Lantern and Shadow
I am out with lanterns
looking for myself
— Emily Dickinson
If you have practiced tarot for a while, you will know the experience of drawing the same tarot card in reading after reading. What does it mean when a card follows you like a shadow? Sometimes the message seems obvious, other times utterly opaque. Either way, it feels as though the repetition is necessary because we are still not “getting it.” I find these shadow cards fascinating, if not slightly annoying, because they are points of dialogue. It’s as though the cards are offering up a conversation starter. At the very least, shadow cards ask us to pay attention. Carl Jung used the idea of the shadow to describe the unconscious aspects of one’s personality. These are the parts of ourselves that have become hidden for a variety of reasons, but manage to permeate our behaviors in ways that we do not realize. How can we illuminate the shadow?
Here are some ways to use your shadow card:
Reflection. Remove the card from your deck and study it for a week. Leave it someplace visible, so that it catches your eye throughout the day. Notice whether it triggers any emotions or memories. Write down any sparks or reverberations. At the end of the week, set a timer for 15 minutes, take a notebook, and write about the card and your experience with it that week. Write freely and without concern for structure, or how the writing sounds. At the end of the 15 minutes, read over what you have written and identify 3 keywords that you will take away from the card.
Activation. If the card’s message feels positive to you, consider using the image as a kind of sigil, with which you will activate either a project, phase, or new direction in your life. If you have an altar, you can center the card in your ritual practice. You can also time your activation with the new moon. If the image on your tarot card is densely decorated, you might select 1 or 2 symbols, such as a bird or flower, to act as correspondences.
Embodiment. Try to embody the card’s expression and see how that feels. If your shadow card is the Magician, for example, copy the pose depicted and hold it for a minute. Notice how it feels to assume that posture. Do you feel strong and powerful? If so, does that feel unfamiliar? Or do you feel unsupported? Perhaps like an impostor? The point of this exercise is to shed light on your body’s response to the card’s message. Sometimes we are able to connect with an idea on a physical level more readily than on an intellectual level.
Book a Lantern & Shadow reading with me to explore your shadow card and creative ways to engage with it.
Shadow cards and griefwork
In my own grief practice, shadow cards were a regular occurrence. I think this is because grief is like tunneling; it circumscribes the griever so that much of the outside world can feel inaccessible. In such instances, the shadow card is a gentle nudge, a reminder of something that is beyond one’s immediate peripheral vision, something that might be a tool.
To learn more about The Moon Unfolded and using tarot for creative grief work, click here.
