My goal in this article is to come from a place of care, concern, and humility, acknowledging my ignorance, knowing that I have a lot to learn, unpack, and process вЂ“ and always will. LetвЂ™s take a moment to breathe deeply, ground ourselves, and connect with our hearts. How Modern Spirituality Denies and Contributes to the Collective Shadow Not only that, but I discovered not just a total neglect of exploring the Collective Shadow (again, apart from a rare few exceptions), but also a flat out denial of it. Yes, I could see a lot of feminist and goddess-type focus, but it was usually centered around rich, white women with enough cash and time to invest in expensive mala beads, yoga classes, and smoothie cleanses.

No one was talking about ageism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, and other ways of rejecting and diminishing our brothers, sisters, and fellow souls. (Or at least, apart from a very few rare and exceptional individuals.) No one was talking about how our spiritual practice helps or hinders racial equality or justice.

IвЂ™m striving to include these vital issues in my shadow work exploration now, although IвЂ™m not an expert on anything IвЂ™m diving into and IвЂ™ve definitely got a lot to learn.ДЄnd then, I looked around me and saw that this collective silence wasnвЂ™t just endemic to me, but a pandemic infiltrating most of the spiritual, wellness, and self-transformation circles. So IвЂ™ll stand up, own this ignorance, and take self-responsibility. I didnвЂ™t connect the dots between what was going on in my internal world and in society around me. Up until a year ago, this was my blindspot too вЂ“ I totally overlooked the importance and essential need to examine Collective Shadows such as ingrained racism and ableism. And that silence is towards the importance of Collective Shadow Work. ThatвЂ™s great вЂ¦ But there is a silence filling the spiritual community, and it is deafening. There are so many teachers, mentors, and other spiritual-type folk out there who will encourage you to take a good, firm look at yourself and whatвЂ™s lurking in the unconscious depths. Examples of the Collective Shadow include religious discrimination, racism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, and anything that вЂњothersвЂќ or condemns, rejects, or diminishes certain individuals/groups.Д«y the way, if youвЂ™d prefer to listen to the rest of this article, you can do that here:Д¬ollective Shadow Work: Our Biggest BlindspotДЄt some point during our spiritual paths, we will be exposed to the idea of shadow work. This darkness is not always glaringly apparent as it is so ancient and so ingrained into the fibers of our societies.

It is the sum total of past and present atrocities, cruelties, tragedies, and horrors perpetrated by humankind and stored at a deep, unconscious, cellular level. The Collective Shadow is humanityвЂ™s dark side. In a nutshell, if we are interested in authentically embodying our true nature вЂ“ our Heart and Soul вЂ“ we need to also examine how we have internalized the racism, sexism, homophobia, speciesism, and other Collective Shadows that permeate all of society.ДЄnd to do that, we need to courageously and relentlessly dismantle the toxic spiritual ideologies that we are conditioned to believe (more on that soon).Д«ut first вЂ¦ What is the Collective Shadow?

I am a shadow the true self