The Archetypal Shadow & Shamanism: A Psychoshamanic Series Workshop
When: Friday Nov 4th 6:30pm – Sunday Nov 6th 5pm
Where: Crows Nest Center for Shamanic Studies
Cost: $300 | $250 Early Bird when paid in full by Oct 14th Click here to register and pay
“Knowing your darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.”
-C.G. Jung
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. –C.G. Jung
The darkness to which C.G. Jung refers, is the lack of consciousness and relationship to those parts of ourselves that we have excluded from our self-affirmation and way of life. Many of our shamanic methods, from the sacred breathwork, to the purification lodge, to our work with plant medicines in the Peruvian Amazon, to the personal inventories and psychoshamanic counseling ceremonies entail working a lot with the archetypal Shadow. In this workshop we will deepen our understanding of what the Shadow really is, in all its richness and complexity, and how to work with it ourselves, and in our client work.
The confrontation of the individual with their own Shadow, coming to terms with it, and continuing an ongoing relationship with it is crucial to healing, wholeness-making, and the individuation process. This is the major archetype in healing and in initiation that serves as a Gateway to healing, individuation, the heart-path, true community, to the deeper depths of soul, the expansion of consciousness, and to gathering and holding all our soul-parts together.
Every psychoshamanic counselor needs to understand and work their own Shadow.
The Shadow originates inside the person during cultural programing or domestication. You cannot be without this programming, but once it is in place, individuation and creative living becomes possible only if one acknowledges and learns to work with the Shadow. In the Shadow are all the rejected parts that cultural and family ideals would not let you develop or express. So they became repressed exiles in the unconscious domain of the shadow.
We are typically afraid of our own Shadow because it is humbling to look at, but once we get to know it and work it, our solidness and self-esteem actually increases, and our personalities become stronger and more resilient, such that we can stop projecting blame or scapegoating others and own our own shit, and we can develop our exiled creativity, and bring potentials arising from our animal ancestry and the Gaian Mind into expression. The juice of life lies waiting in the Shadow, as does the grieving spirit of matter, of The Mother, whose own needs and grief have long been ignored. Doing our own shadow-work is good for our fellow humans, and good for the planet.
One of the most important aspects of Shadow-work is discovering where you are wounded, and what the unhealed parts of you are, so that you can bring consciousness and healing to them.
In this workshop you will receive an overview of the major Jungian archetypes of individuation and healing, and then discover the major role of the Shadow as a gateway to all other archetypes. You will receive two forms of the Smokey Mirror technique for your own journaling experience to explore your own shadow, and you will have opportunities to explore it in a new Dream Theatre journey designed and led by Susan Pound to focus on your own Shadow, and you will also have opportunities to explore it the sacred breathwork, with two extended sessions led by Nicholas Brabhan and myself.
*Please note: Upon registration a welcome letter will be sent to you which will provide additional information.