Me and My Shadow

SoulCards(c) Deborah Koff-Chapin

See Shadow, how softly she stands beside me, her smile a blurry reflection of mine as we dwell in the peace of presence. 


We walk the woods together and Shadow flits in and out of presence, reflecting how I sometimes walk in the world, my Self flickering with presence here, then gone, then back again. Me and my Shadow. Even when I can't see her, I know she is still 'there' just beyond the perception of the eye, I can feel her energy keeping me company.


I remember chasing my shadow, first as a child, then as an adult, in different concepts but the same reality of chasing what I can't catch, only realizing that by coming into stillness can we be connected as One. And that which I was chasing now comes willingly into our embrace. 


Shadow keeps lots of secrets and I know them all even if we don't whisper about them beneath the bedsheets like I did with childhood friends. And she grows and shrinks with the abundance or lack that she consumes, just as my sunshine-shadow becomes large or small when there are clouds or structures blocking the light. 


Me and my Shadow, we share everything although she protects me more than I do her for she is stronger and more fluid in nature, able to come and go so much more quickly as we pass through this world together. She shows me how to die and be born again without suffering by allowing the experience to simply Be what it is. 


Shadow is funny, too, as she can become all sorts of shapes from crooked to thin and straight, how does she know these things, these transformative processes? Ah yes, because she shares my secrets and helps me manage them. 


Shadow points out the Shades of other people, directing, guiding, helping me know them through Her. Shadow sometimes reaches out to touch, to connect, before I am able to; or may hesitate, withdraw, even as I step toward someone and become temporarily engulfed in that person's shadow. It can be a little scary and cold to live in someone else's shadow because that one doesn't always protect me like my Shadow does.


Shadow, dear Shadow, always helps me find my Self again and we step into the light where I see Her and Self fully, clearly, and we continue our walk in the woods or the canyons, along stream beds, or up a mountain. And sometimes we stop to swim the ocean where we both disappear into Mother . . . One.


Me and my Shadow . . . BFF :-)


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This was my 60th card drawn in my Journey of Soul Inquiry. Because I combined the two Soul Cards(c) decks into one, there are still 60 more cards to select along the path. I am enjoying the wisdom, the insights, that come through these image portals--and I am treasuring the words that each of you reading also shares along the way. Thank you!