5 Zodiacs Who Need To Begin Shadow Work (+ Tarot Advice On How To Start)

Shadow work can be an important aspect of healing psychological trauma and self-actualization.

Carl Jung described the shadow, as a part of the self that contains some of the more difficult and turbulent emotions. These emotions are deemed ‘unacceptable’ and are exiled into the darkness or shadows of self instead of addressing and processing them. These are not always negative emotions, as there are many reasons that we may decide a feeling is too difficult for us to process. Shadow work is working to reintegrate those parts of ourselves into our whole being. Engaging in shadow works means that we are taking on the emotional work of facing some of our more difficult emotions, and finding a way towards acceptance of them and ultimately an acceptance of our entire selves. 

Our tarot reader has drawn cards the zodiac signs affected (Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, and Sagittarius) in addition to three cards for each sign that represents: 

• The Shadow: What are the parts of your personality that you tend to hide or deny? 
• Your Patterns: What are your behavioral patterns in hiding your shadow self? 
• Integration: Advice on how to approach the emotional work of integrating your shadow self. 

Taurus

The Shadow: Justice, Reversed. There’s a part of you that feels you got away with something big, Taurus, and the shadow that you so fear is cast by karma. The idea that consequences may reach forward and snatch you from your current state can sometimes be overwhelming and puts a damper on your ability to truly feel joy.  

Your Patterns: The Empress. Your attempt to compensate for this shadow causes you to become over-controlling in situations. You want the best for everyone, you don’t want anyone to make the mistakes that you made – so you attempt to ‘helicopter parent’ those within range of you, and most of all, yourself.  

Integration: 7 of Wands. It’s time for you to accept your past, and that it is in your past, and to ground yourself in the present. Allow the light of your best self to shine.

Gemini

The Shadow: Strength, Reversed. More than most, you understand the dual nature of things, Gemini, and Strength (like any other attribute) can have a difficult dual nature. In this case, you may find yourself being ‘too strong’ and not leaning on your support network and trusting them to have you. Or, you may find that you are defaulting to an ‘overpowered’ type of strength vs. the gentle sort of strength. 

Your Patterns: The Empress. Your patterns in repressing this shadow cause you to overcorrect this imbalance, most likely by not establishing and maintaining clear boundaries and by being too smothering with people. 

Integration: 7 of Wands. Instead of locking everything away, communicate your ideas. Share what you’re thinking. Ground yourself, and remember that while these emotions you’re working through are difficult, you aren’t alone, and the work you’re doing is worthwhile. 

Virgo

The Shadow: King of Cups. You have a grounded sense of emotional intelligence that you have effectively sidelined, Virgo, as you prefer a more pragmatic path. There’s something about the soft nuance of emotion that makes you uncomfortable. 

Your Patterns: 9 of Pentacles. You’re very driven by the practical, and there’s not a situation where you can’t see a way to solve it through material means. While this approach has created a life of comfort for you, you often find yourself feeling isolated, which feeds into your discomfort with the more emotional side of life. 

Integration: The Wheel of Fortune. Not everything is under our control, and there are times when chance will take over when our resolve can not. Soon you’ll find a twist of fortune that will both allow you and guide you to address your shadow head-on.

Scorpio

The Shadow: Queen of Pentacles. Your high emotional IQ makes it so you’ve never accepted the fact that sometimes you’re materially driven, Scorpio. Emotional well-being and financial well-being just don’t seem to blend well in your mind. You might even fear what having too much could do to your very soul, and because of this you may find yourself rejecting even wishing for ‘abundance,’ and limiting yourself to ‘security’ or ‘survival.’

Your Patterns: 2 of Pentacles. Because you’re not allowing yourself to embrace an abundance mindset, you’ve set yourself up for patterns of constant motion and seeking. Instead of making big moves that allow you to enhance your wealth, you now have far too many things that you need to juggle. 

Integration: The Sun. Allow your optimism, joy, and gratitude to guide you to how to best approach the material aspects of your existence.

Sagittarius

The Shadow: 8 of Cups. You have big feelings around abandonment and disappointment. These sorts of feelings can often lead you to rejecting people and situations before they get the chance to ‘reject’ or ‘abandon’ you. Your willingness to walk away before you feel the inevitable sting of rejection is costing your spirit a lot of freedom, Sagittarius.

Your Patterns: 10 of Wands. As soon as you start to feel overwhelmed or over-obligated in a relationship, you may find yourself looking for the door. This is especially true if you feel the need to perform in order to prove yourself, as you may dismiss the exercise as not worth the effort. 

Integration: The Star. You deserve good things, Leo, and you need to remember that. You’re allowed to have expectations of people. You’re deserving of love, you’re deserving of being present, and you’re deserving of healing. Start to imagine what your life would be like if you lived those truths.