Tarot and Shadow Work
by Sarah Rose
Lovlies, please enjoy this Guest Series blog post from Sarah Rose with mysticrose.co.
Sarah Rose is a writer and tarot reader from Vancouver, Canada. Sarah loves to help people connect to their purpose through the tarot and has experience using tarot to help guide clients through shadow work, inner child healing, and projection clearing so they can get more clear on their goals and desires.
And we are so lucky to have them here today to talk about how they tarot and shadow work and how they combine the two to support their healing journey!
What I love about tarot is that it can be more than just a box of pretty cards.
Much more, if you get into using them.
I’m Sarah, a tarot reader, and today I’m going to share a bit about how you can use shadow work and tarot cards together to reach new heights.
But let’s back it up a bit. I first started using tarot as a self-soothing practice. I found it during a difficult time in my early twenties, I was struggling in university I was living by myself for the first time and I had just had a bad breakup.
Then, as I grew up and as I continued on my spiritual journey, I learned about shadow work and found that I could use tarot as a tool to deepen my shadow work practices.
I think that using tarot in tandem with shadow work really activates your own tarot reading practice and can be used to uncover some major truths and really move the needle.
If you’re looking for more than just guidance from tarot and you really want to get to the root of what might be blocking you, then you might want to try using tarot through the lens of shadow work.
What is shadow work?
Shadow work is any kind of practice or exercise that helps you illuminate and integrate your shadow, which is the unconscious or even disowned or unloved parts of yourself.
Essentially, there are pieces of ourselves that for some reason, usually past experiences and traumas, we are disowning. We don’t let them come forward into the light of who we are, mostly out of guilt, fear, or shame.
Doing shadow work helps to integrate these abandoned, rejected, and neglected parts of yourself back into the totality of you and helps you to move through life as your whole, authentic self.
The more you do shadow work, the easier it gets and the more confidence you have to move through life ads your true self.
How do you do shadow work with tarot?
1) Explore your emotions
My favourite way to do shadow work with my tarot deck is to explore the emotional reaction I had to an incident, person, or conversation.
For example, let’s say someone cuts in front of you in line at the coffee shop. You might be able to shrug that off, or, it could trigger you. You could feel angry that someone did that, you could feel taken advantage of, overlooked, or looked down on...whatever emotion comes up is the right one, trust me!
So take that emotion, hold it, and then bring it to your deck. You can use your deck to explore the emotional reaction you had. Try to inquire about what was behind that reaction, what’s happened in your past or even your childhood where you had a similar reaction and dig deeper.
What happens for me when I do this is that I realize that I’m not actually upset that someone cut in front of me in line, I’m still carrying and healing from an old wound.
2) Start a dialogue
You can use tarot to start a conversation between you and another aspect of yourself or even a person in your life.
Let’s say you want to talk to the version of yourself who’s afraid to apply for a new school program. We might pull some cards to ask that aspect of yourself like
Why are you afraid of applying?
What would happen if you applied?
What would happen if you didn’t apply?
This dialogue is a helpful way of moving through fears, dusting off old programming, and moving towards your truth. It’s also a way of inviting any shadow pieces of yourself to sit with you and be seen.
Shadow work questions
Here are some questions related to “love” that you could ask the tarot deck the next time you sit down with it to start bringing in some shadow work practices into your readings:
Love & Relationship questions to ask tarot
What’s blocking me from moving forward in my relationship?
What’s blocking me from seeking out a partnership?
Do I feel like I’m deserving of love?
Why do I want to be in a relationship with someone?
How can I come closer to my partner?
How can I move towards a conscious relationship with my partner?
Self-care questions to ask tarot
Do I think that I’m worthy of love?
Do I truly love myself unconditionally? If not, what might be blocking me?
What’s easy for me to do for others but hard for me to do for myself?
Why don’t I feel like I have enough time for myself?
Am I able to receive love? What might be blocking me?
You can even take these questions and remix them into your own intuitively designed tarot spread — whatever supports you on your journey!
Final thoughts on tarot & shadow work
Tarot and shadow work can be a helpful tool in your self-care toolbox. It is not, however, a substitute for professional counseling or care. If you do some deep shadow work, be sure to give yourself lots of space, time, and do it in a safe container. Finally, be kind to yourself :)
Make sure to check Sarah out at mysticrose.co.
PS: Sarah is the other half to our monthly Rising Session, a free community event on Insta Live where you can toss limiting beliefs on the communal (and metaphorical) fire and come back to your true self. It’s tarot and energy healing at its most coziest and we hope to see you there!
Our next session is June 16, 2021 at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT.