“It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are without any self-deception or illusion that a light will develop out of events by which the path of success may be recognized.” I-Ching
Do you always avoid negative emotions and stuff them down inside? Are you comfortable expressing all your concerns and emotions to those you love? How much of who you really are do you keep hidden?
Finding Treasure in the Darkness
As we move deeper into winter, days grow longer and the darkness envelops us. For many people, it is an uncomfortable time, but like every season, it may hold hidden treasure if we are willing to look for it. Deep within our unconscious, we all have what Carl Jung called “the Shadow.” As the weather pushes us indoors more and the light decreases, it is the perfect time for reflecting on what we need to heal and release.
Scorpio, the Transformer
Beyond the change of seasons, other influences are affecting us. Scorpio, the astrological sign, urges us to dig deeply and explore the part of ourselves we prefer to deny. It is a time when the changes we make can be transforming. Visit www.astrodelight.com, Belinda Dunn’s website, for some very interesting information on Scorpio’s influence.
Mercury Encourages Reevaluation
In addition, Mercury is in retrograde. Okay now—don’t leave me. Trust me—all these influences that appear so negative really are gold if we know what to do with them. The good news is that Mercury goes direct again on the 26th. I’ll be glad, believe me, because I’m tiring of all the phone calls it has taken to make one simple appointment.
Mercury is about communication. When it’s in retrograde, it’s a good time to review and revise what we are doing with our lives. It’s also a good time to clear out what is no longer useful. It’s not a time to start something new, but it’s a good time to plan for the future.
Becoming Conscious of Shadow Issues
While this period and its influences may make us uncomfortable, it’s a time when we can do some serious inner work. When I read the I-Ching quote above, I immediately thought of Carl Jung whose thinking has always increased my understanding of human psychology. In his book Psychology and Religion, he said, “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is continually subjected to modifications. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.”
Let’s say that it makes you angry when people are disrespectful to you, but you’ve been taught it’s unacceptable to feel anger. How do you deal with that? Most people repress it and keep repressing it. When we do that, we tend to project the anger onto others in situations that have nothing to do with the situation at hand. Our reactions to situations become distorted. The wife who feels her husband spoke disrespectfully one day but said nothing may lash out at him the next day for forgetting an item at the grocery store.
What is kept unconscious will come out in other unhealthy ways or will manifest as illness, for the mind and body connection is very powerful. Over a long period of time, these repressed feelings poison our physical and mental health.
We Must Release Fear To Become Conscious
If this is true, why do we choose to live so unconsciously? Because we are afraid. When we live this way, fear rules our lives, and only when we allow that fear to surface, can we really begin to free ourselves from it and heal. To do that, we sometimes have to go against cultural norms.
In our Western culture, we emphasize having a positive attitude to an extreme degree; therefore, we are discouraged from looking at our Shadow and its fear content. But denying our darker side rather than dealing with the related issues only prolongs the damage this dysfunction can do in our lives. When we allow our buried feelings to become conscious, we can see what is going on, we can heal and release what is limiting us. We create an opening where the light can come through, where new ideas and ways of living can evolve.
After the Darkness Comes the Light
It took me many years of releasing my fears to come to a point where I could actually publish my memoir Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness. But when I committed to that and faced all the fears that came up, I also committed to a healing journey. It was very painful sometimes, but it led to a place where I am happier than I’ve ever been, where what is lurking deep inside isn’t scary any more. And I know now that no matter how uncomfortable dealing with the fear is, releasing it will lead me to more light.
Be willing to go deeper and find the buried treasure within and transform your life. Peace, Love, and Joy to you on this amazing journey.
If you are in the Asheville, NC area, join us for my “Release Your Fear” workshop at Crystal Visions Bookstore tomorrow night from 7-9:00 pm. $15 at the door. Releasing your fear is a good way to begin retrieving your Shadow’s treasure.
© 2012 Georganne Spruce ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5
Related Articles: The Hidden Value of Mercury Retrograde, Suppression and Repression, Memories, Dreams, and Reflections by Jung
