It’s a good time of year to explore the dark & spooky, to face our shadow, move through fear, and overcome illusions, as part of your personal and spiritual growth.
Pumpkins are out on the porch, skeletons hang by the front door, and candy awaits the trick-or-treaters. Halloween has arrived, celebrating all that’s spooky, goulish, and creepy as well as the ability to become something we’re NOT for a night!
This holiday, which has its roots in age-old traditions of the final autumn harvest as well as other cultural celebrations, such as Mexico’s Day of the Dead, is our annual opportunity to look at the things that scare us. It’s no coincidence that Halloween happens during autumn. Fall is the dying time: leaves falling from the trees, plants dying off or going dormant for the cold season, animals preparing to hibernate for winter. And for most of us, there’s nothing more frightening than our own death.
At Halloween, on this non-religious holiday, we can look at death with humor and playfulness. Skulls lit up from within, eating “bone” candy, putting fake blood on our face and hands – these rituals of dressing ourselves, our homes, and playing games around the theme of death helps youngsters integrate the reality of our temporal lives in a light-hearted way. Which is a good idea for all of us: after all, we need to face our own death someday, so why not recognize that this body is temporary, but the spirit is everlasting, by dressing up in fun as a ghost or a mummy.
Those Spooky Fears
We can take this a step further, however. Halloween allows us to look at all our fears with more humor and playfulness. This holiday takes some imagination: from the telling of scary stories to the most frightening costume, Halloween is largely about what we think is scary in our minds. And that’s the nature of our fears.
Most of what we fear is a product of our imagination. We tend to fear what might, could, or will happen, rather than what actually occurs. Although these fears are usually more reality-based (such as, “I’m afraid I’ll lose my job”, or “I’m afraid of getting hit by a car”) than the scary monsters of Halloween, this time of year beckons us to look at fear and how we create it in the mind.
We can learn to laugh about being scared, just as we shriek and giggle passing through a neighbor’s haunted house. What creativity our mind has! If you watch it carefully, you can see how the thoughts create very elaborate things to be scared of, most of which never happen. You’ve got your own spooky movie! See this play of the imagination as just that, rather than taking it seriously, just as you are amused by the fantastic costumes that show up at your door for trick-or-treating.
Facing and Embracing the Dark
This time of year also reminds us that Winter is approaching, as night falls sooner (especially after going back to Standard time in most of the United States), and we have more time in the dark. The longer nights definitely have an effect on us. Often, we’ll find ourselves going to bed earlier, or wanting to stay inside, where it’s warmer & cozier, after the sun sets.
Darkness is the unknown, the mysterious. Sometimes, we interpret that as bad or scary – because it’s unknown, it’s ripe for us to project anything onto it from our imagination. All too often, our minds project our worst fears onto that black void. This isn’t reality – it’s a bad habit. Think of how often, when we’re faced with uncertainty or the unknown, that we anticipate the worst.
Every autumn we have an opportunity to change that habit, and to consider that the unknown may have unimagined good for us. In the darkness, there are infinite possibilities, whereas in the daytime the light defines our outer reality. We can look at the night’s darkness as removing the distraction and limitations of this outer world, and revealing to us the magic, potential, and spirit that resides within. Take this opportunity to seek the inner truth, which doesn’t require the light of the sun to shine. It’s an ideal time to meditate. Let these energies of the darkness facilitate your understanding of your inner self. Light a candle, and reflect on its wondrous in the middle of the night.
Lastly, the dark represents not only the unknown and what we fear outside ourselves, but what we don’t want to look at within. Any issues that haven’t been dealt with, resentments that haven’t been resolved, fears we haven’t faced – these may emerge from the dark during the fall and winter. Autumn is excellent for doing Shadow work.
The Shadow
The Shadow is a concept developed by early 20th century psychiatrist and founder of Analytic psychology, Carl Jung. Our Shadow is the place inside us that we repress and hide the things we don’t want to see. Our negative tendencies, inferior abilities, undeveloped aspects of ourselves, sources of shame and embarrassment are some of the contents you’d discover in the dark Shadow self.
When we avoid dealing with our Shadow inside, it shows up in behaviors and attitudes that may unnerve us, such as bigger fears, explosive anger, and the more subtle but self-destructive projections of our own issues and inadequacies on others. In other words, what we detest or are ashamed of within ourselves we tend to single out in others, bringing up judgments, righteousness, and anger towards the people we project our stuff on. On the brighter side of this inner darkness, the Shadow also contains parts of the self that we’ve neglected to manifest — even our own inner power, generosity, and ability to speak the truth can lie dormant and repressed in the Shadow.
Time to clean the skeletons out of the closet! Delve into the Shadow and embrace what you’ve pushed away. Journal writing, dreamwork, expressive arts, counseling, or taking a personal growth workshop are excellent for bringing light to those dark Shadow places. Self-exploration takes the charge out of whatever we fear or avoid. This empowers us and relieves the pressure created by pushing the Shadow away. Just as our eyes adjust and we can see more clearly after a few minutes with the lights off, the things we’ve been avoiding aren’t so scary or overwhelming once we allow ourselves to perceive and understand them more clearly.
Accepting Our Imperfections
When we open ourselves to the imperfect places within and respond with love and acceptance, they begin to transform, just as a child that feels rejected begins to play joyfully when she feels loved. In fact, by understanding and accepting your fears, flaws, and foolishness, it’s likely you’ll also uncover creativity, spontaneity, and joy. As you allow yourself to be as you are, imperfections included, you’ll feel light and free. These positive traits can be buried in the Shadow underneath our fears of being judged, taking risks, or feeling our emotions. With the energy and compassion freed from self-acceptance, you can deal with anger, fear, and bad habits in a healing rather than condemning way.
Imagine feeling as free and light as the leaves floating down from the trees at this time of year, as you remove the heaviness of that inner darkness. Enjoy the longer nights by a warm fire. This time of year encourages us to find the inner light during the dark night, and to live our lives with faith, courage, and joy, rather than fear.