I just finished reading Tarot Celebrations by Geraldine Amaral & Nancy Brady Cunningham, which caught my eye because it approaches tarot with a Jungian perspective. It’s a decent intro to psychoanalyst Carl Jung and how his ideas can apply to a tarot practice. I can’t say much in this book was super in-depth or revelatory to me, but I’m already fairly versed in this subject matter. If you’re new to Jungian concepts and how they relate to tarot I would actually recommend this over many other books.
One particular concept mentioned in the book really hooked my imagination and won’t let go: the golden shadow. The authors say: “this (is) Jung’s concept that the dark shadow has an equal counterpart: the bright or golden shadow which contains your highest potentials and abilities, the inner aspect of yourself which is your best and brightest aspects (which) may not yet manifest themselves in your life.”
My first reaction was, well yeah, I’ve been pointing out something similar for years and I’m glad to see someone else mention it! I gave a talk at a tarot conference a few years ago where I referenced a lot of Jungian concepts including shadow work. I stressed the fact that the shadow is not just scary darkness, we also tend to repress many qualities that could be magnificent. I didn’t use the phrase golden shadow because I’d hadn’t heard it yet, but I was getting at a similar sentiment and something I think is often overlooked in shadow work.
Shadow work is quite popular among tarot readers (shout out to Kelly-Ann Maddox who has taught on this topic for many years) so you’re likely familiar with the concept but in case not: the shadow, according to Carl Jung, consists of the aspects of your consciousness you repress, deny, or project onto others. Shadow work is a broad term that encompasses any number of methods for bringing the contents of your shadow into your conscious mind (such as journaling, therapy, pulling tarot cards etc). The idea is that you find a greater experience of wholeness by integrating the shadowy unconscious into the totality of your Self.
A lot of shadow work modalities focus on aspects of the shadow that are tricky. Which is kind of part of the package: acknowledging what is shameful or hurtful is a core part of shadow work. But, your shadow is not JUST darkness.
If it has been believed hitherto that the human shadow was the source of evil, it can now be ascertained on closer investigation that … (the) shadow does not consist only of morally reprehensible tendencies, but also displays a number of good qualities, such as normal instincts, appropriate reactions, realistic insights & creative impulses. -Carl Jung
Now, I will say that although I was familiar with these ideas I had never heard the term golden shadow until Amaral & Cunningham mentioned it. Upon some light Googling it seems like this is not, in fact, a phrase Jung himself actually used. One poster on a Jungian forum went so far as to call it an “unnecessary neo-Jungian invention”. Which, okay. But I still like it, and even if the phrase golden shadow itself is not of the Jungian canon, the general concept does seem supported by his work so I’m gonna roll with it.
Here we are on the cusp of 2023 unfolding into 2024. Any time is a good time to do some golden shadow excavation, but it feels particularly appropriate for this moment. If you’ve been following my writing lately, you may have noticed 2023 sucked ass for me. I feel awkward always vaguely alluding to this, but it’s not in anyone’s best interest for me to talk in more depth about it right now…suffice it to say, two of the worst situations of my entire life both erupted in 2023.
And if you’ve been existing as a human being with eyes and ears and heart you may know 2023 was extremely violent on a collective level as well. It was a shadowy, shadowy year indeed. A year that forced a lot of us into some devastating shadow work both personally + collectively (the collective shadow is something Jung wrote about as well). And that difficult shadow work is ongoing.
In the past I’ve offered elaborate spreads and in-depth workbooks for the New Year (anyone remember those?!). I come bearing something simple this year, but I hope it will hold you in feeling into your golden shadows. Because sometimes the tough shit seems all encompassing, we need to make a conscious effort to polish the hidden treasures as well. The contents of the golden shadow may currently be warped and buried; let’s begin to excavate and reshape them with tarot as our guide.
I have the Six of Wands to suggest bright aspects of my own personal self that were potentially overlooked or unconscious during 2023. Many people say the Six of Wands is about triumph, but Resiliency is the word that comes to mind here today. And it makes sense as I’ve never believed myself to be incredibly resilient. If you would have told me half the shit that was gonna happen in 2023 I would have said “wow, I’m going to crumple up and hide in a corner.” And I mean, sure, I’ve done that a time or two. But I’ve also had moments where I managed to sit down, like the person on the card, re-steady myself and tend to inner fires. That resiliency, once unseen, is something I’ve already started to acknowledge. This card encourages me to continue that process.
Here is our old friend the Eight of Cups who also showed up in the last spread I shared. This time it speaks to bright aspects on a collective level that may have been obscured or unacknowledged during 2023. Last time I used a phrase for this card which very much feels applicable again: new ways of being are always revealing themselves to you. Perhaps we haven’t yet grasped the final form of the new ways of being which began to reveal themselves during 2023. And that’s okay. After all, the end of a year is an arbitrary thing. Our lessons and revelations rarely fit tidily within a calendar year.
Perhaps right now even if we can’t fully understand the new ways of being 2023 drew forward, we can at least look for the small glimmers, and like the woman on the card, embrace the metaphoric moons as they continue to move into fullness.
Now we look at 2024, with the Emperor representing my own personal creative impulses, which may be unconscious, that perhaps I can integrate this year. This made me laugh because I have a narrative about myself that I am ~*ChAoTiC*~. But the Emperor, of course, brings chaos into order. Perhaps during 2024 I can look for fresh opportunities to do just that. In a way, it’s a continuation of a journey I’ve already been on. You know, I titled the first post I ever made on Substack “Chaotic ramblings” on a book. When in reality, it was a pretty well organized and thorough book review. The Emperor asks me to take greater credit for my ability to be structured, and to affirm that this type of order can actually create space for greater creativity.
The Three of Pentacles is such a wonderful card to complete this reading, representing unconscious creative impulses available to us on a collective level this coming year. I… actually can’t imagine a more perfect card here? People working together, but each in their own way, bringing their own talents and strengths into the fold. It’s such a delicious counter-narrative to the stories of cutthroat competition and winner-takes-all mentality which still permeate much of humanity. But it doesn’t have to be that way. How can we unearth the collaborative aspects of human nature this year and beyond? Many of us have already been asking this question, and perhaps 2024 broadens the depth and scope of our understanding.
So there we are! Another year in the books. Another on the horizon. Wishing you well truly, and I’m grateful you’re here.
Carrie