Hello shadowy babes! I'm about to help you get revved up to welcome the darkness. But first:

Moon Moment

Moon: Waning gibbous into last quarter

Next full or new moon: New moon on Oct 14, 1:55pm EST. 

Seasonal moment: We are fully in spooky season, the brightest golden moments before shadow time. 

Astrological season: Mid Libra season

What do you mean, shadow season PARTY?

I used to be terrified of the cold season. My mental health takes a hit in winter, sure, but even more potently I was telling myself a story, and it went like this:

Summer is life.

Summer is the time when you get to be Fully You.

Summer is the time of blossoms and growth. 

Fall forebodes winter. 

In winter, you die.

You close in on yourself and hide.

I could not enjoy September, or the beautiful descent of October, when I believed this. I tried, but struggled against that clearcut story and failed. 

Last winter, I learned something life-changing. 

Did you know that in Europe, in earlier times, winter was the wildest, loudest part of the year?

This is because tenants could do weird shit, like party and poach good food, without the noble person who owned their land finding out. Because it was DARK ALL THE TIME. 

I was SO excited when I learned this. I learned about winter festivals (more on that in December), hibernal freak celebrations (thanks Sister Spinster!), and loving the dark for its freedom.

If, like me, you thought being a spiritual witchy person means getting quiet and contemplative for 4 months in the winter, we were wrong. SO wrong. 

Shadow season is a party. 

This theme of freedom is not all about wild dancing and screaming into the night (but let's for sure do that). 

What makes those things so satisfying, what gives them meaning, is the discovery and knowledge of our own shadows. 

If we embark openly into our own darkness, curious and ready to befriend it, we free ourselves. 

Do you fuck up sometimes?

Yeah. Me too. 

But fuck perfectionism. 

It limits us, and is a product of patriarchal, white supremacist capitalism. 

It is fear. 

And you don't need it. 

You befriend your fears. You are strong enough to see them and don them as part of your ever-changing cloak of power. 

Your darkness is the source of who you are at your most potent. Don't shut that down - celebrate it!

Moreover, shadow season is fun because the veil is thin. Our world butts up against the spirit world, the timelines of our ancestors to us become even more entwined than usual, and we have access to portals and understandings that shrink in the light. 

So there's good reason to celebrate.

Journal prompts

Here are a few good questions to journal on or ponder at this time: 

Who is gone from this earth realm that you would like to feel closer to in the coming months? 

What habits do you feel most embarrassed or ashamed of, and where do you think these started? How could you empower yourself by changing them, or changing your perspective on them?

Think of a place you feel stuck. Write a sentence starting with "what if" and finishing with the worst thing you can imagine happening. Then, what IF? If it happened, what would you do?

Resource your own mind and heart, instead of fearing what might be there. 

You and your shadow are worthy of love. You are loved. 

Waving from the shadows,

Isabel

By the way, I'm hosting a Shadow Party Workshop at the end of October. Sign up here: