Shadow season and the second harvest are fast approaching, and though the weather may not yet be an indication, the energy has begun to shift. Mabon, the autumn equinox arrives on September 22^nd. The word equinox is translated from Latin to mean “equal night”.  Many people mourn the decrease in sunlight and warmth of summer. They view the darkness and approach of shadows with trepidation. Though much of the spiritual community focuses on light work and the light in general, I believe the shadow to be just as important. Jungian psychology states that the “shadow” are those aspects of the personality that we choose to reject and repress, shame and fear. Yet for those willing to do the work, through the transmutation of this leaden element of our psyches, lies some of our greatest gifts, alchemical gold if you will. This is not easy work, nor is it the work of one season; for within us we carry both individual and ancestral or collective wounds that must be processed.

So how do these psychological theories relate to this time of the year? Mabon, or the second harvest, marks the time of the year where liminal space ad the balance between light and dark are present. This external shift in the balance of the light and dark effects the animals and plants, the crops, and ourselves as well. We are able to see the real world harvest of the energetic seeds we planted during Ostara. How did that show up for you this year? We may find ourselves drawing more inwards, into our own emotional world, spending more time at home with close family and friends and emotionally “hibernating” so to speak. This is a time of preparation and reflection, to assess both the choices made over the past year and the emotional landscape we have helped tend to. This is the perfect time of year to contemplate our own dual nature, those internal elements of light and darkness within us. What aspects of yourself do you feel ashamed of? What parts do you repress, ignore or lock away for fear of judgement? If you are just beginning shadow work, it could be as simple as making a list, or journaling aspects of yourself that fall into these opposing categories. While doing so, note any feelings of judgement, sadness, disgust or anger that may emerge when contemplating these elements of your personality. Just by thinking about these aspects of your personality, you are beginning the healing process. Much of the emotional illness and toxicity of the human personality lies not specifically in darkness but in ignorance. That which is denied recognition and allowed to fester and grow unchecked.

For those with more experience in this work, I invite you to contemplate an aspect of yourself or personality you have hidden away for fear of judgement and imagine what would happen if you were to reintegrate this aspect of yourself into your personality. Before the season is over, if you were to show the world this side of yourself, what would that look like in your life? Finally, in assessing the harvest of your manifestation this year, are you satisfied with what has been produced? What worked this year and what did not? If you would like to increase or change your harvest, assess what steps are needed to make this happen.

“Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him. Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of the mysteries.” Carl Jung