Celebrating Mabon / The Autumn Equinox
“As I release I make space for peace”
Autumn in the northern hemisphere officially begins at 2:50 a.m. EDT on Saturday (Sept. 23).
The time of the Autumn Equinox in the is also known as Mabon in the Pagan Wheel and here we look at just some of the associations of this time and how we can bring focus and awareness to the sacred energy that is coming through.
The equinox brings balance to the the forces of Light & Dark and this is echoed all around us at this time. As we begin to see the fading of the light we are called to become more comfortable with the dark. It makes for a perfect to pull back the veil and take a little look at the places in your life where you feel guilt, shame, and any feelings of unworthiness, we can lean in and learn where these are coming from.... it is a time to go deeper.
We caught up with The Holistic Directory member Claudia Chapman who shared her personal insights into "Shadow work", what this means and how we can move through the shadow with conscious awareness.
Hi Claudia, we would love to address with you the topic of “shadow work” and ask if we can we really rid ourselves of the darker shadows of our personalities?
"The simple answer is no but what we can do is transmute it into something else.
We can learn how to face them …see them rising and stop them in their tracks before they overtake our minds …
What do you mean by this?
When a shadow arises, such as the feeling of abandonment … what do we do?
Often, we let it out as anger … frustration, blame or sadness … But when it comes … you’ll feel it in your body, usually in the heart or the gut. Your body aches and your head tells you all sorts of lies … Its relentless and you start to fall down the rabbit hole of shame.
Does this sound familiar? We have all been there.
Shame is what stops us from moving forward.
Example … when we were little, and we got told off we would scream and yell and not apologise … that’s the shame. It takes over us and we go further into that hole. Unfortunately, we can replay the same behaviour's in adulthood because we haven’t changed the behaviour since then.
So what is the solution and Healing that needs to happen?
I can reflect here a few stories where I feel this has come up for me:
A time back I had on of those weeks where I had felt my shadows, and they felt huge.. it started with me convincing myself I wasn’t welcome at a fire gathering I was invited to. Like a child, I wanted a friend to call me and go with me … I felt… Abandoned … how ridiculous is that?
So I got into my pjs and climbed into bed! I have no idea why it surfaced at the time… But then….I started to listen to myself and I thought I can either listen to this nonsense and stay here and regret it tomorrow or I can get up and go … that didn’t work. So, … what now? … I could feel the shame rising…
I thought ok... Tania Gabrielle is always so positive, so I put her astrology forecast on my phone to listen to…
What a relief…
The cortisol in my brain dropped and I got out of bed… I put on my Goddess Chakra Dance playlist and started honouring and listening to my body instead of my head.
Sweet relief … I’m out of bed and out the door to a fabulous night of connecting with lovely people and the forest.
All within a similar period of time I had publicly declared my childhood abuse and put my Shame and Abandonment shadows outside of me.
I had the difficult conversation around abuse with my mum and dealt with trolls!
I was so overwhelmed by the responses of other people contacting me with their own stories as a result.
Let’s all face the shadows head on.
Be active and listen to what your body is saying ….
The Shadows may return but you’ll be ready and waiting with your tools!…
Here are just some of the ones that work for me:
Get out of your head and into your body through whichever modality works for you …
•Dance
•listen to an influencer or coach you admirer
•Call a trusted friend and be honest
•Meditate
•Take a cold shower
•Stop letting what is familiar take control … They’re only stories we tell ourselves!
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND NOT YOUR MIND !
We are all connected … much love …xxx
You can head to Claudia's full profile here to discover more.
"The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let things go"
