equinox Dieta is included in the price and you can choose between the option with or without cacao.