The concept of Shadow Work comes from the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, who defined the “shadow” as the unknown or unacknowledged side of human personality. The “shadow” is parts of the personality that you have pushed away because they feel unacceptable, shameful, or uncomfortable. Usually the “shadow” holds difficult emotions like anger, jealousy, or fear, but can also hold positive traits like ambition, creativity, and assertiveness that you were taught to suppress. This “shadow” develops during childhood, when we learn what behaviors bring approval, and which bring rejection. We learn early on to hide the rejected parts, to feel safe and loved. These rejected parts are pushed into our unconscious mind.
These rejected parts don’t disappear though; they stay pretty hidden. However, they quietly control moods, triggers, and even relationship patterns. They show up as intense sudden reactions or strong judgment that is often a reflection of the hidden “shadow” – known as projection. Facing these hidden “shadows” helps you stop fighting with yourself, and leads to better emotional control, lower stress, and a more authentic life.
Some suggested ways to do shadow work are:
- Journaling strong emotional triggers and reflecting on why they upset you
- Therapy sessions to safely unpack deep and painful memories
- Self-reflection to notice reoccurring relationship conflicts without self-judgement
Witchcraft + Shadow Work
In witchcraft, Shadow Work is treated as a powerful form of inner alchemy. Instead of viewing it through a clinical lens, practitioners view the hidden “shadows” of the subconscious as a source of raw, untapped power and deep wisdom. The goal for practitioners doing Shadow Work is to reclaim power that was lost, stolen, or hidden due to societal conditioning, family trauma, or fear.
Some common “shadow” topics practitioners usually work on include:
- The Witch Wound – exploring the deep-seated fear of being seen, speaking your truth, or practicing your craft. This steps from the historical (and present) persecution of witches and often manifests as fear of judgment or a need to keep your spirituality hidden.
- The Good Person Conditioning – examining where you suppress anger, boundaries, or desires just to make other people comfortable. Practitioners look into how this conditioning suffocates personal sovereignty and magical authority.
- Fearing Your Own Power – addressing the anxiety that your magic and intense emotions or manifestation abilities are “too dangerous” or “too much” for the world to handle.
- Dark Feminine/Masculine – integrating the primal, untamed parts of yourself, including exploring your relationship with your sexuality, your raw rage, your ambition, and your capacity to say “no” without guilt.
- Jealousy and Envy – instead of feeling guilty for being jealous of another practitioner, look at envy as a subconscious map that shows exactly what your soul desires, but have restricted yourself from pursuing.
- Spiritual Materialism + Ego – examining why you practice magic. Is it to genuinely connect with the universe, or is it using “witchy aesthetics” and spiritual superiority to mask deep insecurities or the need for control?
- Generational Trauma – unpacking emotional patterns, addictions, or toxic beliefs that have been passed down through your bloodline or culture. Resolving these is considered doing “healer work” for both your ancestors and future generations. This is where generational curses are broken.
- Relationship With the Dark Unknown – examining your fear of literal darkness, death, endings, or periods of emptiness (the void), and learning to see darkness not as “evil” but as fertile soil where new magic can grow.
- Religious Guilt – removing subconscious guilt about your practice and trusting your intuition, from the dogmatic and restrictive religious environments you may have come from (spiritual deconstruction).
- Control vs Flow – looking closely at your spellwork to reflect if you are performing magic out of a desperate need to control external situations or people, because of feelings of powerlessness.
- Savior Complex – exploring the urge to constantly use magic, energy, and empathy to fix, heal, or save everyone around you – often at the expense of your own physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Crafting Shadow Work
Practitioners often use rituals, divination, and the cycles of nature to help in their Shadow Work and bring hidden “shadows” to light.
Divination allows a bypass around the logical mind and speak directly to the subconscious.
- Tarot “Mirror” Spread – pull cards while specifically asking “what am I hiding from myself,” “what am I projecting onto others,” and “what power have I suppressed?”
- Scrying – gazing into a black mirror, bowl of dark water, or crystal sphere to quiet the mind and allow buried emotions or symbols to surface.
Aligning Shadow Work with the natural cycles of darkness and introspection, such as the seasonal shifts and lunar cycles is a common practice in witchcraft.
- Waning + New Moon – the fading moon is the traditional time for banishing, releasing, and looking inward, while using the new moon to sit with your darkness and set intentions for inner healing.
- Samhain + Dark Half – the autumn and winter months are naturally suited for deep introspection, honoring the underworld, and doing heavy emotional lifting,
Through rituals of release and integration, magic uses physical actions to represent internal psychological shifts.
- Burn Rituals – write down a repressed belief, fear, or childhood wound that you are ready to acknowledge, and then burn the paper while feeling that part of you being transformed by fire into pure, usable energy.
- Cord Cutting – perform a symbolic ritual to cut ties with an old version of yourself, a harmful coping mechanism, or a shadow trait that no longer serves you.
Having the aid of specific entities, archetypes, or deities as guides can help you navigate Shadow Work.
- “Shadow” Deities – working with deities that are associated with the underworld, magic, and transformation to act as protectors and guides through your personal underworld.
- Ancestral Work – sometimes our shadow traits are inherited familial traumas, and connecting with ancestors can heal generational cycles.
Using the physical properties of herbs and crystals can help ground and protect you during heavy emotional Shadow Work.
- Mugwort + Blue Lotus – usually used in teas or ritual baths to enhance dreaming and access the subconscious mind.
- Obsidian + Black Tourmaline – keeping protective grounding stones nearby to absorb intense emotional energy while diving into painful memories.
A WORD OF CAUTION –
Shadow Work can stir up heavy trauma. Grounding and centering yourself after a ritual is crucial to avoid feeling emotionally overwhelmed. And as always, seek professional help if thoughts become too much.
- Suicide Crisis Line: 988
- The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
- LGBTQ+ National Hotline: 1-888-843-4564
- LGBTQ+ Youth (25 or younger): 1-800-246-7743
- LGBTQ+ Adults and Caregivers: 1-877-360-5428
- Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
- International Hotline List: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/
Reflection
If you have been doing our QOTDs, congratulations you have already started some Shadow Work reflection!
In what ways do I feel like a “fraud” in my practice? Who’s approval am I subconsciously waiting for before I consider myself a “real” witch?
Where am I over-extending my energy, performing unpaid emotional labor, or playing the savior in my spiritual or mundane communities, at the expense of my own wellbeing?
What rules from my childhood, past religion, or societal conditioning am I still letting dictate my magical ethics? Do I secretly fear divine punishment when I step into my power?
Am I focusing more on the external look, tools, and lifestyle of a witch than the actual, messy, internal work of transformation? What am I hoping the outer aesthetic will hide?
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