Shadow work and tarot readings

[Jessica]

I’ve recently devoted myself to doing some shadow work. I’m just getting started good, and self-forgiveness is hella hard sometimes.

In my practice with tarot, I let my intuition/the deck tell me when to do a reading, in an effort to increase my reliance on my intuition. I got the “urge” to do a reading today and it was negative af. Not like Ten of Swords/The Tower negative but “screw you and everything you’re made of” negative. So negative that I closed the session and cleansed the deck 3 different ways.

Has anyone else experienced this? I’m guessing that working with my shadow impacted my own energy, which in turn came out in the cards. But is it normal to change the energy of a deck while doing shadow work?

Discussion

[LetsGetCrunchy]

Actively doing shadow work can be fairly unpleasant, and will reveal unpleasant things about yourself as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now. If the cards come back negative, it is to bring your attention to your next growing edge. What is in you that’s reflected in the cards? Where do the energies of this read reside in yourself?

Edit: I feel like changing the energy of the deck while your using it for shadow work is an act of willfully ignoring the benefit of the original read. If it really feels “not right” rather than just “negative,” then that might be different.

[darthlaurian]

Which cards did you pull? In my (limited) experience, the cards themselves aren’t inherently negative, even the “scary” ones. All the meaning comes from the reader and how the reader chooses to interpret it.

[RogueDiggles]

Well everyone can grow and do better to reach a higher version of themselves, so a negative reading isn’t necessarily bad it’s just something you might want to consciously work on for yourself from now on! Criticism isn’t malicious.

[lilych0uch0u]

I would be so interested in how you do shadow work. I’m eager to start doing it myself 🙂

[libramo0n]

Yes, I consistently had more negative cards while doing shadow work for sure. But stick with it, on the other side of shadow work is absolute blissful freedom and deep self love ✨

[nonstopwriting]

If you want productive readings, you need to do productive spreads. Ask the cards three keys you need to make progress on your shadow work. Pull three cards and read them as actionable items.

[MageCats]

I had an experience like that with single card readings last 2 weeks. I was knocked out being reminded of all the negative memories. After I let the experience pass, I woke up one day with a lighter feeling and calm. It gets better, I promise.