~ Welcome to The Oracle, a monthly divination to open the archetypal field through a blend of tarot and dreamwork ~
Whether scrying in water, mixing herbal potions in a bubbling cauldron, channeling beings beyond the veil, or casting bones for divination, The Sorceress embodies and traverses the liminal realms.
She straddles the boundary, being present in our material world while opening the portal to the great wonders of the unseen. As an archetype and psychic presence, she acts as a powerful guide into the depths of the unconscious, moving through darkness with illuminated eyes, bringing forth wisdom and insight.
As such, we can call upon The Sorceress to support and deepen shadow work, and to hone our communications with the unconscious via the intuitive function.
Shadow is the concealed or unconscious aspects of oneself, including the ignored, repressed, or unexplored elements of the psyche. It encompasses both positive and negative qualities. Everything outside the ego’s awareness is considered part of the shadow1.
Typically, we hear the shadow referred to as the dark side of the personality, all that could be integrated into the ego, but for one reason or another, is not. An expanded point of views sees the entirety of the unconscious as shadow — from the archetypal structures of the collective unconscious, to the images of our dreams that resist interpretation, or the psychosomatic conditions that drive difficult or habitual tendencies.
With The Sorceress as lode star, she supports us in the difficult and uncertain work of engaging the shadow, for she is intimately connected to its mercurial and mysterious ways. Her art and magic is anchored in the unconscious, and thus in shadow. If we are looking for a guide, she is a natural one for us to call upon as psychic support.
Intuition is one of the four Jungian cognitive functions. It perceives reality and insight via the unconscious, guided by archetypal images, symbolic patterns, and connections that go beyond the immediate and concrete.
Intuition is how the ego learns to speak the language of the unconscious. Not in words and rational thought forms, but in images, symbols, hunches, sudden knowings, clear vision and sight. Some of us are naturally attuned to this function of the psyche (a.k.a intuitive types). For others, it is a struggle and effort to develop. No matter where it sits in your personality, all of us have access to intuition and can strengthen it further.
As psychic presence, the archetype of The Sorceress provides a path towards developing intuition. Consider, what are her typical modes of creation and communication? Ritual and spell work, divination, meditation and prayer, active imagination, dreamwork, channeling — these are the skills we can hone to sharpen our intuitive sense. At the core of this work is an intimate and refined knowledge of archetypal symbols. That is one of the best places to begin.
And now, let us turn towards The Oracle’s words as guidance for the weeks ahead, with cards drawn especially for entering the threshold of shadow and intuition.
— The Threshold Into Shadow —
V of Cups: Grief and disappointment; the ache and sorrow of what’s been lost or wounded; the challenge of moving on after emotional upset
Queen of Wands: Magnetic confidence and radiant presence; feeling grounded in one’s own vitality; tending the inner flame with care and mastery
Shadow is found in all corners of experience, from the deeply wounding to the overwhelmingly intoxicating. Alas, this month, The Oracle calls our attention to the heavy sorrows and grief-laden moments of the V of Cups. We must search for the imprints of experience that have overflowed with disappointment, that have struck the tender heart and left it wounded and exposed. From what experience have you struggled to move on from? Consider one that hangs like a dark cloud, that seems to permeate life with a depressive pull into hopelessness and anguish.
More specifically, it is likely tied to an experience that once provided and held you (the once filled cup), that quenched the thirst for life with a nourishing water of emotional resonance and depth of love and connection. Now, it has toppled, and all that seems to be left is the loss of it all, the echos of what was, a blackened shroud of mourning you cannot seem to shake.