Shadow-Work in Scorpio Season
Scorpio season is full of mystery and magic.
Autum has our earthly bodies mesmerized by the colorful beauty of leaves changing, the smell of perpetual bonfire, and crispness in the air.
The veil between the seen and the unseen makes connection to our helpers from the other side palpable. In CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE below, Scorpio’s eagle, scorpion, and phoenix want to share gifts of clarity, clairvoyance, and perspective on next steps.
Scorpio season wants to push us to the brink of our messy edges and illuminate shadows that lurk in the darkness of our being to discover the root of “Why?”
But like the murky depths of Scorpio’s oceans, our edges have a flow to them that allows for flexibility and fluidity as we move through transformation once we stop resisting the process of change. Mother Nature doesn’t try to be summer in winter, and nor can we. Much to our dismay, life isn’t always an upward trajectory- it ebbs and flows like the tides, as directed by The Moon.
Choose Your Own Adventure
If you’re unsure where the tides are taking you, tune into your gut to choose your animal symbol for Scorpio season and read on to discover what messages they have for you…
As I write this, the Mariners are in the midst of the World Series, which inspired me to lay out our tarot helpers in the spread of a baseball game. Because isn’t life a game really? We lose, we win, we forfeit, and sometimes we come out even. Shadows don’t have to feel so heavy!
Which cards are assisting us in the game of life this Scorpio season? The Moon, The Lovers, 6 of Cups, Death/Rebirth, and The Magician help us round all the bases from dis-empowerment into empowerment in our shadow-work this season.
WHAT IS A “SHADOW”?
Shadows are the parts of ourselves we deny or reject. We often repress traits we perceive as negative because they contradict our self-image or societal expectations.
WHAT IS SHADOW-WORK?
Shadow work involves bringing our repressed traits into consciousness, by acknowledging, accepting, and integrating parts of ourselves we’ve become separated from.
WHY DOES SHADOW-WORK MATTER?
Integrating our shadows can result in healthier relationships and growth, because we don’t unconsciously project them onto other parts of our life. When left ignored, our behaviors, patterns, and thoughts can become unconsciously motivated by the desire of our shadows, which gets more controlling the longer they are repressed.
I think of Scorpio as the ocean’s undercurrent that brings up sunken and buried debris to the surface and washes them onto the beach to be reckoned with. This debris is our blind spots. Like looking through a car rearview mirror, our blind spots are places we cannot see. We are not conscious of them, which is why they are part of our “unconscious.”
Energetics: the unconscious as our root and sacrum chakras.
Think of our root and sacrum chakras like the hard-drive of a computer. They hold all memories of our human experience. However, if all files were open at the same time we couldn’t function in our day-to-day existence and would malfunction, crash, and break down. We can access old, saved files when we become conscious of them.
THE ROOT: Most of us have trouble remembering much from early childhood. However, this time shapes our sense of what it means to have stability, safety, and to fit into our “tribe.”
The circumstances that activate fight-or-flight in us become programmed when we learn what to be afraid of, as a survival instinct to stay alive. Many of our shadows are “rooted” at this time and become “blind spots” because we don’t know any other way of being. It takes re-wiring and un-conditioning to reverse our foundation in our root.
THE SACRUM: We may have some memories from ages 7-14ish, however, many “unconscious” patterns get stuck energetically in our sacrum- the hips, reproductive organs, and lower back. The sacrum holds our relationship to change, death and birth. “Birth” may be literal but also exists in creative expression to move through our emotions, which are based in interpersonal interactions with others.
Relationships and how we learn to interact with others is set in the foundation of our sacrum. If we had to adapt and change who we were to feel safe or accepted in our relationships at a young age, then we may develop wounds around losing our sense of free will and loss of our essence in order to please others. To put is lightly, the sacrum holds a LOT.
As we close out 2025- the Year of the Hermit – it may feel a bit like making your way through the birth canal (also in the sacrum!). Read more about the Year of the Hermit here. Any inner work that’s left undone, unfinished, unacknowledged, or unconscious, will be washed up by Scorpio onto our “conscious” beaches at this time.
So how can we work with our blind spots?
PITCHER- 18. THE MOON
The Moon has been dictating the tides since the beginning of time on Earth. Our ancestors looked at the exact same moon as we do every night. As the tides wash up debris from ancient corners of the Earth’s Ocean floor, what debris might be sent from generations before you? Which pearls will you discover? What surprises might you take for keepsakes?
And which ones will you step over and say- “No thanks. Not mine to hold.” We can’t control where we came from any more than we can control the tides, but we can control how we flow with the current. Want to dive deep into flow? I found this episode by Michael Beckwith of Take Back Your Mind with Christy Whitman extremely eye-opening:)
FIRST BASE: THE LOVERS
Allow others to turn the mirror from your blind spots onto your light. When things we don’t like about ourselves rise to our attention, it can be difficult to see ourselves clearly. Include people into your day who lift you up and bring out the best parts of you. Who makes you laugh? Who celebrates you?
And on the other side of the coin- Are there people who bug the s*&$! out of you or bring out drama and conflict? Shadow-work would say, what is it about that person that you don’t like about yourself? If you want to attract more positive mirrors in your own life, be a positive mirror for others to help them see their own blind spots.
EXERCISE: See “Death & Rebirth” below. Ask a friend to write your five-star review, and vice versa.
SECOND BASE: 6 OF CUPS
The number 6 is a number of expansion. Shadow-work can be uncomfortable. Admitting our mistakes, forgiving others and ourselves, and letting self-sabotaging patterns go is frankly- let’s face it- not fun. 6 of Cups asks us to re-write our story through shifting the emotions we associate around certain events. How can we change the voice, the narrator, or the settings of our story to shift pessimism into optimism? Can we tell the truth but wear rose-colored glasses while doing so?
EXERCISE: Choose a memory from a time when you struggled and tell the story like a children’s book. Change the characters to animals, switch the landscape, etc. and read the story out loud. You’ll be amazed how hearing your own story from a birds-eye view can shift your perspective around that memory.
SHORTSTOP: DEATH & REBIRTH
The laws of energy say that nothing ever really dies. To bring in new opportunities and ways of being into your life, you must create space for them by releasing something else. Joy, abundance, and clarity can’t even get up to bat if negative-self talk, judgment, or resentment bogart the line-up. In this Insights at the Edge podcast episode, Diana Hill suggests a very helpful exercise when working with death cycles…
EXERCISE: Write your ONE-STAR REVIEW. How do you fear that people will remember you? (your faults, mistakes, negative traits, etc.) Then write your own FIVE-STAR REVIEW. How do you want people to remember you? (Your achievements, talents, positive traits, etc.)
THIRD BASE: THE MAGICIAN
The Magician balances both the practical and the magical. Once you’ve collected all the pearls and surprises, and bypassed the muck on the beach, you may ask, “So now what?!” The Magician helps us activate new opportunities with our debris once we’ve allowed it into our consciousness. When you can see everything laid out before you, you have all the information you need to create what you want with it. The Magician says- “See how unique you are? No one has this exact combination of lessons, experiences, gifts, talents, and resources. What will you create?!…”
EXERCISES: 1) Dream Big: Everything that exists started first as an idea- Make a vision board for your life. 2) Affirmations: Start your day by writing a page of a repeated affirmation-Throughout your day, notice when situations or statements don’t align with the frequency. 3) Ritual: Shift mindset of “Discipline” into “Devotion” by applying mindful intention to daily habits.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Calling you to the gift of clarity of sight, the eagle says you may be missing the bigger picture because you’ve gotten bogged down in the ebbs and flows of life. Or you may be so laser-focused on your prey that you’ve gotten off course from where you actually want to be. Eagles are majestic. If you picked eagle, it may be because your fire is feeling depleted from the shadows in your world and you need to find awe in something majestic or magical to spark your flame so you can fly high with ease again. Eagles fly high and ride the currents of the wind-like a fish in the sky. They can exert little energy to maintain their strength and place on their throne as leader of the sky. If you picked eagle, you might want to look at places where you make things harder on yourself than they need to be. The root of this behavior can stem from deeper shadows around abundance. Eagle knows he doesn’t have to earn his majesty-it’s his birthright. He demands respect – and it starts from within. Honor yourself before you feed the rest of your flock.
If you chose scorpion, you’re being called to awaken your hunter, warrior spirit. You may have been going with the flow for so long, that you’ve floated out to sea with no shore to distinguish your edges. Scorpions are ancient creatures and are asking you now to bring generational wounds into the light. Overcoming conditioning and DNA imprints requires fierce determination and diligence. You may need to muster some strength to speak honestly with others in order to protect yourself – and like the scorpion with its protective shell and stinger – it might sting for others to finally hear your truth. Scorpions are masters of defense – with their hard shells, pinchers, and venomous tail – they elicit fear from opponents in battle. Scorpion reminds you that battle can be necessary when protecting what is sacred, but when your power is mis-used or unfocused, remember the wise words of Ghandi, “An eye for an eye makes the world go blind.” Lastly, if you picked scorpion, it may be because it’s time to address shadows around control. Scorpions are resilient and can live in most environments. They are also nocturnal and can see what is hidden that’s not apparent from the naked eye. Keep an open mind and let go of the need to control every outcome. The unpredictable and unexpected can boost your reflexes and make you a strong competitor in this game of life.
The Phoenix is pulling you towards the flames of transformation and regeneration. You have resisted change for long enough and it’s time to proceed with the inevitable shift of seasons in your life. Allow fire to seduce your stubborn shadows out of the hidden depths and see them for what they truly are. They’ve been consuming more of your energy by trying to keep them in the dark. Where have you been tiring yourself out with thoughts, habits, people, and patterns that don’t serve your greater good? It’s time to stop giving away your energy and utilize entropy to allow fire to bring you to a new state of harmony. Burn what no longer serves you, and with gratitude, rise above the flames with newfound wisdom, perspective, and strengths that you discovered in the process of your struggles. If you chose phoenix, it’s time to stop pushing, going, and doing, and surrender to a more easeful path. You have hidden gifts, talents, and strengths that are waiting to be revealed at this time, and you’re stronger than you know. Deep down, you may believe a sense of freedom is too good to be true…but it is in the cards for you. Longevity is created one step at a time. The hardest part is mustering the courage to leap into the flames. The universe will respond favorably when you choose this act.
I will end this post with a poem I wrote when I was 16 and in the thick of my relationship with the shadows of an eating dis-order…
THE SHADOW
It peers around every corner and casts a shadow on your mind. You forget your innocence and carefree spirit as this shadow makes you blind. The energy you once possessed has suddenly slipped away, As quietly as a devious snake that slithers towards its prey. Each day you open up your eyes to a chaotic foggy mess, Of questioning and planning that put your willpower to the test. This fog creates the shadow that lurks behind your brain, Controlling everything that goes in and comes out but never taking the blame. You tell yourself tomorrow will be different, tomorrow the shadow will fade. But as tomorrow becomes today, you will find that shadow has persistently stayed. Your mind goes blank and your serenity floats away, Promising you they will come back…someday. This war with the shadow will end eventually, Just keep fighting and you will see. Keep hoping and striving for the sun to come out and shine through all those clouds. For someday in that war with the shadow, when the sun conquers the fog, Its rays will break through the darkness, and its power will suddenly make you proud. Eventually that lurking shadow that once made you blind Will be lost in the sunshine and carried away to be left far behind.
AND SO IT IS.
