Shadow Work, Racism and the Path towards Healing

My response to the recent explosion in the Astrological Community

PLEASE NOTE- Several hours after posting this I recorded myself reading this article and you can listen here-

Hi everyone~ I just wrote and posted this on FB (link to that post is below- it’s the same text as this one). I have had several students reach out to me about the current Steven Forrest/UAC conference/racism situation. Being that the original podcast was about Shadow Work students wanted to know my take on things. I was not going to comment as I am not into public shaming and I actually really like Steven. AND- after sleeping on this for a few days I realized because of the inaccuracies and misrepresentation of Shadow Work I needed to say something. I am not directly speaking the racism part as I think Black Voices need to be the ones being listened to regarding that. But I do speak to the Shadow Work piece and you will see it 100% pertains to racism.

Read on below- I do not have time to record this right now.

Blessings…

~Harmony

I am part of the Astrological Community and have been aware of and reading about the situation involving Steven Forrest that has unfolded this entire week- during Lion’s Gate- which a lot of astrologers argue about not being real but that is not the point of this post. I will say though one of the things about Lion’s Gate is that it is an initiation portal and it can be super intense- not all hearts and roses but more about being thrown into the fire.

The irony is I am going to the conference that this situation is connected to (UAC in Chicago in September). It will be my first conference since 2014 ISAR in Arizona- 12 years ago. My only other conference was in 2003 ISAR in Los Angeles. Clearly I do not go to tons of conferences- not because I don’t want to. I just have been a single mom since 2018 and when I have time and money to go on solo trips I invested it into Sacred Site trips like Egypt, Avalon/Glastonbury, India, Scotland, etc…

This year is the first year I submitted to teach! I did not get a paid position but I got a lunch talk and they chose my talk on Eris. The second level of irony is that Eris is ALL OVER this situation. The podcast was released at the Eris station and Eris stationed quincunx Steven’s Progressed Midheaven at 26 Scorpio with Algol- colloquially known as the Demon Star- coming to his Progressed IC. This is a recipe for all the shadow coming out of the closet so to speak. (Also I have to say Algol has VERY POSITIVE SIDES- I never refer to her as the Demon Star- but she does have a fierce and intense medicine as can be seen by everything happening right now).

First of all- I want to say I love Steven. I know he has a good heart, a deep Soul and beautiful Spirit. And I also can see the shadow playing out here. The weird thing is the podcast was promoting a Shadow Work workshop they are doing in the Fall and I have trained in Shadow Work for 6 years with my teacher Robert Masters who just passed away in March. I began training with him in 2016 and before that I got my Masters Degree in Depth Psychology which Shadow Work is based on. I began my Depth Psychology studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2007- so it’s been 19 years of deep devotion to Depth Psychology and Shadow Work. Also, strangely his Lila podcast is named after my daughter (well not really but my daughter’s name is Lila). So when this whole thing exploded I felt connected in some way- not directly as I have never been a student of Steven’s. I did have a reading once years ago and I have attended 2 of his lectures- but he has not been my teacher.

I am not going to speak about the parts of the podcast that pertain to racism. I am not black- and I think the voices that need to be amplified about how those comments landed needed to black voices. But what I will comment on is Shadow and Shadow Work- which is directly connected to racism and I think will help give voice to undercurrents playing out in this situation. I have a lot to say about this- and at first I was going to stay quiet. I did not want to get involved in the mud slinging or the drama. But I am being prompted by my Inner Guides to share this- because I am very concerned about the way the term Shadow Work is being used- and how it is being presented, taught and shared with the world (in relation to this situation but also on a bigger scale)

I know one of the big things being talked about is humor and how in the podcast it was said that humor is a great way to deal with shadow. But in my deep training with my teacher- we were taught that humor expresses shadow. There was a joke in our shadow work groups that if you wanted to see someone’s shadow- look at the jokes they make. Humor is NOT a positive way of addressing shadow AT ALL. What it does is express shadow in ways that cloak it- because the person making jokes can say “Oh I was just kidding” and then the other person whose feelings are hurt or feels accosted can get gas lit and then question themselves and wonder if they are the one with the problem.

To be clear pure humor- the kind that Ricky shared about his ex wife and his family having a joke about when her shadow came out calling her a Meanie- that was an example of joking in a pure context- used in that family dynamic. But and this is a BIG BUT- everyone including the mother needs to 100% agree to using that nickname to interrupt the shadow. It has to be done in a sacred and more importantly LOVING way. And I did wonder about if this first wife gave permission to Ricky for him to say that publicly on a podcast. Because if she is not totally fine with that- that was not really ok to share in a public forum. But it was a great example of humor used in Shadow Work that can be done in the context of relationship. The key here though is BOTH/ALL PEOPLE AGREE to using the humorous nickname. And also it has to be done with LOVE- not shaming or attacking energy.

I did not watch the podcast at first, but after this whole situation really truly took on a life of its own I knew I had to watch it. Someone on Threads- which I only just joined so I could hear all sides of the story and really truly understand where everyone was coming from- posted the original podcast video after it was taken down. So I watched the whole thing and I took notes. And I will share here what I saw and felt from a Shadow Work perspective. I also want to say- first I reached out directly to Steven and offered to share my reflections privately. He sent me a lovely email back but did not acknowledge my offer- so he declined indirectly. I clearly told him in my email that I knew he had a deep Soul and a brilliant Spirit and I could see his shadows at play here- that he had a part in this whole thing and if he want a neutral person to reflect that to him in a loving way I was available. Neutral meaning I am not his student and beholden to him and I am also not black and not someone who has been at all these conferences for years. And importantly neutral meaning I was only wanting to help him see his part to support his awakening and liberation- I was not wanting to attack him or tear him down (as I am seeing some of that flying around).

I think if he had taken me up on this AND if I saw real accountability happening (and corrections being made regarding the shadow work teachings that were being modeled on the podcast) I would not be posting this. I am not interested in roasting or cancelling someone. I believe in healing and repair- but I also know that people have to want to do that for themselves. In Shadow Work some of the deepest most intense work one does is face their shame, defensiveness and avoidance. It is not easy work- it is much easier falling back into our various defense and avoidance mechanisms that were developed in childhood (and past lives) to avoid feeling that shame and just not go there.

So now I will share what I have to say about the Podcast in regard to Shadow Work. And I will start with the overview statement I came to at the end of the podcast: I do not think Steven Forrest is trained enough in Shadow Work to hold a Shadow Work space. Ricky I felt had more capacity- but I do think there is some big stuff coming up for him to look at throughout this whole thing. Ricky made some very deep insightful comments- I could feel the depth of his being and that he has done a lot of inner work. But Steven is his teacher and there were things going on in the talk that from a Shadow Work perspective were not right- and Ricky was either not seeing them or not speaking up- and I am he sure is grappling with that now.

THINGS IN THE PODCAST I WILL SPEAK TO:

1) When Steven was talking about his South Node in Scorpio in the 12th House being a black void of bitterness and depression that he has avoided going into by focusing on his North Node in Taurus in the 6th and has become a workaholic as reulst- THIS IS NOT SHADOW WORK. You do not avoid your South Node by using your North Node in an obsessive way. I think probably Steven would agree with this statement and perhaps misspoke but the more telling observation for me from a Shadow Work perspective is that Shadow Work is actually about GOING INTO THAT VOID. You willingly go into the bitterness and depression- you do not avoid it. But- and this is a BIG BUT- you have to do years of Shadow Work to prepare for that. You do not just go into that first thing or it will destroy you.

He then makes a joke about his South Node- saying should I face the black hole or should I run away from the Tyrannosaurus? And then he responds- it is a Tyrannosaurus you don’t face it- you run! OMG THIS IS NOT SHADOW WORK. Even Joseph Campbell says you have to face the dragon (or the dinosaur if that is the metaphor you are using). “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.” I am super aware that this is Steven’s shadow he has been avoiding and using work to keep himself busy from going into. And I know now that this entire situation that is happening has been orchestrated by his Higher Self to throw him into that void. He has to face it. He cannot run away.

2) The next thing I want to talk about is the question that was asked by Linnea about what Shadow Work was: How would you define the Shadow? And no clear answer ever came forward. It was lot of stories and kind of winding around - which I know is a story telling method Steven uses in his teaching and his readings- but there was no clarity ever given throughout the entire video about what Shadow is and what Shadow Work is. And it made me feel that there was no crystal clear understanding of Shadow and that is why the question was never clearly answered. (I do feel Ricky has more clarity on this- but he was letting Steven lead energetically throughout a lot of the podcast)

3) Then there was this part about Heroin that was SO F-ING WEIRD TO ME. I have an ex who used to do heroin- not when he was with me- I met him when was he was clean and sober. But I know about heroin from him. It is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE and it is a drug you never want to touch in your life. And Steven made a comment about how it is possible to snort a little heroin and not be a full addict- you can have boundaries around it. I almost fell off my chair- SERIOUSLY!?! He did say after that that you cannot say this to a junkie- that they need to never get near a drug again that is the right choice for them. But I have to tell you- there is not way to have boundaries with Heroin. And that was the weirdest comment- I truly, truly, truly hope that no one out there now thinks they can go try heroin or keeping doing heroin and that they can have boundaries around it.

4) The next point I have to speak of is Steven’s story about the ritual he did at Omega years ago. This made me aware he has been teaching Shadow Work for a while. At first I thought maybe was just getting into Shadow Work- but then I realized he has been teaching this for years and that made me sad. Because he should not be teaching Shadow Work- he clearly has not done enough of his own Shadow Work to hold a clear Shadow Work space and that can cause harm.

So this Shadow Work ritual involved people writing the thing they were most ashamed about on a piece of paper and then they bunched it up to make it as small as possible and threw into a fire and the left the room without saying anything. THIS IS NOT SHADOW WORK. This is a spiritual bypassing ritual. You do not take the worst thing you have ever done and hide it, ball it up as small as you can, burn it and walk away. This is a ritual of avoidance. To be clear - it definitely was NOT the right place to go into everyone’s deep shame both because of the facilitator (Steven) not having the capacity to hold that space but also because you need to have done very deep work on the Shadow for a long time before you even go there. And it sounded like this weekend workshop at Omega was not the time and place for that (presumably many of these people were first timers to Shadow Work).

5) Then there was a question about if Shadow manifests from others pointing it out or is it just inside of us? And the answer given was that it was both but that is not accurate. Shadow is ALWAYS something that is inside of us- WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR SHADOW. It does not matter what other people do or do not do to evoke it. It comes from within. Others can trigger it- bring it Light- but it does not manifest or exist because of others. I.E. other people are not responsible for our shadow. I think it is possible this question was just worded a bit funny- but it added to my feeling of this lack of clarity and precision around what Shadow is and what Shadow Work is. I felt a strong Neptune vibe kind of obscuring the ability to clearly, pointedly name Shadow. And Neptune is part of Shadow Work in the sense of seeing past our spiritual bypassing- and of course doing shadow work from a place of Love and not trying to beat the self or another up. But if you have Neptune nebulousness in your field and you cannot see your own Shadow- you cannot hold a clear Shadow Work space.

6) Then at one point Steven talked about misbehaving in relationships and about when we get defensive not wanting to see our stuff. And he was speaking hypothetically but also was giving insight into his own shadow (as can be seen through the entire podcast). He talked about when he is in that defensive space he thinks to himself- maybe I need to not defend myself but if I did not defend myself the other person would attack me in a way that would feel lethal to me psychologically and spiritually. He goes on to say that what has invoked his defensiveness is his lack of safety with the other person not being committed to nonjudgmental honesty. And if that nonjudgemental honesty is there he can get help from his shadow (those were his exact words- I think he meant he can face his shadow).

The thing about this is that in a group Shadow Work space yes we all work to hold a nonjudgmental attitude but in the real world that does not happen all the time or even most of the time. Honestly unless people are HIGHLY trained in Shadow Work and are really good at managing their own triggers- this will not happen. And even people highly trained will find this hard when what is coming up comes very close to home. Steven essentially was saying here that he needs people to be nonjudgmental in order to own his shadow and not get defensive- and this is not Shadow Work.

I believe the Universe threw this at him to get him to go deeper into his Shadow Work. As right now he is having a lot of judgmental criticizing honesty thrown at him. The kids gloves are off and it’s not happening in a safe way AT ALL. And if he had done sufficient Shadow Work - he would have the tools to navigate this right now. But based on his responses as well as the things said throughout this entire podcast- I can tell he does not have those tools. And from someone who has done deep Shadow Work training- I can tell you he should not be holding Shadow Work workshops!

I teach Astrology & Your Shadow which is an online course that gives tools, journalling prompts, meditations, dream work prompts and more to work with the Shadow. But I have yet to teach intimate groups like the ones my teacher held space for- as I have not felt ready. The online course is like dipping your toe into the Shadow Work pool or maybe wading in knee deep. The small groups are these crucibles where you get thrown into the deep end of the pool- and if someone starts drowning as the teacher holding space you better be ready, willing and able to help them. Our own shadows that are not addressed will make it so that we start to drown along with them OR worse something we do or say is what actually contributes to their drowning. I have never seen someone hold a Shadow Work space like my teacher did. And I have been studying for over a decade since I first met him to try and get to a place where I feel ready to hold groups like he did- because this work is amazing when done properly, but when it’s not it can cause harm. And I do not want to cause harm so I have held myself back and continue to study until I feel fully ready.

There were a few other things I could say about the Podcast- but this is already way too long. The last thing I want to say is apparently the workshop being promoted is to teach people how to see the Shadow in the chart so they can take it into the next charts they look at and use what they learn and speak about the shadow in other people’s charts. HOLY SH*T NO! You do not do a weekend workshop teaching people to see Shadow in the chart and then just release them into the wild to start telling other people what their Shadow is. This is a recipe for disaster.

The Shadow is the most tender part of a person’s psyche. They do not want to go there and having it opened up is very painful. And one needs to be highly skilled to go into this! And the person whose Shadow is being spoken to has to be fully signed up (meaning they have to give full permission to go there- like you would not randomly bring it up in a reading). And further- getting into the core shadow, the deepest shadow, the deepest pain has to be something that has been prepared for with layers of Shadow Work- followed by deep Shadow integration- done before you get into that core wound space.

Also shadow work is not done solely by talking about it and looking at it in your chart and/or doing rituals of burning pieces of paper. It is a deeply somatic and emotionally cathartic process that many people will use their minds to intellectually go into and talk about- but if the body and the emotions are not involved then it will only be Shadow Work done from the head. At one point Ricky shares an excellent embodied insight and Steven comments that he does not have body awareness like Ricky does- which means sensation is Steven’s inferior function (Jungian Typology). But the problem is if your Shadow Work has not helped you come into the body and has not helped you develop that body awareness- you will tend to do Shadow Work from the head.

I did not want to write this. I don’t want Steven feeling accosted or shamed in any way shape or form. I love him- as a fellow Soul and Spirit on the path. I know he has a good heart. But after watching that podcast and sitting with it for the last few days I knew I had to say something because Shadow Work is being modeled in a way that is radically incorrect. And the racism piece that is being red flagged is 1000% person connected to the Shadow of his own Shadow Work. Racism IS Shadow. And Shadow Work helps us heal racism. I truly believe all of the United States (and all our leaders and spiritual teachers) need to do Shadow Work!

One of the things to understand in Shadow Work is that the teacher’s Shadow that they have NOT addressed or faced will get transmitted to the student in their teachings. It becomes threaded into what gets passed on- a metaphor I use when I tell my students about this is as though the teachings are laced with toxins or drugs. You can see this in Indian guru scandals and in USA yoga/spiritual teacher scandals when all the disowned shadow comes out. It becomes this big explosion in the community and students get their rose colored glasses ripped off and they have to really look at what was transmitted and see the goodness but also the shadow so that they can process and release it- and not keep carrying it forward with them. It is a thing in communities all over the place- and when it is a spiritual teacher it carries more weight because student’s project all their Light and capacity for awakening and healing onto these teachers. So there is more karma incurred in these situations.

The biggest thing I want to end with here that is super SUPER IMPORTANT for all of us to understand: WE ALL HAVE SHADOW. Including me! I am not writing from a shadow-less perspective. I am still a student and apprentice of the shadow- and I will be for the rest of my life. I think as teachers it is really important to constantly study, have other teachers you learn things from so you are in a position of learning and receiving and not just giving and teaching all the time. I don’t actually like being called a ‘Master’ of anything- I prefer to be called a student of something (astrology, shadow work) because I think the moment you think you are a master you set yourself up for your downfall. There is always more to learn, always more to study- and when it comes to shadow and inner work and healing- there is always more to discover. It is like an onion with deeper and deeper layers to be revealed. The medicine for this is Uranus in Gemini- coming back to beginner’s mind so that we are open to learn new things. To not think you know it all! (To be clear I am not saying Steven thinks he knows it all- I am speaking to all of us in this statement)

As Jesus said let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. We all have shadow. And we all ultimately have to deal with it- if not in this life then the next one. The issue is when someone is a spiritual teacher and they are teaching Shadow Work without having addressed their deepest Shadows. A teacher can only guide and lead as far as they have gone. And teachers end up becoming examples when they slip and fall, when they misspeak, when they sleep with their students or whatever else they do. And this is part of the karma of being a teacher. The archetype of the teacher has both Light and Shadow. And the Shadow accordingly to Carolyn Myss is “Teaching negative traits and destructive skills”. And this is what happens when you teach Shadow Work when you are not ready to hold that space.

I really hope after you read this- that if you do Shadow Work or are interested in Shadow Work- you understand the following big take aways about Shadow Work:

• it is about going into the deep dark places that scare you- not running away from them

• that you need to do sufficient foundational shadow work before you go into the biggest deepest scariest stuff

• that you need a HIGHLY SKILLED FACILITATOR to safely take you into these spaces

• that doing spiritual bypassing rituals of burning paper and walking away is not shadow work

• that NO ONE should do heroin !!! (WTF!!!)

• that jokes reveal people’s shadow (keep that in mind next time you listen to a comedian)

• that WE ALL HAVE SHADOW and the more of us doing our own shadow work will help to heal the collective

• that Shadow Work MUST BE from a place of both Love and Wisdom (more on that below)

And most importantly in the context of my astrology community- racism is shadow. And it is an insidious shadow that is choking the American Spirit. And it chokes us all differently. If you are white you still have to see how it is choking you- how you grew up with it and have internalized racism. How your jokes reveal your shadow racism and more. And If you are black you have a very different lived experience of racism- ancestral trauma is a real and lived thing.

I will be at UAC- and I hope we can all use this situation to deepen our healing as a community. I also would guide us all into the softness of our hearts- both Love and mercy AND discernment and severity are warranted. In the Tarot the High Priestess sits between the black and white pillars of severity and Love, discernment and mercy. I call them the pillars of Virgo (discernment/severity) and Pisces (love/mercy). We need both wings for the bird to fly. In this situation I caution us all to not allow it to close our hearts or close our minds.

As Adyashanti tells us- everything can be used for awakening! Let us all use this to awaken to a Higher level of being- personally and collectively. I believe if our Astrology Community can get there- it will be a tipping point moment for this healing to happen in the United States of America and the world at large. I don’t say this with hubris- I mean it whole heartedly. Communities like ours can lead the way

So mote it be!

~Harmony

I wrote this stream of consciousness after reading Hua Jing’s post about how the first time she met Steven and she went up to say hi telling him she worked with someone he knew in China- his response was “Well it’s better to work for David than to work in a sweatshop.” She is Chinese.

After reading that I knew I had to write this <3 Her post is very balanced- she is not attacking, but she is holding a space of accountability. You can read her post here- https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19LuSPqfC7/

P.S. I teach Shadow Work and Embodiment- along with Astrology, Mythology, Goddess teachings and more.

You can learn more about that (and Lion’s Gate if you are interested) here- https://divineharmony.com/my-astrology-classes/

A page dedicated to Shadow Work can be found here-
https://divineharmony.com/shadow-work/

(Please Note my website is being attacked by bots a lot lately and my web guy is working on it- so you may see slow loading and/or a security warning- but it is not accurate my website is HIGHLY secure)

QUOTE ABOVE- A cherished quote from my Shadow Work teacher Robert Masters.

You can learn more about him in my Substack post here- https://substack.divineharmony.com/p/honoring-my-teacher-robert-augustus?utm_source=publication-search

Robert- you are missed and loved by so many! <3