Cult of Tarot Forum

One of the ways in which both oracles and tarot can be used effectively is as tools for 'shadow work'. This essentially means exploring the sides of ourselves that are darker and can be hard to face.

Many of us may aspire to be a force for good and light in the world and have spiritual practices that support us in this. But human beings are complex and there are sides to all of us that we probably try and rein in to a greater or lesser extent - sides we may not like very much at all and parts of ourselves that we find hard to accept or reconcile with because they are at odds with our aspirations to become enlightened, lightworkers or simply good people.

Sometimes our shadows are unresolved business from earlier times in our life, coping strategies we developed to get through challenges or traumas that no longer serve us well.

Shadow work helps us acknowledge these dark sides of ourselves and to develop better understanding of ourselves as whole beings. There is no light without dark and can we ever truly understand ourselves if we constantly try to suppress or ignore parts of ourselves? It also means we can have a harder time healing oursleves if we dont face the shadows and the source of some of our emotional difficulties.

Shadow Work with an oracle or tarot involves drawing cards to prompt deep and honest reflection in response to questions about our shadows.

In my experience it is not necessarily 'dark decks' that work best for shadow work - I've seen it written that this is what should be used for shadow work. It can be, if you are particularly well bonded to a dark deck, but I would say the best deck to use is one you feel completely comfortable and safe with. One that reads for you best that you find clearest and that you feel very close to.

Biddy Tarot has some good tips on shadow work. Benebell Wen has also published a pdf workbook guide on her blog which has some excellent suggestions for carrying out shadow work including some simple rituals that can really support shadow workers in healing.

https://benebellwen.files.wordpress.com ... ion-v2.pdf

Shadow work is often intensely private and personal and can be very toughgoing. Afterwards I like to do something uplifting.

Thank you for taking up this topic and for the link. I started more than a year ago a process of shadow work. circling around a topic that is very painful and filled with guilt feelings for me.

I used then the Silhouettes Tarot which is a very un-threatening tool. I felt as comfortable as possible approaching my dark corners with a deck that is honest, doesn't skirt around the dark cards, but doesn't make the 78 cards darker than they have to be. There's a lot of light and shadow in this deck, and that helped me.

I started to dig then, wrote it all down in my diary, and didn't touch it again.

Now, that I have an intense experience with the Rosetta, I feel that I can continue. The Rosetta is very powerful - but it's not a dark deck. I hope I'll be able to dig a bit more over the time. It's really difficult.

I find Archeon Tarot naturally brings out the shadow aspects of the cards - take their 7 of Cups for example: It has the same 7 cup imagery - but with this feeling of passiveness. Instead of having a world of opportunities at her fingertips... Well, the opportunity is there, but she is too apathetic to jump on any of them. She simply is allowing life to pass her by. This card alone brought up SO MUCH from me about my relationships, and men who were like "here's my big dreams, and you can come along as my secretary or something". This card alone played a huge role in my shadow work about dreams & missed opportunities, that I never really had triggered in other versions of the card!

I guess what it comes down to is that I don't think a deck has to be dark and gritty for shadow work, but it does need to resonate on that shadow level. What deck does will vary with who you are!

I have spent this afternoon in a very intense session of shadow work - I realized one-and-half years ago where I have to "dig", and simply waited. I didn't know for what, was it procrastination? No. I waited for a deck that would allow me to open up. (My first part of shadow work was done with the Silhouettes which worked great because it's so very reassuring and warm). The Rosetta was simply great.

I found out a lot about a painful issue in my past. I incorporated what I found out in my Black Madonna altar which I created, inspired by the Sacred Spaces thread - and after a long time without any creative work (except for crochet), I had some inspirations to transform my insights and make objects that will keep them alive in my altar.

The issue in question has oppressed my heart for many years but I didn't "know" it, I had "forgotten" it. One-and-half years ago I started a shadow reading and went afterwards for a long, long meditative walk. While I walked through the lonely landscape, memories came up. I knew what I had to do. Now that I have done at least part of it, I don't feel a change within yet. It may take time, prayers, more meditation, to find a way to deal with my shadow. At least a part of this shadow is now slowly coming under the searchlight of memory and emotion.

Without the Rosetta, I couldn't have done it.

I love that download from Benebell. When I saw the forum title, I thought “hey i’ll post a link to the file there” but, alas, it was already done. Cheers for CharlotteK!

I am a proponent of twelve step recovery and what the anonymous groups call “twelve steps” is very much shadow work. It can be difficult and exhausting but the rewards, especially as they payoff in enhancing ones character, is well worth it.

My favorite use of the tarot is as a mirror for self reflection. It has a remarkable way of helping us to identify who, why and where we are. I also enjoy using the tarot this way with others.

Thanks for a great topic Charlotte.

I performed some shadow work before, but there are some issues that I'm not meant to explore yet. Would do it again when the time is right.

The guide by Wen is useful.

CharlotteK wrote: ↑20 May 2018, 12:45 In my experience it is not necessarily 'dark decks' that work best for shadow work - I've seen it written that this is what should be used for shadow work. It can be, if you are particularly well bonded to a dark deck, but I would say the best deck to use is one you feel completely comfortable and safe with. One that reads for you best that you find clearest and that you feel very close to.

I just watched another in this series of videos that Stronglove posted about recently.

In this one, she talks about choosing a deck, and like Charlotte says, she also says to not assume you need to use a "dark deck." This kind of thinking anticipates unpleasantness or negativity ahead and that can get you off to a rough start.

She says that having a healthy narrative as you approach shadow work is crucial. Think of it as a treasure hunt.

Many of the decks people call "dark" are really just well-crafted, well-rounded decks that can help you to some interesting places. In this video, she gives some good guidance for choosing a deck.

Choose a deck that suits the place you are at, the pace you need at this time. Be honest about if you need something that will treat you gently right now or are you ready for something more challenging?

I really recommend watching all 5 videos in this series. Here is the one about choosing a deck.

Joan Marie wrote: ↑28 Nov 2019, 10:25 I just watched another in this series of videos that Stronglove posted about recently.

[snip]

I really recommend watching all 5 videos in this series. Here is the one about choosing a deck.

Thank you so much for posting this, Joan Marie. I haven't seen this YouTuber before so I'm looking forward to watching her series.

I actually bought myself a "dark" deck to do Shadow Work with. The Dark Grimoire tarot. But once I started working with it, I found it to be a very gentle deck. The "monsters" weren't scary. There was more of an air of melancholy about some of the cards in the deck than anything else. Other cards felt as if even the "monsters" didn't see themselves as monsters, they were completely unaware that anyone would think they were monsters. It was odd. Lovely. But unexpected.

Starlight wrote: ↑29 Nov 2019, 11:47
I actually bought myself a "dark" deck to do Shadow Work with. The Dark Grimoire tarot. But once I started working with it, I found it to be a very gentle deck. The "monsters" weren't scary. There was more of an air of melancholy about some of the cards in the deck than anything else. Other cards felt as if even the "monsters" didn't see themselves as monsters, they were completely unaware that anyone would think they were monsters. It was odd. Lovely. But unexpected.

That's like .... so quintessential shadow work to me, though lol. What is this dark and scary thing within ourselves, at least how we perceive it when we don't want to look at it straight on, is so often this soft and vulnerable scared thing that is puffing up to protect itself.

I've had some wonderful visits with a shadow aspect I had viewed as my own internal destroyer of worlds, that start off rough, but end up discovering she'd only been trying to keep me safe the only way she knew how, and it really hurt her feelings that I'd so aggressively shutting her down/out my whole life.