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If you're in the pagan community, you may have heard the term 'shadow work' thrown around a few times. Shadow work is a form of psychological healing through ritual and magic that accesses the 'darker' elements of our psyche and works to reintegrate them and process the traumatic things that lead to the splitting off of and repression of these parts of ourselves. An excellent book on this from Timothy Rodrick is titled Dark Moon Mysteries: Wisdom, Power, and Magic of the Shadow World. I've reviewed this book before, this post is not another accolade. This post's focus is different, it is to illustrate the role of shadow work in a religion as focused on light as Filianism.
It is easy to forget in the mystical imagery of Filianism and Déanism that shadows and darkness are an important part of the whole. The Bright Mother and her Daughter are the primary foci for many. The janyati/angels whose aspects are more 'light' oriented are more frequently addressed because there is a degree of wariness lingering with respect to the janya who is associated with the 'dark' aspects of things, as well as a convenient forgetting that the others have their own 'dark' elements. This is not a criticism of this practice. It is an acknowledgement of it and an attempt to address the necessity to consider the shadow/darkness behind the light.
The Dark Mother is a mysterious figure as is Sai Rhavë. Both are associated with the ending of things. The janya Sai Kala is perhaps the penultimate association with endings as the janya of death and the terminal end of fate. This triad, however, should not be feared. They can help us handle our own shadow side and usher us into the light that exists within that shadow. These faces of Dea are benevolent. They see our suffering and desire to help us transmute it into healing.
It is under the auspices of the Dark Mother that we might explore our interior wounds and find healing as we reach a place of acceptance. It is under the auspices of Sai Rhavë that we may explore the deep injuries we have sustained within our souls and bring the shards of ourselves back to integrate into the whole for greater stability within ourselves. And it is under the auspices of Sai Kala that we may let go the pain of the past and move forward into the future to a new life with that pain having no power over us anymore for it's sway has died with our acknowledgement and acceptance of the truth of the situation.
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