In this issue:
- A poll
- Our main topic: Writing during spooky season
- An oracle card pull
- An invitation to the October Ceremony
- Book recs and writing resources
Welcome back to another New Moon Missive! Today is the new moon for October, which makes it a great time to slow down, pause, and look inward.
I’d love to start that process with a poll.
| What would you be interested in reading about for November’s New Moon Missive? |
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For today, I want to talk about writing during spooky season. Specifically, I want to talk about shadow work as an important but overlooked part of our writing practice.
Shadow work has been coming up a lot in my life lately. I encountered it in two very different books (The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin and Nightfaring by Megan Eaves-Egenes—I highly recommend both, by the by. Affiliate links*). The shadow has made an appearance in my card pulls as I sit at my altar in the mornings. As fall settles in, I feel a pull toward the dark.
I know others are feeling it, too. I asked the current Coven about shadow work and everyone said it’s been showing up for them. I see shadow work discussed across the communities I’m in, witchy and otherwise. It’s in the air right now, and no wonder. Everything feels like it’s coming apart at the seams. I think we sense that, at some point, we’re going to have to face what’s in the dark.
Which all sounds very ominous, doesn’t it?
That’s the funny thing about shadow work, though. It can be challenging, but it’s the furthest thing from scary if you approach it the right way.
When it comes to our writing practices, shadow work is an incredible tool for deepening our self-knowledge and truly understanding what has been holding us back.
I’ll give you an example of what I mean. I was invited to deliver a talk at my local library recently, and I presented on how to build a sustainable writing practice during times of crisis (this is something I’ll be talking about at an upcoming summit—details very soon!).
One of the attendees asked me a question at the end of the talk. “I want to write,” she said. “But I always seem to find something else to do. How can I stop procrastinating?”
My reply? “Resistance is information.” When we feel resistance to our writing—procrastination, writer’s block, a mean inner critic—there is something else going on beneath the surface that is producing the behavior.
That’s a shadow showing up. Until we face the shadow and understand it, we’re going to keep repeating the pattern we feel stuck in.
“What’s underneath the procrastination?” I asked her. “Is it fear?”
Looking back at the conversation now, I think she had expected me to give her a bunch of things to do to force herself to stop procrastinating—to have a neat list of suggestions that would solve the problem. If only it were that simple, huh? It would be nice!
If you’re dealing with something like procrastination and you’ve tried every tip and trick you can think of without success, it might be because procrastination is just the surface manifestation of a deeper issue. Giving yourself another item on the to-do list isn’t going to cut it.
The woman at the library told me she had no idea what might lie beneath her procrastinating, but she was energized to discover what it was. She sensed, correctly, that identifying the deeper layers would allow her to make real, lasting change in her writing practice instead of putting another bandage over the procrastination problem.
That’s the power of shadow work.
The concept of shadow work comes from Carl Jung and his idea of the “shadow self,” which is made up of the parts of ourselves we reject or suppress. Anything we’re taught is undesirable, embarrassing, or unacceptable can become part of our shadow—and the shadow can make itself known through strong emotional reactions (jealousy, anger, embarrassment) or behavioral patterns we dislike.
When it comes to our writing practices, the shadow often appears as writer’s block, procrastination, jealousy of other writers, comparison, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and a harsh inner critic. These are far from the only ways you might experience your shadow, but they are some of the most common among the writers I work with.
The goal of shadow work is not to banish your shadow forever. Our shadow parts aren’t bad parts—they’re suppressed parts, and they can contain strengths that might surprise you. Shadow work can help you face what you’ve been taught to hide and learn how to integrate and work with it, rather than continually and ineffectively repressing it.
Doing shadow work can lead to a stronger, more sustainable writing practice and help you access your creativity more quickly and more deeply. It’s potent magic!
Below are some ways you might begin integrating shadow work into your writing practice.
- Journal on your most common writing blocks. What are they? When do they show up? What shadow do you think is underneath those blocks? Where did it come from?
- Identify a shadow and explore its strengths. What is the hidden gem your shadow has to offer? (Perfectionism, for example, can also mean being detail-oriented and caring about quality.)
- Pull some tarot or oracle cards about your shadow. See below for a simple three-card spread.
Card 1: The Past. Where did this shadow come from? What is its origin story?
Card 2: The Present. How is the shadow affecting your writing practice now?
Card 3: The Future. What might happen if you decide to work with and integrate your shadow?
The veil is thin right now. Our intuition is strong at this time of year and, as we leave the bright energy of summer behind, you might be feeling called to turn inward and do some self-exploration.
Doing shadow work in the context of your writing practice can help you discover what is keeping you from pursuing your most audacious creative goals—and give you a surprising burst of energy to go after them.
All this being said, shadow work can stir up a lot of emotions! Make sure you have the support you need as you begin exploring. Take it slow and reach out to trusted friends or a therapist when needed.
And, if you’d like to explore your writing shadows with me—or any other aspect of your writing practice—watch your inbox. I’ve got something super fun up my sleeve that I’ll be announcing soon.
New Moon Oracle Card Pull
The new moon is a time to set intentions and reflect on our creative practices. I pulled an oracle card to see what aspect of creativity might need attention during this moon cycle.
The shaggy ink cap mushroom is one of my favorites (it's one of two types of mushrooms I have tattooed on my right arm!). This card asks us to think about the growth/destruction cycle—exactly what we might need to think about as we leave the growth of summer behind and let things begin to compost during the fall.
Here are some reflection questions you can journal on or use as the basis for an additional card pull.
- What stage of the creative cycle are you in? How do you know when it is time to move on?
- How can you work with, rather than against, your creative (and other) cycles to support your writing?
- How can you treat this card as a reminder that not all destruction is bad (and not all growth is good)?
- Where do you need to strive for better balance in your creative practice?