Shadow Magic
Magic, understood in the narrow sense — not as the Way and a way of life, but as a kind of activity — consists of two types of activity — 1) the search for a source of energy and 2) the search for a point of leverage for that energy.
All magical branches and currents differ from one another precisely in what energy they use or which supports they rely on.
For example, when we speak of Fire Magic, we mean that the source of energy is a vertical flow of power; whereas when we speak of Rune Magic — we imply that the energy is guided by Runic vectors.
Among the sources of energy used in magic, there can be both constructive, creative energies and energies that are, by their nature, destructive. The latter category primarily includes necromancy and Shadow Magic.
Recall that any volitional impulse that is not fully realised or is suppressed creates an imprint in the world environment, traditionally called a shadow.
Although in a broad sense the word “Shadow” names all those areas of the Psychocosm that are at the moment unlit by the light of awareness, in the Tradition the word also has another, though related, sense that refers to reshimo, the imprint of unrealised and under-realised impulses. In this discussion we will use the term “shadow” in precisely that narrow sense.
It is clear that such a shadow is “cast” by all existing objects and beings since the manifest world almost never operates at full efficiency.
It is also clear that the energy expended in generating an unrealised volitional impulse does not vanish; it remains in the shadow, constituting its potential.
It is precisely this energy that the practice of Shadow Magic, or more accurately one of its varieties, attempts to harness. By creating suitable vessels and transformers for shadow energy, magi can direct that energy toward their own ends.
Although the largest and most energetically rich shadows are cast by people, animals, and plants, these too send a considerable amount of energy into the shadows.
Note that extracting energy from a shadow does not reduce the shadow itself; it merely exhausts it, and if that shadow possesses even a trace of quasi-awareness — such manipulation renders it “hungry“, and therefore may push it toward predation.
Extracting and using shadow energy can be fairly straightforward, but it is not without two kinds of danger. First, one must understand that shadow energy always carries a “taste of defeat“, the imprint of unrealisation; consequently, this energy can be used either for destructive ends (which is hardly a positive outcome), or it must undergo transformation, which may be labour-intensive.
The second, far more serious danger is that, having seen the opportunity to use shadow energy, a person may be tempted to provoke the growth of shadows in others, thereby becoming a demonic being. By nudging people toward disappointment, placing obstacles in the way of their self-realisation, or, conversely, denying the danger of shadow-forming actions, the magus who yields to the lure of “easy” energy effectively becomes parasitic, undermining the natural course of the world’s development.
To prevent this, one should remember that destructive actions, whatever their nature, even if they may be necessary or unavoidable, remain “negatively oriented”. And although a fully developed magus should not “shun” or set a taboo against the use of any energy when necessity arises, it is still important to understand that Magic is, above all, a path of mental development, and when we speak of the “growth of power” we must be clear that we mean precisely Power, awareness, not just accumulation of energy.
The magus strives to overcome the shadow, for in this lies a path to freedom, and his task is therefore to reduce the obscuring of awareness, but in no case to contribute to the growth of darkness.
Understanding the Shadow as broadly as possible — as the general fact of partial absorption and partial reflection of the Light of awareness — the magus is not afraid to look into this shadow; neither denies, hides from, nor flees it; the magus deprives the shadow of power over his mind.
I am analyzing the phenomenon of exorcism / expelling spirits, and I concluded that in the process, we release and draw out disturbing energies, sometimes having some visual or sound shell-interface, and sometimes not. At least in a number of cases, this resembles a person’s unresolved personal gestalts.
However, we noticed that a couple of days after the expulsion session, several people began to experience unpleasant things in their lives, the common denominator of which is to prevent these people from engaging in something very important for them at that moment. For example, a dancing girl falls down the stairs and breaks her pelvic bones. A girl playing guitar and composing music accidentally twists her fingers. A person embarking on an important personal trip at the last moment discovers such a flaw in their documents that puts the entire trip in jeopardy.
I understand that this is not for nothing, and I want to understand the mechanism of what might be happening in terms of energy. What could this be, in your opinion?
So, you saw the manifestation of quasi-consciousness, as mentioned in the article. I don’t dare to judge whether it’s the shadow or not; I’m not an expert in that. I just noted for myself that your described experience can be attributed to the manifestation of quasi-consciousness. Also, today I read a phrase on VKontakte that it’s said that Native Americans thought this way: that unfulfilled desires are the cause of diseases.
I completely agree with the Native Americans. What is quasi-consciousness?
Napoli,
if as a result of your actions/exorcisms dancers break their pelvises etc., then you are either exorcising the wrong thing… or not correctly.
Stop and think. Inflicting such ‘good’ is not the best way to self-development and understanding of the world.
Based on your phrase ‘People came themselves and made (!) their own (!) decision (!) to expel what will surface.’ one can understand that you do not acknowledge your own Responsibility for what is happening. The World may have a different opinion.
It was not me who expelled anything, it was experienced shamans who expelled. Moreover, among those from whom things were expelled, there were also experienced psychoanalysts who said that in their practice with their patients, they use exactly the same method, only without the mystical component. So this matter is not about incompetence. This is about understanding the real mechanism of what happens in the psyche during this process. Perhaps clients of psychologists also experience such things, but nobody thought to establish a connection. And it seemed very suspicious to me that after 2-3 days after the act, unpleasant things start happening.
I don’t understand whether something deeper is surfacing from within or if the energy is simply restructuring and giving the person a chance to build a new, healthier mechanism of reactions to the world as a result of a ‘lesson’, or if something from outside is coming in on new energies.
Among shamans, psychologists (for anyone who provides services to people), competition is always present. If after asking for help, clients receive injuries as you describe, then in a month or two, the shaman will have to work as a loader to make a living) The experience of a ‘shaman’ is measured not by the number of graves of his clients)
It is difficult for you to figure out the reasons for what happened because there are indeed many causes; we are always dealing with a combination of many factors, forces, influences, and probabilities. Therefore, like the doctors of antiquity – we first check everything on ourselves. A surviving magician is already, to some extent, experienced)
You are trying to understand the mind’s consequences, the causes of which are indeterminate by thought. In general, a shaman does not act with the mind, but acts with the body. To the question: what happens to the energy? – the mind cannot answer, as the ‘eyes of the mind’ do not see energy, but energy is seen by the ‘eyes of the body’ – (by body, I mean the energetic body, or rather that state of the body when the body is not an object separated by skin from the rest of the world, but an electromagnetic field inseparable from anything) The energetic body of the patient interpenetrates with the energetic body of the healer during the ritual. The healer knows what is happening with the patient, and words are not needed to express this knowledge. If your experienced shamans are energy-seeing, then they know exactly what is happening with the energies of a particular patient in every specific case (although explaining this in words can be difficult)) If you ask a question on the Internet and wish to receive answers from minds, it means that your experienced shamans did not provide answers. Perhaps they do not see energy, unmediated by words.
I have encountered shamans and psychologists directly from the citadel – our local university. Shamans were clearly focused on profit, “Oh… we need to perform a large ceremony”, and it is still good that it’s for profit, while various certified trainers say, “We need to gather a group to go for herbs into the mountains, I want a break and also want some money”. All this data speaks only of one obvious thing. With the body, conscience, or whatever, and for what, whatever a person does, none of those we encountered is a god in the full sense. And to expect him to understand our Path, and love – is strange. Although I wish. And they want to seem like gods. Especially if they make a profit from it. They are people, each with their pain and peculiarities. And corresponding distortions of consciousness. I believe that reality is arranged in such a way that we cannot obtain a ready answer. But we can learn from interaction. Therefore, I do not consider your expulsions a crime. Whether you did them yourself or the shamans did. Does this action lead to growth of awareness? For the shamans, the participants, for you. That’s the most important question. Responsibility for one’s actions is important when one realizes it. However, while each of us has not realized it, we did much without it. And it’s good if the consequences of this activity can be corrected and do not lead to ‘heavyening of karma’. I think that while we are people – everything is possible. Maybe even for this we are human.
Since the question of the shadow concerns me now, and I want to stir it up and gain new awareness, I will tell you about my experience.
My acquaintance with my shadow was in a ‘Jungian’ style. It was a psychological experience, similar to a shamanic ritual. I saw it. I was in it while preserving my daytime consciousness too. That is, I was aware of everything. And at the same time, I was my shadow. I agree that it can be confused with demons. And one might want to get rid of it. But my experience included merging. I was the shadow itself. And I saw the bottom of myself, which at that moment was certainly not perceived as the bottom. It was rather the intoxication of a released maniac. Our ritual involved preparation (the leader thought that only those who are sufficiently whole and ready can look at this), being in the shadow, and the separation of worlds in the opposite direction. After returning to my daytime awareness, I understood everything well and remembered it perfectly. At that time, the result was that my shadow began to manifest itself in life. A completely meek person, with the slightest stepping on his heels, could bite off a head. The very energy I saw was projected outward. This was frightening when viewed in reality, but it was, to a high degree, magical – get angry at someone, and they immediately fell, well many such effects are described as magic. However, personally, I felt nothing at the moment of the projection of the shadow. I was observing this from outside. But again, I will repeat – I saw it, and it was released fully and as it is – this energy is destructive. No visible negative changes occurred in my life. No falls or anything like that. On the contrary, I can say that this shadow energy ensured a large realization lasting three years. A little unreal realization. Now I can say that the energy of the shadow, in my understanding, is comparable to atomic energy. And this is definitely a part of us. I believe it is better to know it than to close one’s eyes. I don’t think it can be expelled in its true form, because probably it is part of our causality. In principle, we can look at people who have disconnected, as much as possible, this part. They are recorded saints. Unaware of themselves, but following asceticism (which can end in awareness). But as for the final realization of a person – even in my view, it is a pity.
Now, I wouldn’t approach any living person regarding my shadow issue. Especially not those who do not possess their own. This is clearly visible in people’s actions, regardless of what they say. However, in such complete withholding, one encounters the impossibility of love. Because there, the shadow of the other person is visible, and one’s own nose sticks out. And trust is impossible, as are feelings, without realization. And without my experience, when my shadow was shown to me, I would not have known about it. So, both shamans and falls are indeed within the confines of life. But not within the manifestations of a person who has taken responsibility for their actions and desires to know themselves.
Psychologists use the same method without any vision. There is already quite an extensive theory developed from a non-mystical perspective. Enmerkar himself has been productively building a theory from a mystical side for many years. So I don’t see any problems here either.
Please tell me what method your psychologists use (which is analogous to ‘shamanic’ actions). Thank you in advance. And regarding what you said about ‘experienced’ psychoanalysts (Freudians?), who practice what you called ‘psychological exorcism’, why are they powerless to help themselves and their colleagues? Also, thank you in advance for the answer.
Psychologists use the focusing method. It seems to me that it has been translated as “focusing” in our language. I didn’t understand the part about “not capable”. Why do you think psychologists are not capable? They just came to a shamanic seminar to learn shamanic techniques. And they found out that they themselves already use something very similar with their patients. The context is different; they don’t talk about spirits and energies. But essentially, the same thing happens in terms of feelings.
In fact, this is not ‘exorcism’, but the blocking of the flow of energies, even if demonic. Instead of realizing them, illuminating them with the light of awareness, they leave them in darkness. Naturally, there is a ‘demonic’ reaction. These energies also expressed themselves in dances, music, etc. Sometimes they express themselves through a person’s appearance. So be careful with plastic surgeries.
For Napoli: The realization of potentials is hindered by any distortions of consciousness. If a person wishes to get rid of them (or “skins,” as you put it) on their own, they often just create a compensation for them. A person is partly aware of this and seeks more effective ways to correct the distortion (for example, with the help of someone knowledgeable and strong). But when they truly rid themselves of the interference, the compensation crumbles as well. The more powerful and perfect it was, the more painful its break will be. In your case, this refers to dancing and playing the guitar.
I’m sorry if I wrote unclearly. By ‘disturbing energies’ I meant what seems to resemble the Shadow you describe.
The above description closely resembles interference with the Direction of Fate. Not knowing and not having studied the principles of the cycle of Fate, it is extremely undesirable to ‘remove’ or ‘add’ anything. They will be punished. It is important to understand that the main thing that cannot be taken away from a being is the freedom of choice.
To be honest, I don’t understand how one can remove one side without diminishing the other. Or how increasing the shadow does not increase the light.
Only one who possesses an ego can punish. In the situation I describe, I do not observe such among the higher powers.
And what does it mean to interfere with fate? People came to make their own (!) decision to expel what will surface.
It seems to me that interfering with fate means ‘doing good’ to others without their permission.
Fate is an intelligent Force with a defined composition, to which everything is subject. By taking part of the energy from a being, you could unintentionally alter this composition, violating the natural flow of Fate. By ‘punishment’, situations are meant through which the balance of the flow of Fate for a particular being is restored.
We cannot approach the mind of Fate with the measures of human thought. Even if it exists, it is unfathomable to us. I still can’t understand what you mean by intervention in fate. From the point of view of Fate, all our actions are fate. Even the expulsion of our inner cockroaches.
Your phrase about restoring balance is already closer to my thoughts. If you remove part of the water from one of the communicating vessels, the level will decrease in all. But not due to ‘punishment’, but due to natural laws. However, I asked a question here to understand what exactly is being balanced, and why it is so.
If in communicating vessels, part of the water is removed, then somewhere in another, temporarily ‘communicating’ with it, vessel the water must increase – it must go somewhere. I’ve seen a lot of ‘psychologist magicians’ who, under the guise of helping people, engaged in exactly the opposite, and even charged them for the session.
The released energy goes “to the light,” where in shamanic cosmology the souls of the deceased go. I have some doubts that the law of conservation of energy applies between our world and that one. At least because the current 7 billion people probably never lived on the planet, yet they came from somewhere. The balance at one level of manifestation is closer… When you remove some energy from the body, you also remove its manifested embodiment. But why does it happen that what is very important and has future plans temporarily goes away, especially since there was a setting during the “exorcism” to remove what is no longer needed, what has served its time?
Besides wizards, there are also beings with more complex energy. For example, chroniclers. They are connected to Fate and write it.
Interference in fate is understood as changing its cycle, but this change must correspond to the intentions of the being.
Regarding balance, there is a kernel of truth in your words. Fate consists of elements that complement each other.
“So my worldview includes both the Moirai and parks). I also respect Hellinger in this matter.”
Chroniclers are not separate old men or women in the clouds, but unhighlighted parts of our soul that someone decided to highlight in an anthropomorphic form. Argument not accepted.
The article mentions that the shadow may have its own consciousness. Distinct from human consciousness, but clearly consciousness nonetheless. This moment interested me even more. I’ve already seen my shadow and several special effects. I generally turned my attention to the article towards the idea that almost everything you touch has its own consciousness. I didn’t just think or feel this as an experience; this has been lived through many times, and I’ve thought about wanting this awareness to become my stable property. I also didn’t fully understand about the will that pushes away the shadow and desires. These are generally different manifestations of life, and I postponed to understand this later.
For example, the understanding of the presence of consciousness in the shadow would immediately broaden the options for interaction beyond expulsion, while the understanding that the world is not hierarchical but also hierarchical would lead to a completely different understanding of fate than what has been suggested here. And nothing can be said about the correctness of that or many views) when it is seen that each of them can be called truth but not truth. And that worldviews change, and we know this well ourselves since we have lived through more than one change. The only thing is that we often fixate on the current one as the only true one. Somehow, this is even called in Buddhism. That we forget and fully immerse ourselves in the game. They speak of this within one life, but actually, a similar thing happens during shifts in worldviews. So I am not an assertive person) I can talk about my thoughts and what I decided based on the article, and that’s all. Other things lead to a conflict of worldviews, and I know that mine is a temporary thing (personally, I believe that no one should be expelled like that and from my point of view, I see the virtualization of life in your example). But at the same time, I keep in mind that any picture of the world is a temporary thing, and the difference can be defined by effectiveness, but there is no point in arguing and expressing one’s opinion. Unless I intend to work specifically with my worldview.
I really admire your point of view 🙂 Very wise. However, regarding “you cannot cast out,” I might disagree. In some social situations, a person can find themselves in a vicious circle, in a cage, due to circumstances and their limited reactions to them. Sometimes it can be very obvious, sometimes very subtle. I think that when something is “exorcised” by modern “gentle” methods, rather than, for example, through the brutal Christian exorcism, where the part being expelled is demonized, the shaman or psychologist, at some level, refers to the Higher Self of the person, to their wisest part, which chooses the skin that needs to be shed. Or nothing happens at all if the person is not ready to part with anything – I’ve observed that too. But from my experience observing several dozens of people, I saw that everyone would like to shed many of their skins, which cannot be removed through conscious effort but have become terribly annoying over many years.
I don’t currently think that within the goals and physical capabilities of one imperfect person (a shaman or a psychotherapist, or anyone else), there can be perfection in another imperfect person, including through exorcism. In my understanding, there are exceptions; any barely alive incomplete person could help if they love. But I didn’t hold such an opinion before, and I lived in its absence. And with the thought that someone can do something to me. So I don’t even know what to say 🙂 At one time, I thought similarly to your ideas, but now I don’t think so. But it doesn’t mean that my trajectory of consciousness development is the only possible one, or that I was wrong before. That was a different system with different data.
Dear author, please tell me – since Shadow Magic is equated with Necromancy (in terms of destructive energy or bearing the stamp of destruction), is it possible to avoid negative impact on oneself in the path of learning? In terms of ‘gaining one loses another’ – I would not want to risk the future or those close to me.
It is impossible to gain without losing. The whole question is only what we gain in each case, and what we lose. Magical protection has been developed long ago and well, and allows, with sufficient skill, to smooth undesirable or unforeseen effects just as ‘ordinary’ protective means – like airbags in cars or knee pads when skating or skateboarding. As for Shadow Magic, it all depends on the specific case. For example, Jungian and related views on the shadow as a potential area of consciousness imply working with this shadow to overcome internal deadlocks and gain new creative resources. The Shadow Magic discussed in this article is just one of the streams called by this term, and if we talk about not contacting one’s own shadow, but about extracting energy from shadows, then of course, taking care of safety is absolutely necessary. However, if we’re talking about processing one’s own shadow as a layer of the unconscious, then dangers, although also present, are significantly reduced.
Wishing everyone good health. Very interesting article, thanks to the author. I once read somewhere that death is the sum of unrealized desires of a person, that had to be… but were pushed into the shadow, continuing to consume energy. And when the balance is disturbed in favor of the shadow, the person appears.
Before this topic, when talking about the shadow here, I usually meant the shadow in Jung’s understanding. But now I understand that “the magic of shadows” for me has a somewhat different representation. But it’s not even about the shadow from Jung’s psychology… There is a ritual called “meeting the shadow.” I met it without rituals) It was the shadow of my hand on the wall. I just quietly waved my hand from side to side and carefully watched its shadow. At first, it had a white glow, and then volume began to emerge. I couldn’t believe my eyes – a three-dimensional hand-shadow on a flat wall… and I looked more closely at this shadow. The more closely I looked at it, the more my living hand became motionless. I stopped feeling it. I had to shake my hand, to shake off this paralysis. How does a myth relate to external shadows that arise from the sun? After this case, I briefly familiarized myself with the magic of shadows. There are four types of shadows: body, mind, feelings, and appearance (there are also shadow patrons and lower shadows). Shadows can be created with the help of thought forms, and this is already mental magic (by the way, witchcraft – to step on a shadow and whisper something is not related to the magic of shadows). Something similar to the mirror, as there is also something like a double, only a shadow one. And necromancy. Death also comes in different forms, but shadows resemble death in the necro form. The necro world is the shadow of life, deprived of its rainbow palette. Colors fade, just as emotions do. You hear the laughter of children, but do not feel joy in the laughter, you see the sun, but it seems gray (shadows are also devoid of emotions, and their world is twilight). And everything you feel is death, decay. Dead children running on the playground, dead leaves – compost swaying on the branches, and dead earth (and many think that dead earth is only in the cemetery and many think they are alive when in reality, in the necro world, they are already dead). Everything that will die in the future, everything that has died in the past… is all in the moment now… everything is dead… down to the smallest microelements. And yet they are the basis of our life, the cycle of death and life in nature. As I joked, “in any case, we live not in vain – after death we will become excellent fertilizer”)) This is regarding the external shadow…
In the subconscious, I encountered “shadows of the past” (or perhaps “ancestral shadows” – of the deceased, which relate more to the external world), when on the edge of sleep and wakefulness, a herd of shadows ran around my room, which prevented me from sleeping, and I decided to catch one of them with my attention – it turned out to be a girl in ancient clothing. The “trickster”, for instance, was also in the form of a shadow (I did not decipher the other shadows, though they differed by gender – there were male and female voices. So these can also be correlated with Shadows – patrons. An ambiguous shadow, nonetheless. With the help of information from the subconscious (through dreams), I came upon one system – “Tarot of Shadows” by Linda Falorio. It allows one to work with the tunnels of Set or, in another way, the Tree of Death. So, does it turn out that through these cards, people meditate and call upon shadow servant spirits?
Partially I agree. Such problems with the shadow arise precisely because of its excessive demonization and fear of it. The shadow needs to be integrated into the persona, not defeated.
It depends on the goals)
If the task is to become a socially successful predator, then, of course, all resources are good. If the goal is liberation, then the energies need to be refined, and the shadow must be surpassed.
Deep!