One of the things that excited us about retiring early and moving to a new country was that we could both develop new — healthier — habits. We felt (as do many) that our working life was geared to taking care of our employer’s needs rather than our own. Even when we were relieved from hours of daily commute by the pandemic lock-down, we found ourselves needing to be more aware of when we were “on the clock” and not so as to be good employees, rather than slackers.
In witchcraft, there has long been a strong (or, at least, vocal) community of people who espouse living solely in the light, eschewing all negative thoughts, feelings, and habits. Maybe that works when one is at a beginner level of witchcraft, but nearly impossible to do once we’ve moved past the basics. Why? Because focusing only on “love and light” prevents us from becoming whole beings and is a form of spiritual bypassing. Absolutely, it’s more fun to ignore our negative qualities or hope they will go away if we keep them locked away in a mental basement. Doing so, however, leaves us relying on superficialities and platitudes which look good but have no depth to them.
Having a Shadow takes nothing away from how good or wonderful a person we are; it is an essential part of being embodied. How well we accept and assimilate those qualities is a better indicator of our success within the world. While much of the language relies on the duality of light/dark and positive/ negative, in no way are there judgments being made about the intrinsic nature of “dark” or “light.” Shadow work is a process of assimilation and acceptance of all aspects of one’s Self. Too much light is a form of spiritual bypassing; too much dark is as much of an avoidance.
