Men are from Mars

I absolutely LOVE this photo, by my friend, Gail Fulkerson. It brings to mind a few things. The first is that there is that expression, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus." I find a lot of times that the message in this expression is very true. Although equal, men and women simply are different. Not just biologically different, but psychologically different as well. It all stems back to how we were hard wired in primordia in order to survive. Now in our "refined" ways, that hard wiring still exists. We communicate so completely differently at times and wonder what the heck went wrong when the other freaks out on us. Let's face it....it happens. And much of it is because of the way we were hard wired millenia ago.

The other thing that this photo evokes is the awareness that if we constantly wear a frown we are always going to end up being parched, dried out.......lifeless. Our emotions belong to the water element. When we flow with our emotions we allow the water to saturate our beings and replenish our souls. We become vibrant and radiant. We become the epitome of the lush, rich soil of Gaia.

The third thing that this photo inspires is the awareness that we all need the light and the shadow aspects of our lives in order to become whole. Without the shadow part (that which most folks are afraid of and fight against) we would not be able to fully appreciate the Light part. Without the Light, we would also become oblivious to the shadow. Each is needed in balance with one another in order to allow ourselves to fully become the beautiful portrait of our lives that we were each meant to be.

The more we relax into life, the more we enjoy the richness of all the experiences it has to offer.

Blessed Be
Trent
http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn
www.deerhornshamanic.com

The Shadow Spirit

People have been asking me a lot of questions about the Shadow Spirit lately. So I thought I might write a little bit about it. First off, we all have one. Secondly, not all of us are aware of our Shadow Spirit. Thirdly, not all of us want to be aware of it.

The Shadow Spirit is the magical part of us that came into being in the Otherworld the moment we realized that we, ourselves, are magical beings. They will sometimes be with us for lifetimes. They are extremely powerful in their magic and in their passion for life. So yes, there is some discretion that is needed when dealing with our Shadow Spirits. You see, we can make them an ally, or we can make them an enemy. The choice really is our own. But whatever choice we make, conscious or otherwise, will be followed through on the part of the Shadow Spirit.

Now, the Shadow Spirit is not the Jungian shadow part of our psyche. That would be more the Id. I always remember the distinction between the two this way...the Id is our sense of Inner Desires. The Ego is our sense of self, and the Super Ego is our sense of our Super Consciousness, or the grand consciousness that connects us all.

Although the Shadow Spirit is aware of all of these aspect of our psyches, it is not distinctly any one of these. We can think of it like this...I have a twin. My twin is not with me right here all the time, but my twin is always connected to me, ever since we were conceived. I can feel my twin's thoughts and feelings as easily as my own, even if my twin is in another country altogether. I can get flashes of my twin's life and experiences from a distance and my twin can get flashes of mine. Sometimes my twin and I fight with each other. But we know we will always be a part of each other and we love each other deeply, so we do our best to get along and work well together.

So why are people so afraid of the Shadow Spirit? Well, depending on your own fear based dogmas, the Shadow Spirit can appear to you as a very powerful demon, or as a very powerful angel. It really depends upon your own willingness to embrace the magical and mystical part of yourself, even if you have not yet gotten to know it really well.

For those who want to know more about this, I would recommend reading a book by Lord Foxglove titled Advancing the Witch's Craft. But do be prepared. You can't just pick up the phone, dial it and then hang up as soon as your twin answers on the other end. You have to be willing to communicate. Your twin has caller i.d. and will keep calling you back if you dial, even once. So be ready to do the work, or don't even start. And it is work, but the work is well worth it.

In Spirit, Blessed Be

Trent
www.deerhornshamanic.com