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The Fullness of Shadow Work, by Christine Jette

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

When I finished the manuscript for Tarot Shadow Work in 1999, I didn't believe I could write one more thing about tarot and the shadow. I was wrong. Time has passed and I am able to revisit the book with a more objective viewpoint. I originally wrote that I used only the 22 cards of the Major Arcana because shadow work is a spiritual endeavor. While this is true, it's time for writer honesty: the concept of using 78 cards eluded me in the beginning. Four years later, I know how to use an entire tarot deck when doing shadow work and the Llewellyn Journal is the perfect place to share my expanded ideas on it.

Taking my cue from astrology, the Major Arcana cards represent the WHAT of shadow work, a description of the shadow and what its challenges and gifts entail. The Court Cards are the HOW and WHO of shadow work—how the shadow presents itself in personality development and whom we draw to us for our life lessons. The Minor Arcana depict the WHERE of shadow work, or in what department of life the shadow is operating.

The Major Arcana (Numbers 0-21), The Fool through the World, speak to you of both life lessons and life wisdom: those qualities being tested and developed, your gifts and challenges, karma and the reasons you are here. The twenty-two cards symbolize spiritual development and help you understand your place in the world. The "Greater Secrets" will point to the higher overview of life and give you insights into the "big picture." They will also hint at your healing potential and what lies in the shadows. (See the appendix in Tarot Shadow Work for more information.)

The Minor Arcana, or "lesser secrets," offer information along the planes of existence: Wands, spiritual creativity in everyday life; Cups, emotions and feelings; Swords, psychological well being/the mind; and, Pentacles, physical reality and the body. When the different suits shows up in a reading, ask yourself: What action can I take? (Wands) What am I feeling or dreaming about? (Cups) What am I thinking or what decision needs to be made? (Swords) Because Pentacles explore issues of food, housing, money, work, the body, and physical health, ask yourself: What do I value?

In life, there is no separation between body, emotion, mind, and spirit. It is impossible for something to happen to us without all four levels of existence being affected. It is likewise impossible to change without attending to these same four levels of being. Life does not fall neatly into categories. Because stress or concerns at any level affect all levels, the lines sometimes blur.

No other cards in the tarot deck have more interpretations than the Court Cards. Just pick up any three tarot books and compare. It's mind-boggling. We all have qualities that are traditionally associated with masculine and feminine ways of being. For instance, a woman can be competitive and a man can be nurturing. Be aware that the King and Knight can represent a woman and the Queen can symbolize a man. The gender or "occupation" of the court card is less important than the qualities it describes.

Pages can represent a child, but they also introduce the element of their suit, the willingness to change, risk, or learn something new. Pages can symbolize the catalyst needed for change and the child within us all. Pages also carry messages related to their suit: Telephone calls or significant e-mail (Page of Wands); important dreams (Page of Cups); written warnings (Page of Swords); and messages from your body, especially in the form of illness: What is your body trying to tell you (Page of Pentacles)?

Knights represent young adults or someone starting over, focusing on a specific task through their suit, be it creative (Wands), emotional (Cups), psychological (Swords) or physical (Pentacles). Our "knightly" qualities include being energetic, daring, headstrong and goal oriented. Knights show movement and action through their suits.

Queens are mature. They take their understanding of life inward and use this life wisdom to nurture others and encourage self-development through their specific suit. For example, the Queen of Cups nurtures the emotions. Because they are the embodiment of the feminine tradition of healing, Queens often represent healing in relationship to their suit. An example of this is the Queen of Pentacles symbolizing a natural healer. Our "queenly" qualities include sensitivity, fullness of expression, empathy, and personal, inner control.

Kings are also mature, but they project their maturity outward in the form of leadership through their suit. They take charge and give advice: Creative or spiritual advice (King of Wands); emotional advice (King of Cups); psychological or intellectual advice (King of Swords); and, practical advice about the everyday world (King of Pentacles, especially in the area of finances or work.) Our "kingly" qualities include being capable and in control, with an air of authority, leadership, and worldliness.

So how do you use the entire deck in shadow work? It's simple. Separate your deck into three stacks: the 22 Majors, 40 Minors and 16 Court Cards. Do a star layout, or any other activity in Tarot Shadow Work using Majors only, as described in the book. Look at your shadow layout or activity and select one card that puzzles or bothers you, or one that you especially like. Pull that card out of the layout.

Now think of the Minor and Court Cards as the cards to use for more information. Shuffle your Minor Card stack. As you shuffle, concentrate on WHERE, or what department of life, this particular Major card is operating. For example, you have chosen The Fool from the shadow layout because you know you allow others to take advantage of you and have decided that now this needs the most work. The minor card that turns up is the Ten of Wands.

You first decide if the Ten of Wands describes the challenge of the shadow or the gift of the shadow. In other words, does the card feel negative or positive? Hint: If you like the card, it probably represents a gift of shadow work, something to keep and nurture. If it feels negative, for instance being reversed, it means it is a lesson to be learned, something to improve or work on. You realize that it depicts the challenge of the shadow: others take advantage of you because you are unable to say no and you take on too much responsibility as a result.

As you shuffle the Court Card stack, concentrate on HOW the shadow presents itself in your personality. You can also think about the people in your life and why they might be there. Remember, the Court Cards are always a reflection of you—you draw the people to you that you need for your life wisdom. So it doesn't matter if the Court Card describes someone else. The card is still about you and your need to have those qualities in your life for good or ill. Randomly select one Court Card. First decide if it represents the shadow's challenge or the shadow's gift. Does it feel negative or positive to you?

Continuing with our example, you have drawn the Queen of Pentacles. At first you think, oh, great, the smothering mother card. After some thought, you decide she symbolizes the shadow's gift after all: Yes, you have been taken advantage of because of your need to nurture (rescue) others; but the answer is still in the Queen of Pentacles—if you start saying no and allow others to learn self-responsibility. Then they are able to find their own way, and you are free of the martyr's shadow.

You can use the Minor and Court Cards for more information on any shadow star layout, single card in a layout, or any tarot activity in the book. Using the entire deck helps pinpoint both strengths and challenges of doing shadow work. Think of it as your magnifying mirror for a better reflection of you. And for goodness sake, trust your intuition when deciding if a card feels negative or positive. Only you can know that. To review, ask the following questions when doing shadow work with the entire deck:

* For Major Arcana cards: WHAT shadow is this card describing? Does this card symbolize the challenge of shadow work or the reward for facing the shadow, the gift of shadow work?

* For Minor Arcana Cards: WHERE or in what department of life is this card operating? (Physical, financial, emotional, psychological, legal, creative or spiritual pursuits, etc., according to its suit.) Is this card a challenge (something that needs work) or something to keep and nurture—my strength or talent?

* For Court Cards: HOW does the shadow present itself in my personality development? HOW do other people see me? HOW do I see myself? WHO have I drawn into my life for soul development? Does this card describe the shadow's challenge or gift?

For me, shadow work and its resultant soul development are meaningless if not viewed through the lens of everyday living. Divinity lies in the details of life. The magic of shadow work doesn't come from the tarot cards—the magic comes from our willingness to change. If we ascribe to the philosophy of "as above, so below," then who we are and what we do is spirituality in action—not "out there" somewhere, but in us, here and now. May you find joy in the shadows.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003. All rights reserved.

About 20 years ago, I started receiving spontaneous spirit communication, and this led me to develop my mediumship abilities further. For many years I worked successfully as a medium, and then I started to get burned out from the high demand for my services. It was harder and harder for me to find the will and energy to do this sort of work, and I noticed that my readings weren't as amazing and powerful as they used to be, so I took a break and developed web sites for a while. Now that I'm feeling recharged and ready to dig into reading work again, I find that the messages I'm getting just aren't clicking the way they used to. People aren't recognizing the evidential information I bring through, and this is starting to shake my trust in my gift and my connection to my guides. At the same time, I'm wondering if I'm blocking myself because when I make myself available, I quickly get overwhelmed by all the requests I receive for help, guidance, readings, etc. Do you think I'm trying to make myself less connected and successful to minimize the demands on my time and energy? Am I perhaps not meant to pick this up again?

E.

Astrea:

There are as many reasons for psychic burnout as there are psychics. How awful to try to keep working under that cloud; spirit communication is difficult enough without all this extra stress and pressure.

This is a sensitive area, and people who wish to talk to departed loved ones can be some of the most intense clientele, so sometimes mediums have to take a break to retain their gift.

Not only are your clients used to you being available, the spirits you speak with are too, and they're going to try to come through you no matter what YOU may want. That can by tiring and draining in and of itself, without the extra stress of others wanting you to talk to their loved ones in Spirit for them.

Whether they're living or departed, no one who is asking you to communicate for them realizes all that goes into it. It's beyond their understanding, so they keep on demanding.

This kind of ability doesn't really come and go. It's always there, but when we're tired (or simply tired of dealing with people), it becomes much more difficult to do.

You are of course the best judge of when you're ready to do any kind of psychic work, but it can be hard to get enough distance to sort that out. Do you have any kind of support group of other people doing spirit communication work?

Bouncing your feelings and ideas around with even one other person might help more than you think, for someone outside of what you're doing might be able to see things you can't.

Audition your spouse or best friend for the role of judge, and tell them what you feel in the moment you're trying to connect. The people closest to you will be able to pick up subtle changes in your mind and energy, and whether they're psychically sensitive or not, they may be able to pinpoint whatever you're missing that you need to get back on your path.

Sometimes it's better to take another break than to try to force yourself to work. It's not that you're not meant to be doing this work; you're still tired and burned out, that's all.

Talk about your feelings. Take another 90 days to rekindle your energy, and do what you know how to do to block spirits from coming through during that time. Then try again to go back to work.

If you still feel drained, then take another 90 days. If after six months you still aren't able to have the kind of concentration you need, it's time to reconsider this work altogether. Most of us who are mediums also have other psychic gifts that we can employ to give other types of readings, so explore your options and make the most of your talents and skills.

*****

Susyn:

I can understand the frustration you're experiencing with trying to reconnect with your psychic gifts. We often go through down cycles and have to stop our work in order to regroup, recharge, and revise our focus.

Because the different types of metaphysical work we do can be draining, it's essential that we learn to put boundaries around our work, time and efforts. If you think of the cycle you've just been through as a pendulum (first too much work, swinging back to no work at all) you'll see that we can move back and forth to extremes.

As we continue to swing back and forth between these extremes, they carry less and less momentum, and eventually, we find good inner balance again.

Many of us in this field tend to forget how much effort and energy it takes to provide these gifts and services for others. It's actually very common to suffer this type of burnout and to feel overwhelmed by the demands of this sort of work.

My friends have heard me say more than once, Maybe I should give this up and flip burgers for a living! However, we both know that our purpose is so much greater than that. In fact, if we try to hide or limit our gifts, it can result in depression and even physical illness. Once we've opened this door, all we can do is walk through it.

The fact that you're having trouble clicking with your clients simply means you're still in the process of recharging your gifts. Like exercise, the more you do it, the stronger and more proficient you'll become at it. You needn't give up the work you love; you just need to find a way to balance your work so that it inspires you instead of draining you.

I had a similar experience fifteen years ago when I began channeling a spirit, and without understanding what was happening, had a negative experience that caused me to stop altogether. Within two months I found myself in bed with a serious illness. Over the next two years, I quit all my metaphysical practices: astrology, tarot, even meditation.

When I finally embraced my gifts again, the illness dissipated and slowly I returned to my psychic work. What I noticed during that time is the emphasis of my work changed, and I began to focus on different areas that needed more development.

For example, I took up more writing, as that made it easier to reach many people at once, and I also started teaching and tutoring more. Maybe something similar is happening for you.

I encourage you to continue reclaiming your gifts and your work, and to consider new avenues that will refresh you and inspire fresh passion for your calling. I'm sure that this bump in the road will ultimately carry your work to an even higher form, purpose and power.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.