Shadow Work Quotes

“They were not holding hands, but their shadows were.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

“Self-love is the practice of understanding, embracing, and showing compassion for yourself. Self-love involves nurturing your entire being – that means taking care of yourself on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. When engaging in self-love, we also work to forgive ourselves, accept our flaws, and embrace our inner demons. Contrary to popular belief, self-love isn’t just a blind adoration of our strengths, it’s also an embrace of our weaknesses and shadows.”
― Aletheia Luna

“Psychologically, if we do not reject old habits and beliefs when confronted with the possibility of a better way of being, we end up imprisoned by a tyrannical ego complex that will perpetuate any illusion just to keep control.”
― Dennis William Hauck, The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation

“The secret is that only that which can destroy itself is truly alive. Life that just happens in and for itself is not real life; it is real only when it is known.”
― Carl Jung

“I felt as if my own personality was changing shades or even as if I had no personality. I was a blank canvas and I let people paint their own shadows onto me freely. With what was left of my intuition I must have grasped the symbolism of it. This must be the explanation why when we were all asked by our literature teacher 'What animal do you indetify with?' I answered 'chameleon'.”
― R.P. Heaven, Awakening Ignited

“Committing to YOU is deep work; you have to look at your shadows and release what no longer serves you.”
― Lisa Manyon, Spiritual Sugar: The Divine Ingredients to Heal Yourself With Love

“It is psychology's task to cast light on what we want to keep concealed.”
― Arno Gruen, The Insanity of Normality: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness

“Shadow work is the way to illumination. When we become aware of all that is buried within us, that which is lurking beneath the surface no longer has power over us.”
― Aletheia Luna, Mindful Shadow Work: Exercises For Befriending Your Dark Side, Healing Trauma, and Finding Joy

“By doing shadow work, we learn that every single emotion and wound that we possess has a gift to share with us. Even the most obnoxious, ugly, or shameful parts of ourselves provide a path back to Oneness.”
― Aletheia Luna, Mindful Shadow Work: Exercises For Befriending Your Dark Side, Healing Trauma, and Finding Joy

“In reality, those traversing the spiritual awakening journey are particularly susceptible to the emergence of the shadow self, as the ego (the light side of the shadow) loves to drape itself in robes of light and bliss, appearing special, untouchable, and enlightened.”
― Aletheia Luna, Mindful Shadow Work: Exercises For Befriending Your Dark Side, Healing Trauma, and Finding Joy

“Becoming conscious of our own darkness dispels our sense of being better (or worse) than anyone else. This recognition connects us with the rest of humanity—as we are all recognized to be in the same boat.”
― Paul Levy, Wetiko: Healing the Mind-Virus That Plagues Our World

“The unconscious hides our shadow, but also, and more importantly, the being we seek to create.”
― Paching Hoé Lambaiho

“Trust yourself. Those who do not trust what they think they believe seek to have others believe for them.”
― Levi Ramos

“Shadow can protect us. Darkness, too, has its blessings.
Brujas know this. Mama knew this.
Energy is energy. And brujas also know not to stay in one without the other for too long. Balance. An ouroboros choking on its own goddamn tail gets you right back to where you started. A never-ending circle. Maybe I haven’t honored the cycle of light and dark, a visitor in the shadows, overstaying my welcome.”
― Jennifer Givhan, River Woman, River Demon

“Skipping Shadow Work is like skipping "Leg Day".”
― Martin O'Toole, How To Die Happy: Curated wisdom, stories, and utilities for the art of living.

“There wasn’t enough room in her stomach for both food and fear.”
― Nicole T. Smith, We Have Shadows Too

“I think the longer you look at light, the more it changes.”
― Nicole T. Smith, We Have Shadows Too

“There is a huge new frontier awaiting our exploration, and it is not the macrocosm of the universe but the microcosm of the mind.”
― Dennis William Hauck, The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation

“When we allow our deepest shadowy parts to be seen and witnessed through eyes of compassion and curiosity, we inspire that same freedom and courage in others.”
― Jenny Hahn, Creative Flow: Tap and Express Your Juicy Essence

“Anyone who focuses so strongly on their ideal self, will be eaten by the unrealized self.”
― Kenn Day, Post-Tribal Shamanism: A New Look at the Old Ways

“Love is how I entered into this life and survived. Love is how I came to experience growth and increase in intelligence and Light. Love is the guiding voice which has allowed me to step through my fears into the dark and walk out the other side. And Love continues to be the path that allows me to enter again and again into the dark and once again discover the Light.”
― Gwen Juvenal, Our New Story: Guides in the Garden Volume 1

“Perhaps this all sounds too simple and happy-go-lucky. Well, snap out of it! No thing has dominion or power over you unless you give it that power. Stand your ground. Take three deep breaths. Be willing to see into what something truly is. Be willing to take the time and ask questions. Be willing to Play.
This is what we are inviting you to do here.
Imagine your new life of being free from all fear. Imagine a life where fear is being used as an empowerment through you. Yes. Own your power.
Every moment.
This is You!
Make your choice.”
― Gwen Juvenal, Our New Story: Guides in the Garden Volume 1

“I Dance in The Dark (The Moths’ Song)
I dance in The Dark.
I fly through moonlit wings.
My heart beats loud
for every living thing.
Deep in the waters
all reflects clearly,
clearly, clearly, clearly.
I fly to the heart
and weave a web.
Through this fabric of sky
all once hidden is said.
My whisper enters your ear,
“Come dance, and you will know.
the gift of Love as not separate from Fear.
The thing you fought against
is waiting to be seen.
and set Free.
Free. Free. Free.
Come Dance with Me.
Come Dance with Me.”
― Gwen Juvenal, "The Seed" Journal: A Space for Recording Your Soul Experiences and Expansive Journeys

“All they have touched or seen they make their own,
In Nature’s basement lodge, mind’s passages fill,
Disrupt thought’s links and musing sequences,
Break through the soul’s stillness with a noise and cry
Or they call the inhabitants of the abyss,
Invite the instincts to forbidden joys,
A laughter wake of dread demoniac mirth
And with nether riot and revel shake life’s floor.

Impotent to quell his terrible prisoners
Appalled the householder helpless sits above,
Taken from him his house is his no more.

07.02_117:032-033”
― Sri Aurobindo, Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol

“While this (shadow) work can be difficult, it is incredibly transformative and healing. When you find yourself stuck in negative patterns or feeling worn out with your old ways of being, shadow work illuminates a healthier path forward.”
― Jor-El Caraballo, The Shadow Work Workbook: Self-Care Exercises for Healing Your Trauma and Exploring Your Hidden Self

“Sometimes we stand in our brightness, sometimes we sit in our darkness, but at all times we must balance both sides of ourselves.”
― Megan Mary, The Dream Haunters

“It is beckoning you to discover, to unearth your darkness.”
― Megan Mary, The Dream Haunters

“The ultimate barometer for what’s actually going on inside you is to reverse engineer your unconscious intentions by the RESULTS you consistently keep getting and the current state of your life – not by what you consistently keep telling yourself.”
― Oli Anderson, Trust: A Manual for Becoming the Void, Building Flow, and Finding Peace

“The unconscious is always trying to make itself conscious and so if you slow down and listen you can align yourself instead of being torn to pieces.”
― Oli Anderson, Trust: A Manual for Becoming the Void, Building Flow, and Finding Peace

“Ignorance (of the truth) may protect us from shame in the short-term but it can never protect us from the Void.”
― Oli Anderson, Trust: A Manual for Becoming the Void, Building Flow, and Finding Peace