Don’t Fear Your Own Shadow

The Ace of Swords suggests a beginning that, for example, could be the start of a project or an invitation that involves courage, integrity, and clarity of thought. It’s interesting that this card is coming up on the new moon in Scorpio, because there is an opportunity here to look into your own shadows to know yourself better, as the saying goes. And we all have shadows. Many people spend their lives sleeping with the lights on in an effort to avoid ever looking at those shadows.

But we know better, don’t we? We know that those shadows are an integral part of ourselves that need to be acknowledged and assimilated into our greater selves in order for us to be whole. If we ignore those shadows they do not go away. Sure, they might lie dormant for a while, but eventually they come out in interesting and inconvenient ways. It is better to be proactive and find a way to channel our shadow energy in a way that is healthier for ourselves and for those around us.

So why is this card reversed today? My gut tells me this is related to fear. Fear of what we may see in the shadows and fear of being honest with ourselves about what we see in the shadows. No one said it was going to be easy, or necessarily pleasant, but like that disgusting cod liver oil mama used to make you swallow (no?) it is good for you. You might even like it.

Don’t judge yourself. It’s not about being “good” or “bad”. It’s about what does or doesn’t work for you. What do you want to manifest? What consequences do you want to avoid? Cause and effects is simple physics.

There are plenty of public examples of people who do not want to look into their own shadows, or even admit to having them. Their motto seems to be “Judge unto others before they judge unto you”.  They pretend to be 100% good, clean, pure. The next thing you know they are in media because they have committed adultery, extortion, murder, or worse.  That’s an example of what I meant by interesting and inconvenient.

Do yourself a favour. Use this new moon energy to look into your own shadows, to know yourself better, to act on that knowledge to take better care of yourself, to grow, and to be more of who you are.