Reflections of shadow and light

What a wild couple of months! We went on a wildflower spirit journey, collected our new teardrop camper on the way through, lived semi off-grid for a month while rebuilding on our northern NSW block post-fires, and visited family. Along the way, in amongst challenges accessing power and internet, with both laptops misbehaving, I did some writing. If only there were three of me! Or I had two sets of arms like my moon goddess does in this spirit guide painting. I had to triage and focus on priorities, which meant students came first. Students have different needs and ways of learning, and I’m always looking for ways to enhance and support their learning and this inspired a bit of extra, unexpected work.

The other, fairly equal priority was the writing for the spirit guide oracle card and book set. This was a lovely counterpoint to the wildflower communion and essence collecting. Flower spirit journeys are treks my husband and I take through the outback and they are one of my primary ways to deep dive into spiritual growth and healing (teaching does it for me too!). I set an intention on the outset to dissolve negative defensive chi, where the ego defends itself in ways that aren’t healthy or helpful. Negative defensive chi creates rigid obstructions in the aura that hinder the flow of chi and I felt I was overdue for some rust removal! I’m navigating menopause at the moment and it’s very much like having a moon goddess shining her light into me and revealing my unresolved shadows.

I love the timing, the way spirit guides me and coordinates my journey through life: I’m just about to teach cleansing and going with the flow, faith and surrender… which isn’t easy to do when you’re all tied up in defensive chi knots! Now that every button that could be pressed has been pressed and I’ve transmuted some muck, I’m feeling a lot cleaner and clearer, brighter and lighter.

I thought I’d share the first draft of the Moon Goddess oracle card here for you!

PS I’m back in Darwin and ready for work with my batteries recharged! If you’d like to book in, you can use my online booking app, text me on 0438110872 or use the contact page on this site.

Moon Goddess

Last night I witnessed a full red moon eclipse. I really enjoyed the sense of quiet communal witnessing with friends and loved ones in other places, with grandmother moon cycling through a full month of phases in the space of a few hours! As a child, my favourite moon deity was Diana the virgin huntress with her bow and arrow. In my twenties, it was Luna, the moon goddess depicted in Piers Anthony’s book series, the Incarnations of Immortality. In my thirties, I became aware of Thoth, the Egyptian moon god, who has since become a spiritual father-figure for me. And in my 40’s, I fell in love with an ancient and very obscure crescent moon goddess called Si. Is there a moon deity you feel a strong connection with?

I painted the artwork depicted on this oracle card many years ago in art class under the guidance of my teacher Cait. It’s a self-portrait of sorts, a merging of various past lives where I incarnated in a female body and worked as a healer. This energy is my spirit guide Khryse, who prefers her privacy and doesn’t like to be seen, which might be why we can’t see her face! Perhaps you too, have a mysterious yin or “shadow guide”. Shadow guides help us traverse the depth of our psyche and shine light into hidden corners so that we might know ourselves better. As a shadow guide, Khryse has taught me to embrace the shadows in myself or others. She helps me find light in the darkness, beauty in ugliness and the gift in disguise. In essence, Khryse is a Moon Goddess, a master in the art of transforming awareness through reflection.  

Our shadow is a part of us that is hidden from our awareness or a part of us we are trying to hide from others. More often than not, the reason why we’re rejecting our shadow is because we aren’t seeing it clearly, in a balanced, unbiased way. When the shadow is a facet of our personality we don’t like or that we think others won’t approve of, we push it away. We deny it. We reject it. In doing so, we think we’re making it go away, but it’s just getting wedged more deeply and firmly within us, and the further we push this part of us into the shadows, the less conscious and self-aware we become.

The ‘shadow’ can also be a part of us that is very beautiful, wise and valuable that we can’t see in ourselves. We do see it in others though; we look around us and see other people shining so brightly it completely eclipses any positive self-regard and self-awareness we might otherwise have. Is there some part of yourself you have been rejecting or seeing out there in the world (but not in yourself), whether this be in a positive or negative light? The Moon Goddess reflects our shadows back to us, both the ugly ones and the beautiful ones. She wants us to own our shadows because our shadows make us whole. They contain power, magic and hidden light that can set us free. Think of the world around you as a mirror, reflecting you back to yourself. This is one of the many spirit-medicine blessings of moon energy.

A wonderful place to learn more about moon energy as an archetype is the major arcana of the tarot. Moon energy helps us tap into our intuition, which (like our shadows) resides in the depths of our subconscious. Blocking parts of your awareness can block your access to your intuition. The Moon Goddess encourages you to shine a light into your depths and get to know yourself better. She holds two balls of light, one in each hand. One is self-awareness, the other is intuition. “They go together,” she says. “As you uncover the light in one, you uncover the light in the other. Your intuition will grow when you do the work of self-inquiry and self-reflection. I encourage you to open to my light and my darkness. Spend time with me in all my moon phases and I will guide you into the fullest expression of All That You Are.”