Shadow Magick I - What is Shadow Magick?

I am pleased to announce my latest class, Shadow Magick I, which is available for enrollment today!  Head on over to Shadowkrafting.com to enroll :)

Shadow Magick I - What is Shadow Magick?

Class Description:  The purpose of this course is to answer common questions about what shadow magick is and what it isn’t, as well as giving students enough information to decide whether they want to pursue shadow magick as a discipline.  We will look at the fundamentals of shadow work and shadow magick as well as common misconceptions of both.  We will take a more in-depth look at what the shadow is and how to deal with it.  The course ends with a look forward into the next course, Shadow Magick II - The Work, and what to expect if you decide to move forward.  

Cost: $10 payable via paypal to signup@shadowkrafting.com

What you need to know beforehand:  This course is designed to be accessible by anyone who is willing to do a bit of introspection.  However, students with some magickal experience, preferably more than six (6) months, will get the most benefit.  Shadow magick as a whole is best when added to an existing set of magickal skills and practices.    

You will have no trouble with the course if you know the following (though it is not 100% necessary):

• Visualization - You should be able to visualize the movement of energy in your mind.  If you have an imagination and can daydream then chances are you can do this without difficulty.
• Basic energy manipulation - You should have a basic understanding of what energy is and be comfortable moving it, e.g. pulling energy and moving it into a candle to charge it.  If you are not comfortable charging an object you will have difficulty with some of the material in this class.
• Basic spellcrafting - You do not have to be proficient in spellcasting, but you should understand the basic principles (such as like attracts like, contagion, etc.) and be able to perform simple spells.

Recommended resources if you’re not already there (note these are all from very different traditions):

Bird, Stephanie Rose. Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

Bonewits, Isaac. Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Magic. York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1989.

Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 1989.

Kraig, Donald Michael. Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts. Rev. and Expanded. ed. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2010.

Miller, Jason. The Sorcerer's Secrets: Strategies to Practical Magick. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page, 2009.

Required

• This course is for students 18+ years of age.  There will be no exceptions under any circumstances.  
• This course must be paid via paypal.  
• This course is taught exclusively in English.  You must be able to read/write comfortably in English to participate.
• All lessons are delivered as pdf files via email.  
• You must have a functioning email address that you check regularly in order to receive your class materials.
• You will need a pdf reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.  You can download it for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Strongly Recommended (you will need in order to get the full value of your course)

• Some lessons may include links to videos, so access to high speed internet will improve your experience.
• This course includes one (1) one-on-one Skype or Google Hangout session with me.  You will need either a Skype or Google+ account (both free), along with a functioning webcam and microphone in order to have a one-on-one.

Lessons and Homework

All lessons will be delivered weekly via email as pdf files.  

This class does not include formal homework.  Instead it includes a series of suggested exercises and practices that are clearly labelled within the lessons.  You are encouraged to do all of the exercises and recommended practices, and to discuss your results with me, in order to get the maximum value out of this course.  

This course includes one (1) thirty minute one-on-one session with me via Skype or Google Hangout.  One-on-one sessions must be completed within three (3) months of enrollment.

Course Completion

Completion of this course is required before applying for Shadow Magick II - The Work.

Shadow Magick and the Ooky Spooky

I love October.  I love Halloween.  I love Samhain.  I love Dia de los Muertos.  I love autumn and all its glorious accoutrement.  But you know what I don’t love?  I don’t love when people come up to me and say, “Oh, you do shadow magick?  I’m not really into all the spooky stuff.”  That’s when I facepalm so hard that my hand goes through my forehead and comes out the back of my brain stem.  *sigh*  So let me tell you a little bit about shadow magick and the “spooky stuff.”

Yes, I personally like the spooky stuff.  No, that has nothing whatsoever to do with my shadow magick.  In fact, my shadow working are probably the least “ooky spooky” of any workings I do.  Shadow magick, in its many forms, is about the process of magickally integrating the shadow or using that integrated shadow as a mechanism in other magickal workings.  It is serious work either way.  If a particular practitioner happens to like using spooky regalia in their shadow magick that’s their business, but it’s just not the way I do things.  

So let me be very clear about this: shadow magick does not equal gothcraft.  Gothcraft is just regular witchcraft with skull covered drapes done while listening to dark music. (There’s nothing wrong with that, in fact I rather enjoy it.)  Shadow magick is magick specifically involving the psychological shadow - the aspects of our personality that aren’t considered viable for public presentation.  They are totally different things.

Also, shadow magick is not evil or unethical.  A lot of people hear the word “shadow” and immediately associated it with “the darkness,” “evil,” or other things they consider unsavory.  The shadow is not evil.  Yes, our shadow contains bits of ourselves that we don’t like very much and yes those bits can be dangerous, but that doesn’t make them evil.  A huge part of shadow work is learning how to look at those oh so unsavory parts of ourselves and not see them as “evil” or “bad.”  The shadow is not evil, it’s just different and a little intimidating.  

Shadow magick is a discipline like any other, it can be wielded ethically or unethically by its practitioners as they see fit.  However, by its very nature it is more difficult to use shadow magick balefully than other forms of magick for two reasons.  One, you have to be extremely proficient in order to use shadow magick for anything other than the integration of the shadow (never really a bad thing).  Two, once you’ve reached the level of proficiency where you could use shadow magick to do harm you’ll be so integrated and balanced that you will rarely want to.  Shadow work makes people healthier psychologically and generally more stable and self-aware, this does not generally incline people to violence or harm towards others.  I’d be much more concerned about the holier than thou types than shadow workers any day.

Further, shadow magick does not equal the left hand path.  I don’t happen to practice the left hand path so I can’t really say much about it.  As I understand it, the left hand path is the practice of magick with a more personal approach to morality and ethics, often less strict than other forms of magick, and with greater emphasis on serving the self rather than the community at large.  While this is a rather interesting path, it really has nothing to do with shadow magick.  As I said earlier, shadow magick is a tool that can be wielded by practitioners of any path, it is not a path in and of itself.  

So yeah, shadow magick is not “ooky spooky.”  Don’t get me wrong, I have a deep and unabated love for the ooky spooky going back to my embarrassing teenage goth years.  It’s just that the ooky spooky has absolutely nothing to do with shadow magick.  So please, for the sake of my poor head, when someone makes a flippant comment about shadow magick being evil, set that person straight.  

What is Shadowkrafting?

In exactly one week I will be launching Shadowkrafting.com, the website for my online correspondence courses in magickal defense and shadow magick.  This sort of begs the question: what is Shadowkrafting?

First off, Shadowkrafting is not a tradition.  I believe that magickal practice is deeply personal and thus should be different for each practitioner.  What works for one person may or may not work for someone else, so there really is no one "right way" to practice magick.  I believe that it's my job as a teacher to help my students find what works for them rather than asking them to slavishly do everything exactly as I do it regardless of how effective or comfortable it is for them. 

Though not a tradition per se, Shadowkrafting is essentially my magickal philosophy.  There's no disputing that there is darkness in the world that comes from both within and without.  There are three ways of dealing with this darkness: pretend it doesn't exist and hope for the best, run away from it and hide, or put on your big kid pants and face it.  Shadowkrafting is the art of facing the darkness magickally. I teach defensive magick, which is about facing the darkness that comes from the outside world, and shadow magick, which is about facing the darkness that comes from within.  It's about facing your fears, whatever they may be, and turning them into strengths.  It's about being truly empowered.  The ultimate goal of Shadowkrafting is living an empowered and authentic life while maximizing magickal potential.  It sounds a bit lofty for a simple series of courses, but I tend to have a "reach for the stars and you'll climb mountains" view of this sort of thing.

In the pursuit of these lofty goals you'll find certain values to be inherent in my lessons.  My number one value is personal responsibility - the idea that you are responsible for making your own choices wisely and then dealing with their consequences.  This is the main reason that I don't like giving explicit homework.  I prefer students to choose just how much effort they're going to put into a course.  I like to give a series of optional exercises and it's up to the student to choose to do them or not.  I only require certain work in a class if I believe it is absolutely critical to understand the subject or to do something safely.


Shadowkrafting is also about being flexible and responsive to whatever situation you find yourself in.  The real world is unpredictable and ever-changing, so to be truly useful your magick needs to be adaptable and responsive.  I try to make sure the techniques I teach can be adapted on the fly to changing scenarios.  Need to do a house cleansing in a pinch but you don't have your florida water on hand?  No problem, try smudging.  No smudge, how about about asperging with salt water.  No salt water...well...what have you got?  Olive oil, a q-tip, and a stalk of rosemary from the neighbor's bush.  Ok, I can work with that.

The bottom line for any magickal practice is that it has to work.  Magick is about manifesting our will in the world - be it in the world around us or within ourselves.  If a technique doesn't actually do that for you it's not worth the bother no matter how how impressive its lineage or who taught it to you. Magick is only useful if it is effective, so I only teach techniques that I know actually work.

Shadowkrafting is also about holistic magick.  It is my goal to teach my students information and techniques that will change their lives.  Effective magickal practice is a way of life.  Once you know how to effectively use magick it becomes a part of who and what you are as a person.  That makes it important to really understand how and why magick works, the full spectrum of its effects, and to choose the practices that fit with both who you are and who you want to be.  I want my students to think deeply about the practices I teach and really understand them, only embracing the things that fit holistically in their existing practices and their lives.


Ultimately, Shadowkrafting is my term for the type of magick I do.  It's what I know and what I teach.  Shadowkrafting consists of eclectic magickal techniques that effectively empower students to both affect change in the world and further their own spiritual growth.

The Shadow of Music

Last Friday I had the pleasure of performing my absolute favorite shadow magick ritual.  I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert.  Oh yes, when approached with the proper mindset the right concert can absolutely be used to facilitate a deeply transformative magickal experience.

Unlike any other art, music has the ability to penetrate your entire being, particularly live music.  Music touches us not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well.  There is nothing like the physical feeling of that first bass note thrumming through an arena; feeling your sternum vibrate and resonate with every single person both on stage and in the crowd.  When the musicians hit the stage the outpouring of energy back and forth between the band and the audience is visceral and intense.  Live music creates an energetic resonance between everyone who hears it, creating a circuit of movement and life.  A good concert raises is the finest ritual magick.

In order for a concert to facilitate shadow magick it needs a few things.  First, the music must speak to your shadow.  Second, you must feel safe enough in the venue to be open to your magick taking you somewhere unexpected.  Third, you need to be good enough (or have someone with you who is good enough) to shield what you're doing so it doesn't interfere with the people around you.  Fourth, you need to have a safe space afterwards for decompression and grounding.

The first thing you have to consider is the music itself.  The purpose of shadow magick is to open ourselves to our shadows, get to know them, and to play nice with them.  Happy, shiny, bubble gum pop is not going to help you work with your shadow.  You're going to need to go into the darker stuff: music that expresses pain, anger, sorrow, grief, helplessness, etc. - the emotions of the shadow.  Music is a wonderful way to safely integrate these shadows because it can be an intense emotional and energetic release that doesn't hurt anyone, regardless of how dark those shadows are.  (Yes, you can argue that some music fuels the shadow in a negative way - encouraging bad behavior like violence and misogyny.  It comes down to personal responsibility.  If you don't think you can loose yourself in the music without acting on its suggestions then you are probably not ready for shadow work.)  For me, Nine Inch Nails expresses my shadow just about perfectly; it's dark and intense and resonates with all the scary bits that live inside my head.

You'll need to take the concert venue into account before deciding to use the concert magickally.  Shadow magick, when done correctly, is very intense.  We're talking uncontrollably shaking or sobbing levels of intensity.  It's amazing, but intense.  The venue needs to be such that you're actually comfortable letting things potentially go that far.  If you know that freaking out it going to get you pummeled, perhaps you should just enjoy the show rather than trying to work it.  I only do shadow magick at concerts where I'm comfortable with the venue (and its security staff) and only when I've got a magickally skilled friend to act as a spotter.  I'm quite capable of shielding myself in a way that I can have a magickal meltdown and not get it on other people's shoes, and I can hold myself together through any level of shadow work that I would do in public.  However, I'm not so foolish as to think it impossible that something might happen that would be too much for me.  If you don't have a friend to spot you and you really want to work the concert then you'd better have some energetic backup plans in case something goes wonky.

If your concert's got all that going on, then you just have to make sure you have a place to decompress in afterwards.  This could be sitting in the venue for a little longer as you make your way out, it could be curled up in the back seat of the car on the drive home, a closed room at home, etc.  What you'll need will depend entirely on how intense an experience you let yourself have and how well you've grounded.  Don't leave the venue without grounding.  Concerts in general tend to energize the hell out of people, let alone to those doing magick during them.  If you're the designated driver then ground twice.  I mean it.  Ground, drink a glass of water, ground again, go to the bathroom, ground again, then get in the car.  Crashing your car helps no one.  Then get yourself to safe space and either talk out your experiences with a really understanding friend or write it out in your journal.  Shadow work is intense and you will need a record of what happened in order to look back at it objectively while you stew for the next week or so.  Trust me.

And now for the fun part: shadow magick in public. 

A good ritual warms you up, raises energy, does its work, and then brings you back down again.  A well thought-out concert does exactly the same thing.  The opening bands raise general energy levels and open you to the potential of the headliner.  A good set opens by raising energy, moves through different emotions and energy levels, peaks with songs you can get truly lost in, and then ends with tapering energy and satisfaction.  Really polished bands that work with dark energy (intentionally or not) tend to open with energetic songs, move to darker ones, and then end with cathartic songs - this is absolutely perfect for shadow magick.

The first thing I do when I get to my seat at a concert where I intend to do magick is to cast some very specific filters and shields.  First I put up an inside-out grounding shield: this is a shield designed to keep the energy I put out from getting all over the people around me.  I cast it at skin level and have it ground about 80% of what I output.  Then I put up a filter to dampen any negativity from the people around me - I'll have plenty of my own to deal with.  I also put up an aversion shield to keep drunk people away from me - basically it makes people not want to touch me and is designed to get stronger when I'm approached by folks who aren't sober.  Shadow work takes a lot of concentration and being slobbered on is not conducive to any working.  Once those shields and filters are up I'm ready to go.  I will actually lower a lot of my normal shields during a concert because I do want to allow the music to influence me more heavily than I usually allow any external energy to do.  I also want to benefit from the collective resonance of the crowd; there is nothing like the energy of a crowd of 10,000 people all singing the same song with the same emotions. 

Once the music starts it's just a matter of letting go.  For me that's the hardest part.  Let down your walls, let down your regular shields, stop trying to be cool, stop trying to bury your shadow, remove the stick from your ass and just let go.  Close your eyes and feel.  Feel the resonance of the music shaking your sternum.  Feel the energy of the music penetrating your normal barriers and let yourself resonate with it.  Allow the music to guide your energies.  Let your shadow sing and dance and release. 

Let the music guide your experience.  If you don't want to follow the energy of a certain song, just pull back a little and just listen.  When you're ready to dive back in just do so.  You are the only judge of your experience.  Some songs will resonate more than others.  You might find yourself crying during some songs, raging during others.  That's ok.  Let the energy out by singing or dancing.  You might have visions during your experience (no hallucinogens necessary or desired), that's normal.  You can learn startling things about yourself when you let your shadow out to play.  It may show you things about yourself you never knew or wanted to know, but that knowledge is important.  Just because it's a little dark and misshapen doesn't mean that your shadow isn't an important part of who you are.  Accept what your shadow has to show you, remember it, and then let the emotions attached to it release with the music.  Let your shadow take hold of your voice and let it sing out and let go for you. 

When the concert's over don't be surprised if you're a little shaky, especially if it's your first time doing this.  The combination of excitement and catharsis is a heady mix and it can leave you vibrating with energy or utterly drained.  It all depends on both the intensity of your experience and how well the last song brought down the energy of the crowd.  If you need to, just sit down and put your head between your knees and breathe.  Ground like you've never grounded before.  Eat something. (I like to keep a package of almonds or a granola bar in my bag for just such occasions.)
I tend to be a bit twitchy even after grounding after doing any intense working, so I like to take a walk or do something physical just to calm down and clear my head.  I will often do readings after a working like this to help wrap my head around the things that come up. 

All in all, workings like this are designed to help integrate the shadow by bringing it to the surface and letting it release.  It's amazing how good it feels to let that kind of energy go in a way that is safe and socially acceptable.  We all face huge amounts of pressure to conform in our daily lives, so indulging in the shadow is incredibly cathartic.  It's sort of like having a huge holiday meal after months of dieting: you can't really do it all the time, but damn it's awesome.

If you liked this post you should check out my previous post: Magick of Music

Shadow Magick Correspondence Course

Due to popular demand I'm developing a correspondence course in Shadow Magick.  The plan is for it to be available starting Samhain (October 31st) of this year.  I've got a pretty decent start on it, but I need your help in deciding what should be included in the course.

The course will start of with the basics of shadow work and the psychology of it, then move on to how the shadow can be used in magick.  There will be a lot of work on identifying your own shadow and figuring out how to work with it, as well as what to do once you've gotten a handle on it.  What I need to know is what specific concepts and practices folks want to learn about.

What do you folks find most interesting about shadow magick?  Is it the personal exploration and psychic strengthening?  Is it the application of shadow work in magickal practice?  The dark side of more traditional works?  Something else entirely?  I want to know.

You can let me know either by commenting on this entry or via email: emily [@] e-carlin.com

I really, really want to hear from you!

Shadow Work: Expectations

In shadow work psychology and magick mix in fascinating ways.  One of the most interesting phenomena I've observed in shadow work, and in a lot of other types of magick really, is the power of expectations.  This can be our own expectations of people or events or the expectations of others that are projected on to us.

Expectations really are magickal when you think about it.  Magick is a deliberate attempt to use our energies to shape reality.  We focus on a particular goal, visualize the changes to reality we want to make in order to achieve it, and then project that energy out into the world to manifest itself.  In essence, we're creating an expectation of what the results of our magick will be and letting ourselves embrace and believe in that expectation. The more sure we are that reality will me our expectations, the more energy those expectations contain, the more magickal those expectations become giving them an ability to actually make it more likely for reality to conform to them.

This is all well and good when our expectations are positive; less good when they're negative.  Oh yes, negative expectations can be a self-fulfilling prophecy on soooo many levels.  Our own negative expectations, when believed in strongly enough, are essentially self-hexing.  When you've trained yourself to focus your thoughts and will enough to perform magick it does tend to trickle down into unconscious thought.  As we all know, like attracts like, and our negative expectation of reality will shape that reality - self-hexing.  Of course, from a purely psychological point of view, negative expectations make us interpret our situations in a way that conforms to how we expect it to be.  Thus even if you haven't managed to hex yourself, you'll still see things as being worse than they probably are.  This is our shadow at work.

Shadow work is all about embracing our darker thoughts and feelings, but that does not mean we need to roll around in them all day; an hour or so a day sure, but not all day every day.  When you find yourself having negative expectations about yourself or a situation it's important to take a step back and really assess things.  Realistic expectations when a situation truly is overwhelmingly negative is healthy; overwhelmingly negative expectations when things really aren't so bad is harmful.  Take some time out to meditate and clear your head.  Take some time to do some divination if you need to (this is the kind of situation where getting someone else to do divination for you can be extremely helpful, that way your negative feelings won't affect the divination as badly).  If you need to, consider doing some spellwork to help clear your head of prejudices and let you see things as they really are.  I would never, ever, ask someone to put on a happy face and think positive - because it makes me want to vomit - but I do ask for realism rather than moping. 

This brings us to the expectations most difficult to deal with: the expectations others have of us.  As much as some of us might like to, we do not live in a vacuum.  We live in a world populated by other people and, unless you're a hermit, we have to deal with other people and their expectations of us on a daily basis.  People that truly know and understand us tend to expect us to be who and what we really are, unfortunately people that truly know and understand who we really are tend to be pretty thin on the ground.  Instead, we are surrounded by people that know only bits and pieces of us. 

This limited knowledge means that people generally expect us to be something different than our authentic selves.  As you might imagine this can create all manner of problems for us.  On a mundane level, having to wear masks and live up (or down) to other people's expectations can be emotionally exhausting.  It can be equally exhausting on a magickal level.  Our shields do a lot of work keeping outside energies from unduly influencing us - that's their job - this includes the energy of other people's expectations.  If you spend the majority of your day surrounded by people who expect you to be something you're not it's going to take a toll on your shields. 

For most people it isn't too bad - who they portray themselves to be to the outside world isn't usually too far off from who they really are.  Of course we shadow workers tend to be...well...what other people consider to be "weirdos."  This can cause trouble even if you're letting your freak flag fly.  If you're spending most of your time pretending to be someone you're not, the combination of cognitive dissonance and energetic drain is eventually going to bite you in the ass.  If you're open about your weirdness a lot of shortsighted people probably have really negative expectations of you based on their own fears and hangups - causing pretty much the same toll on your shields as hiding would have, but hey less cognitive dissonance is good.  In the long term the best situation is to be yourself and educate others so that they understand what that means.  However, that takes time, energy, and won't fix everybody.  In the mean time creating an anchored shield specifically for dealing with other people's projected expectations can help a lot.  This is pretty much the only shield that I would actually recommend anchoring in rose quartz as it is naturally good at soothing emotions and aiding healing. 

Expectations are powerful things and as magickal practitioners we need to be aware of how they affect us whether they be from within or without.  The next time you approach a negative situation or feel the need to follow someone else's expectations of you take a step back and examine the reality of things and what you really want to see happen.  Just being aware of the influence of expectations can help you take control of the situation make it better.

Correspondence Courses - Magickal Defense

As much as I have enjoyed having a full month off of teaching, I'm starting to get that itch again folks.  Some of you probably had suspicions that this might happen when I left the Grey School, but yes I am going to start offering correspondence courses in a few subjects in the coming year, beginning with a full course series on Magickal Defense.  My plan with these courses is to offer in-depth information with a goodly dose of personal attention.  The lessons themselves will be downloadable pdfs with a goodly number of images and videos as is appropriate to the subject.  All of the courses will include a certain number of either google hangout or skype sessions so all students will have some real one-on-one time with me.  Of course, this is all a work in progress so things are still very fluid.

For those of you who have read my book or saw my Grey School course offerings, you know that magickal defense is one of my specialties.  It was the first magickal practice that I obsessed over and I've created A LOT of materials in it over the years.  I'm planning to create a three course series in practical magickal defense running from pure beginner into the quite advanced. 

I'm hoping to have the beginner course ready for its first students by Ostara at the latest and Pantheacon at the earliest.  The beginner course will cover shielding and filters, energetic awareness, magickal camouflage, the materia magica of defense and protection, creating simple protective charms, and clearing space.  Are there any topics you'd like to see me cover in this first course that I didn't mention?  Leave me a comment or shoot me an email - I'd love to hear from you!

The intermediate and advanced courses are in the pipeline and should follow a few months after the basic course is up. Further down the road I will be creating a course series on shadow magick, and possibly one on magickal pests, to go with my book.

So what do you folks this of this idea?  This is your chance to have some input on how these courses form so speak up!  Leave a comment or shoot me an email emily (at) e-carlin.com.

Shadow Offerings

As I have said many times, the essence of shadow work is the act of accepting and integrating your own shadow.  Doing so makes you a stronger, more whole person with fewer chinks in your armor and more control over your self.  One mechanism for helping make such integration possible is to make regular offerings to your shadow.

The purpose of making an offering to your shadow is not to strengthen it, but to acknowledge it and to recognize its importance.  It's mostly about keeping your self-awareness sharp.  Taking a little extra time to think about and recognize your shadow will make you more comfortable with it, help you to recognize it in action in your life, and ease your working with it both spiritually and magickally. 

Oftentimes offerings are made in gratitude, but that can be a rather difficult emotion when it comes to the shadow.  Our shadows are often difficult to deal with and can cause us to do things that make our lives more difficult than they need to be.  Our shadows are often the catalyst for learning unpleasant life lessons, and it can be really difficult to be grateful for that.  However, those hard lessons are what shape us and help us grow, so we should be grateful for them - however uncomfortable they may be.  It's your choice on any given day whether you want to add the emotion of gratitude in your shadow offering.

My favorite thing to offer for this purpose is incense.  I like to get the highest quality resin sticks that I can find (like Mountain Natural's Palo Santo Resin Sticks) and use them.  Yes, I know actual resins on charcoal would be better but I find working with the charcoals to burn them to be a huge pain (you try keeping them fresh in the incredible dampness of the Pacific Northwest!) and if something is a pain I'm less likely to actually do it.  An offering of energy would certainly work too, but it would have to be very clearly tuned for shadow work.  I generally only do energy offerings when either a) I'm in a place where burning things isn't appropriate/allowed, or b) I have a very specific purpose I want to accomplish with my offering, like recognizing a particular thing that happened or an important lesson I've learned.  In the end, what you offer isn't nearly as important as the fact that you're offering something on a regular basis.

I like to do my shadow offerings once a week on a Saturday in the hour of Saturn.  As I am both a tech and lazy, I use an app on my phone (Planetary Hours) to determine when the hour of Saturn happens. If something particularly shadowy comes up during the week I might add in an extra offering here and there as necessary.

To perform the offering I light a black candle (sometimes it's a tea light or taper, sometimes it's a big fat pillar that I use over and over again - doesn't really matter) and light the incense from the candle, rather than from a match.  As the incense lights I like to say a short incantation that varies depending on the day.  It's usually something along the lines of:

This day I make an offering to the shadow;
May I always see the truth of the shadow in my life;
May I always absorb its teachings;
May I learn to integrate my shadow and be whole;
As I do will so mote it be.

 I find making these regular offerings to be strangely grounding.  The act of preemptively accepting whatever weirdness life may throw at me is oddly calming.  Maybe it's just appeasing my Virgo nature to always be prepared for anything ;)

Shadow Magick for New Beginnings

It's official, after nine years I will be leaving the Grey School.  I've been everything from a student to a Board member at the school and it's time for me to do something different.  I've loved being a part of such an interesting organization, but it's time for me to spend more time on my personal work.  It's a huge change and it's also the perfect time for a bit of shadow work. 

Whenever we make big changes in our lives we create the opportunity for altering our own energy patterns.  Any change in our regular activities creates a bit of momentary chaos in our energy flows before things settle into new patterns.  We can take advantage of that confusion and chaos to deliberately forge new and better patterns, rather than letting the chips fall as they may.  Here is a little spell designed to help shift your energies into more advantageous flows when you make a big change.

Shadow Magick for New Beginnings
To be done at the time of any large changes in your life (e.g. moving, getting a new job, at the end or beginning of a new relationship, etc.), if it can be done during the new moon - all the better

Ingredients

• 1 white tea light
• 1 black tea light (I tend to stock up on these during Samhain season)
• prosperity incense (try something with cinnamon or bergamot)

Set the stage for the working in your usual manner.  For me this means casting a circle, calling the quarters, and calling on my Deities.

Incantation
*light the black tea light to honor the past* 
I come this day to end one chapter of my life and begin a new one.
I have spent countless hours and untold amounts of energy forging my path through this world.  Today I change directions.
I honor the work I have done and the energy I have spent.  I honor the lessons I have learns and the gifts I have received.  I honor the challenges I have been offered and overcame.  

 My past has created the person I am today and I am thankful for it, but now it is time for change.


*light the white candle in honor of the future*
Today I begin anew.  I start new endeavors; I choose a new path, a new direction.  
I have learned from my past and have moved on.  
I welcome new lessons and new challenges, fitting for the new person I have become. 

*light the prosperity incense*

Today I usher in new prosperity for myself.
Today I start afresh.
I have grown from who I was and deserve new and better things.
I know I will make new mistakes and face new obstacles and I embrace the challenges they will bring.
I honor my past, as it has shaped me.  I honor my present as it is who I am.  I honor my future, for it is who I shall be - let it be better.

As I do will so mote it be.
 
  
 

Shadow Magick for Composure

If you're like most of the people I know you probably face a dozen or more situations every day that just annoy the pants off of you.  Maybe you have a horrible commute, a co-worker you want to immolate, or just have so much stress you want to scream. Sadly, vibrating with tension has become a fairly common condition in our lives and it's just not good for us.  People often combat this stress by doing deep breathing exercises, taking a walk, eating obscene amounts of fat and sugar (my vice of choice), or occasionally going a bit postal on the people they love.  Some of these coping mechanisms are obviously more productive than others.  While doing something that boosts my serotonin levels can temporarily make me feel better, it doesn't really do anything to make my situation better, and when the mundane fails to fix things I turn to magick.

Fortunately for me, shadow magick is spectacular at dealing with the crappiest aspects of my life.  It's raison d'être is to deal with things that make us uncomfortable, and literally twitching with stress and rage is pretty damned uncomfortable.  Here's a quick shadow magick exercise for when life makes you want to throw something out a window.

Exercise for Composure
 
This exercise can be done anytime, anywhere, as long as you can safely zone out a bit (so you shouldn't don't do it while driving, but if you're stopped in endless gridlock you're good to go). 

To begin, feel your shadow, that dark bit of who you really are, deep inside yourself.  Your shadow is an ally.  It is the part of you that basks in darkness.  Let that shadow come to the forefront of your mind. 

Allow your shadow to expand out of your body, so that you're surrounded by numinous shadow.  All of the negative energy around and within you feeds that shadow.  Let your shadow absorb the frustration, the annoyance, the rage that's flying around and inside you.  Feel your shadow growing stronger as it feeds on the negative energy, like Kali consuming the energy of demons.  Let it continue until it's full and sated.

Allow yourself to merge with your shadow.  Feel its contentment.  Let the energy it as gained strengthen you.  Your shadow digests all that negative energy, leaving a clean slate behind.  Allow your shadow to return to a comfortable place in your core.  You are your shadow; your shadow is you.  You are strengthened and calmed. 

Shadow Magick and Compassion

I've been doing shadow work for so long, I sometimes forget how ooky it can seem from the outside.  Yes, shadow work is dark, difficult, and sometimes scary.  And yes, the magick that derives from all that work is potent, sharp, and has the potential to break things.  But the darkness isn't the point.  The ooky spooky scary bits are there because if you want something special you have to earn it.  The ookiness is a means to an end, not the end in and of itself.  Shadow magick isn't about being angry and dark and wanting to hurt yourself or others - and if you approach it from that point of view you will either change in a hurry or deal with the consequences.  For the Shadow to work for you, your intent actually has to come from a place of compassion.

It's easy to hurl your anger into the darkness; but shadow work isn't easy.  Real shadow work is about facing the darkness and having compassion for it.  It's about coming face to face with your flaws, with your fears, and both forgiving yourself for your weakness and forgiving the world for allowing the thing you fear to exist.  It's not about conquering your fears; it's about learning to live with them.  Shadow work is about seeing yourself and the world around you clearly, warts and all, and learning to accept that truth.  The only way I've found to accomplish that without going completely mad is to learn to have real compassion. 

When I tell people that I'm a "black witch" or a "shadow worker," they will usually either say "what does that mean" or they will completely freak out.  The freak out is rare and it always surprises me a little.  You see, I don't tell just anyone that I'm a shadow worker - people whose only exposure to the spooky is television will inevitably react uncomfortably - I generally only tell other practitioners and I generally expect other practitioners to be able to look at my aura and realize that I'm not evil.  Sadly, that's not always the case.  There are always those folks who were taught that anything outside their particular brand of magick is evil (anyone who calls themselves a white witch will always react badly to someone who calls themselves a black witch, regardless of what either one means by those terms), and they do not tend to like me very much.  It's always a little disheartening to see that kind of knee-jerk prejudice in my own community.  I expect an abrahamic fundamentalist to object to what I do, I don't expect it from my own people.  It always makes me sad when people who should know better never bother too look beneath the label to find out what shadow workers actually do.  Maybe it bother me because my own reaction to something I fear is to find out all I can about it (this almost always alleviates me fears), so I have trouble understanding why other people don't do the same.

You see, people who are afraid of shadow workers are actually quite ridiculous.  It's almost impossible to become adept at shadow work without developing a deep rooted sense of compassion and understanding.  An adept has to learn to look at their own flaws every day without melting into a useless heap on the floor (this can be rather difficult), and one of the side effects of this skill is the ability to see those same flaws in others.  And let me tell you, it's really difficult not to feel at least some compassion for someone (regardless of how awful their behavior) when you see that their doing it because they have the same damned flaws you've got, that they just haven't dealt with yet.  It's hard to sustain anger with someone who you can see only lashed out because they don't know how to handle their own pain or fear.  This doesn't mean shadow workers all turn into Mother Theresa - hell no - but it does mean that our knee-jerk reactions aren't terribly violent and don't usually last very long.  The only "curse" a shadow worker is likely to lob at another person is one to make them see themselves more clearly and to develop a better understanding of what their doing - nothing more than what we voluntarily do to ourselves every day. 

Sure, the process of becoming an adept at shadow magick is difficult and often painful, but that doesn't make us bastards or masochists or anything else.  All it makes us is honest people who don't lie to themselves.  To be afraid of us just means you're afraid of yourself and we remind you of what you aren't willing to do.  Fear is a natural and healthy thing, just point it in the right direction.

Ostara Shadow Work

It’s almost that time of year again, springtime.  Yay?  I honestly have very mixed feelings about spring.  On the one hand I love not freezing my ass off at the bus stop, on the other hand I’m not especially enamored of being soaking wet either.  Spring in Seattle is a rather soppy affair, with rather absurd amounts of rain, but less of the biting chill that accompanies it’s winter rains.  I love the occasionally dry (ok, less wet) Saturday for getting to early season hikes and getting back out into nature after the cold dark of winter.  I love witnessing the turn of the seasons and the Wheel of the Year.  But you know what I really don’t love?  Pastels.  I don’t like wearing them and I definitely don’t want them in my rituals.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Ostara.  The Vernal Equinox is full of potent energy for growth and new beginnings.  It’s a very hopeful time and shadow workers often need a good dose of hope more than most.  However, I’d rather gouge out my own eyes than attend a sparkly, shiny, “love and light” ritual.  So, naturally, I do things a little differently.  

This Ostara my ritual is going to be about balance and wholeness.  You can’t have light without dark and at the Vernal Equinox the day and night are of equal length - thus light and dark are symbolically of equal strength.  Instead of celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, I’m going to spend my Ostara recognizing both the parts of me that are light and the parts that are dark and what those things give me.  Shadow work is all about recognizing the less pleasant parts of yourself and integrating them, rather than cutting them off or hiding them away - about finding strength in wholeness.  Despite it’s occasionally sinister image, shadow work is actually a very hopeful practice.

My main working is going to involve meditating on some of my less pleasant features.  I’ll write down a list of things I don’t like about myself and try to narrow it down to one specific trait that I think is being the most trouble right now.  Once I’ve selected the one trait to focus on, I’ll burn the list of negative traits - it doesn’t do to dwell on them and there’s always going to be too much to tackle everything at once.  Then I’ll create a sigil to represent that one negative trait.  I’ll use a crayon to draw that symbol on a raw egg and then I’ll hard boil it.  (If I’m feeling like I really need to go the extra mile I might dye the shell black)  Then I’ll eat the egg to symbolize my recognition that my negative trait is a part of me and that I’m willing to work with it, rather than just blacklist it or try to remove it.  

There’s no banishing at Ostara, just gentle acceptance and willingness to grow.  Negative traits can be a problem, but they can also be teachers.  My avoiding a particular project might teach me that I need to solve an interpersonal problem with a teammate, or that I’m afraid of what will happen when the project is finished.  My shocking inability to get off my ass and go running (even though I really want to) teaches me that I’m still clinging to the image I had of myself a year ago (when I ran four times a week) and don’t want to be smacked in the face with how far I’ve fallen off the wagon.  It’s hard to look beyond what we don’t like about ourselves to really figure out why those things bother us so much.  Ostara is the time to be a bit more gentle with yourself and take baby steps.  We’ll save the more drastic measures for the waning half of the year.

Creating a Shadow Mirror

Everyone who has ever seen or read any version of Snow White knows the famous line, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all."  The idea of magick mirrors goes all the way back to ancient Egypt, with the goddess Hathor possessing the most famous magick mirror of them all.  Magick mirrors have been used throughout the ages, with contemporary witches most commonly using the black mirror.  Your typical black mirror is used for scrying - a type of divination that involves gazing into the mirror to induce visions or a sort.  In his book, Shadow Magick Compendium, Raven Digitalis introduces the idea of creating a special black mirror for use in shadow magick.

Recently I've been working with the idea of mirrors and looking deeply into oneself, so I figured it was about time for me to make a Shadow Mirror.  Here's how I did it :)

You'll need:
A plain black frame, at least 5x7
Black acrylic spray paint that works on glass
A small container of acrylic black paint
Herbs
A paint brush
A silver leaf pen

The most important item is your picture frame.  It should be relatively plain and it must have a sheet of glass in it (no broken or chipped glass).  If it has one of those little stand up legs in the back, so much the better.  Otherwise you'll need to get a stand.  I happened to have an old 8x12 frame in my closet from when the local frame shop was having a 2 for 1 sale, so that bit was easy.  The herbs I needed I had in my kit, as well as a silver leaf pen.  The rest of the items were easily found in my local Fred Meyers.

The first thing I did was gather my herbs and grind them into a powder in my mortar and pestle.  I used mugwort, wormwood, damiana, sandalwood, mandrake, and a little dark goddess incense.  

Then I headed out into my garage to start painting.  I took the back off the frame so that the inside of the glass was exposed.  I then applied two coats of spray paint to the back of the glass.  I did this so that I'd have a nice smooth surface to look at when I worked with the mirror.

Once the spray paint was reasonably dry (I gave it an hour per coat), I mixed my crushed herbs with the liquid acrylic paint.  Depending on your herb to paint ratio this should end up about the consistency of tempera paint (the gloopy stuff you used in elementary school to paint banners).  

I used a small foam brush to apply my paint/herb goo to the back of the glass.  I applied a pretty darn thick layer (I'm pretty sure that glass is never coming out of that frame again, which is fine for my purposes).  I then set it in a cool, dark place to fully dry for 48 hours.

When it was done drying I had me a shiny new black mirror.  All that was left was to clean off the fingerprints and consecrate it.  

To consecrate it I cast a circle, burned a little incense, and called on my deity.  Then I wrote a sigilized version of my mirror incantation around the rim of the mirror with my silver leaf pen, in Theban.  The full incantation is: Mirror, mirror on the wall, show the shadows of us all.  Show me truth sharp as a lance; take me to the shadow's dance.

Once it was fully consecrated I thanked my deity and dispelled the circle.  I'll be keeping it in the closet with my other tools, careful to keep it out of direct sunlight.  I've got some New Moon Rituals that are just begging for a Shadow Mirror, so I look forward to using it very soon.

Shadow Magick for Imbolc

 Imbolc is coming up in just a few weeks.  It seems to have come up out of nowhere this year.  Maybe it's just getting older, but the last twelve months have flown by faster than any other time in my life. I kind of feel like I'm caught up in a great wind that's flying past me that I can't quite grab hold of.  Rather appropriate for this time of year.

One of the old Scottish tales of this time of year tells about the Callieach fighting tooth and nail to retain her power and to continue the rule of winter.  Of course, time turns on and winter must eventually fade and yield its power to the coming spring.  Seasons must change in their never ending cycle and so must we.  Imbolc is the perfect time to do a working to help yourself see what you are desperately hanging onto, what things whose time has come you cling to.  We've all had times when we've held onto an idea that's died - the ideal that can never be achieved, the job that wouldn't really make you happy, the untenable relationship, etc.  It's hard to let go of something you've made precious, sometimes its so hard you can't even see it.

Spell To See

Find a private place where you won't be disturbed.  Bring a small black candle, some incense (I prefer dragon's blood or copal), and a small bowl of water (the bowl should be reflective - either silver or black, and should have only a cup or so of water in it).

Begin by turning of the lights in the room.  Cast a circle if you wish (lately I've been doing most of my work without one) and light your incense.  If you have a particular deity or powers that you work with, ask it/them to help.

Sit down in front of your altar.  Make yourself comfortable enough that you can sit for a while, but not so comfortable that you'll get drowsy (I find it helpful to keep the room just a bit colder than normal).  Think for a few minutes about what you really want to accomplish.  Think about what you're actively doing to make that happen.  Out loud, say exactly what you're trying to do and state that you want to see the situation clearly and want to really SEE the effects of your actions and whether or not they're actually doing what you want them to.  Speak from the heart.  The most important thing is that you say what you really mean and that there's some emotional weight behind it.

Light your candle and place it somewhere where it will indirectly light your bowl of water (you shouldn't be able to see the candle flame when you look in the bowl).  Hold your hands over the bowl of water and concentrate on your goal.

Say, "Dark waters help me to see.  Show me the things that are hidden from me."

Open your mind and spend 5-10 minutes gazing into the water.  Pay attention to any shapes you see in the water and any ideas that come into your mind.  I find it helpful to cup my hands around, but not quite touching, the bowl.

After a few minutes you should get the sense of completion, that you've gotten all that you're going to get from the experience.  Then drink the water.

Give thanks to anything you've called on and make some small offering to the powers that be (I like to reserve just a bit of the scrying water with a drop or two of essential oil added for this). 

You might not get a clear answer right during the spell itself, but fragments should float to the top of your mind over the next few days.

Memories of Imbolcs past.

Yule Shadow Magick

It's that time of year again, Yule is fast approaching.  This year the moment of the Winter Solstice will be at 3:12am pst on Friday December 21st.  If I were a slightly more fastidious (or anal) Pagan I'd do my darndest to stay up and do ritual right at the moment of the Solstice.  However, I'm not, and I have to work on Friday.  So, instead I will do a bit of ritual at Sunset on the 20th (4:20pm) and a bit at Sunrise on the 21st (7:55am).

Yule is about rebirth.  It's about surviving and thriving during the darkest night and rekindling the fires of life and ushering in new light.  Given that shadow magick as whole deals with those themes, it is an ideal time to do a major working.  Yule is an excellent time to set major goals for the next year and imbue them with energy and intention.  Of course, to fully embrace the natural shadow of winter it's best to set your goal for a major change of habit or something that will force you to deal with things you've been avoiding.  If you want to succeed at shadow magick you can't be afraid to face unpleasantness.

My big goal for the coming year is to achieve more balance in my life.  I tend to do everything in the extreme.  I'll study a subject 12 hours a day for a month and then drop it forever; I'll go from sitting on my couch to trying to run an hour a day and injure myself; I'll do ritual three times a day for a few weeks and then barely light a candle for months.  I tend to be very "all or nothing" in the things I do, which isn't the healthiest of mindsets.  It just leads me to overdo things, overextend myself, and then end up physically and mentally burned out. 

I used to think this meant I was just a hard worker, but really it's a weird kind of obsession.  It's almost as if I'm hoping that each new obsession will be the magic bullet for my general malaise - that one thing that will make everything else fall into place and give me a lasting sense of purpose and fulfillment.  It's not actually a terribly healthy way to go about things and it's very difficult for me to admit that.  Shadow work is all about giving up false ego and embracing the truth.  It's very, very hard.  If it's not hard you're either doing it wrong or you're a bodhisattva.

At sunset on the 20th I'm going call on the Crone for help and light a black candle for banishment.  I'm going to write down a thorough description of my utter lack of balance and all the harm it does me.  I'm also going to write down the things that I used to think it brought me that it really doesn't.  Then I shall burn the paper and say, "My obsessive tendencies and lack of balance have failed me.  I have failed to be the person I want to be because of them.  As the light dies on this darkest night I release my grip on them.  I let go of attachments that do not serve me and let them fade with the dying sun.  I release my false ideas and open myself to something better.  May I find a better way of coping."

Then, at sunrise the next day I'll take a little "coffee break" at work.  I'll take a small cookie or candy and hold it in my hands and mentally say, "As  the light returns to the world I shall find my balance.  I shall find the path of moderation that will allow me to be whom I want to be and do what I want to do.  As the days lengthen I shall walk this new path of balance.  I shall be my best self, whole and complete, accepting and accepted, shadow and light entwined."  Then I'll eat my little, moderate treat and go about my day.

Shadow Magick in Llewellyn's Magical Almanac

No, I have not fallen off a cliff.  I'm still here and still writing when I can.  I've spent the last few months (and will be spending a few more) stuck up to my eyeballs in a huge project at work and it's pretty much sucking my will to do anything that requires more mental effort than looking at trees and going "Oooo, pretty."  So, unfortunately you won't be getting proper regular blog posts for a while.  Sorry about that, but I gotta pay the bills.

In much happier news, yesterday my contributor copies of the 2013 Llewellyn's Magical Almanac arrived!  I've got an article in this year's edition on basic Shadow Magick.

If you're a regular reader, then you'll be fairly familiar with the content of the essay, but it does encapsulate the important points of the basic practice all in one place.  I hope you pick up a copy when it hits the shelves later this season :)

(My article starts on page 298)