The Magician & his Shadow

Tarot Shadow Series

The Magician

Today I am going to talk about the Magician and his shadows when using the Tarot for shadow work. The Magician is the bridge between the spirit world, and the human world. Usually when he makes an appearance in a reading, you have a lot of creative forces present in your life and some major changes are taking place. You have the opportunity to take the power of the Universe and use it to manifest your desires. Usually this card is a strong symbol of optimism, but let us look at the shadows.

In more times than not, The Magician can be about you pushing for changes too soon. Sometimes we just can't find the patience that we need to wait for something so we try to force it to happen now. We can easily imagine this being true when we think of a young girl learning witchcraft. She is eager to get straight to learning how to perform spells, because she wants that guy to notice her now, not later. She has no desire to learn about the history of witchcraft or the 'bad things' that can happen if she casts a spell incorrectly. As a result, she ends up asking how to cast a spell later to get rid of him. LOL

It is one of those, 'be careful what you wish for' things. Details are just as important as the goal its self. 

Another one of The Magicians shadows is feeling superior to others. Like he can do anything, and better than anyone else. There is something about holding a wand that makes him feel majestic and larger than life. He is an opportunist and takes full advantage of his surroundings, making his own self happy despite others. This too can be seen in a young witch, manipulating circumstances to suit themselves. 

If The Magician comes up in reverse and you are doing shadow work, he can possibly be showing his weaknesses to you. Maybe he lacks inspiration and is living his life randomly. His focus is gone and he is just living from one day to the next. Perhaps he is looking for you to help him make a plan for his future.

Just things to consider when doing shadow work. Stay tuned for The High Priestess and the things that lurk in her shadows.

Blessed Be.

The Fool & his Shadow

Tarot Shadow Series

The Fool

I thought I would start a little series on Tarot Shadows. Each card has it's 'good & bad' side, the same as each person having their light & dark sides. 

When we learn to accept that we have these various sides of ourselves, we begin to make sense of our lives, and can live them more fully. 

Want to know about the sides of yourself that you need to fix or become conscious of? Shuffle your Major Arcana, and draw a card. I will be listing the different 'shadows' of each of the 22 cards in this series helping you identify with your selected cards. 

I am only going to list opposing sides of the cards, and not get into too much detail during these posts, but if you would like to know more about Tarot Shadow work, I highly recommend this book: "Tarot Shadow Work: Using the Dark Symbols to Heal" by Christine Jette.  

I want to start with The Fool.  The Fool's soul purpose is trusting life. He has ventured out on his own, beginning a new phase in his life. He is excited to start something, and views his life as an adventure. He trusts that things will turn out the way that they are suppose to. This is the part of him that is still innocent and positive. But there is a shadow side of him.  

The shadow or the darker side of The Fool is that he really is a bit gullible. The idea that he only has a small pack of clothes on his back and believing that things will 'just be okay' for him, makes him a bit irresponsible.

Is he just expecting that he can stop wherever he feels like it, and sleep rent free on someone's couch? Does he think that other's will supply him with what he needs when he opens up that little pack of clothes, and realizes that he doesn't have enough in it? 

What about feeding his seemingly domesticated dog? He can't possibly have all that he needs for this venture. Does he think he can just stop along the way, work for the day to earn money and then travel on after he gets what he wants? This would certainly be a lack, or even a fear of commitment too. I can't imagine The Fool caring about much else but himself. 

In a reading, if The Fool comes up in reversal during shadow work - he might even be too serious at times. Maybe he has trouble connecting to his inner child, and doesn't have enough fun in life. Maybe he is too afraid to take risks, and his life never goes anywhere.

These are all things to consider if you use the Tarot for shadow work. Each of the majors will be discussed in this series. Stay tuned, for The Magician next. :)

Blessed Be.