In modern witchcraft, it’s not hard to argue that that the full moon gets the spotlight when it comes to the best time to perform potent, powerful magic. And it’s true, the full moon is an excellent time to raise our energy toward our magical purposes and our desired results. And, while some witches prefer not to work any magic during the dark moon, instead using it as a time for rest and renewal, I’d like to suggest that the dark moon is a perfect opportunity for working any magic that requires looking deep within ourselves.

Let’s look specifically at how we can incorporate shadow work during this moon phase. And a little farther down the page, look for a special dark moon tarot spread to help you dive deep, illuminate, and reclaim the dark parts of your psyche so you can rise to the occasion in your own life.

What Is the Dark Moon All About?

Essentially, the dark moon is the roughly three-day period where the moon goes dark and cannot be visibly seen from the sky. Not to be confused with the new moon (there are legitimate confusions around this), during the dark moon phase of the lunar cycle, the Earth is blocking the light from the sun, which is what illuminates the moon in the sky.

Just from a symbolic perspective, this one reason why this period in the lunar cycle can be so effective for doing shadow work, as the moon here is a potent symbol for our own shadows. From an energetic perspective, the dark moon represents the energy of the inward spiral, or widdershins. As opposed to the full moon, which is an excellent time to project energy outwards into the universe and effect physical reality, the energy of the dark moon helps to draw our attention inwards into ourselves.

Because of this, the dark moon can be an excellent time for dealing with magical matters such as releasing, purifying, banishing, protecting, divination, and journeying to the underworld (or working with underworld deities such as Hecate or The Morrighan). But what about shadow work?

What’s Shadow Work and Why Would I Want to Do Shadow Work? (Sounds Scary…)

Considering that most of us come from dualist cultures entrenched in Christianity, which glorifies the light and vilifies the darkness, it’s understandable that we would be a little on-the-fence when it comes to jumping into this kind of work.

Carl Jung and the Shadow

More or less, when people talk about “the shadow”, they are heavily influenced by the work of Carl Jung, in which he saw the shadow in both individuals and the collective. (I’ll be focusing on the individual shadow, although the individual and collective shadow are of course intertwined).

As far as a basic Jungian definition goes, the shadow is the unknown parts of our Self. It is the unconscious aspect of our personalities that we either do not identify with or we are entirely unaware of because it lies in our unconscious. Jung also didn’t believe that we were born into this world with a shadow but that it is developed over time by being in the world. So slowly but surely, as an individual navigates life and their ego develops, certain behaviours, talents, or proclivities will be deemed unacceptable by others, culture, and society at large. These parts of ourselves, then, get cast out into our shadow or our unconscious awareness.

An Example of the Shadow in Action

I’ll give you a hypothetical example of how the shadow develops and can act-out in the form of shadow projection (this is just one way in which the shadow acts out – there are many). Say I grow up in a conservative, straight-laced family and my talents for creative and magical thinking, tendency to take up space and desire to be heard are not appreciated by my parents or my community. I’m shamed, bullied, told to stop, and so I do. Inevitably, my sense of self and how I act in the world are shaped by those experiences.

However, as time goes on, the contents of my shadow grow larger, gains power, and I begin to act out in ‘shady’ ways. Say, I encounter someone who exhibits all of these suppressed qualities and they are totally outspoken, creative, magical, and I am jealous AF. Their very being is triggering to me, and so I may do things like think obsessively negative thoughts about them, gossip behind their back, or even go so far as to lash out at them online and be judgmental, belittling…I’m sure you get the picture (and how this happens all the time in our offline/online lives).

It’s kind of a big deal. The shadow is everywhere. And the more we reject, deny, or resist the shadow, the more power we ultimately give it. We then act out in ways in which we have very little to no control over because these parts of ourselves are entirely unknown to us (but ultimately wounded and in need of healing). If taken to extremes, you can end up in a Jekyll and Hyde situation (which is obviously not ideal!) and which is why I think the consequences of not doing shadow work are worse than the initial discomfort of looking in the mirror and seeing things for the way they are.

How to Begin Shadow Work and Harness the Power of the Dark Moon

When it comes to shadow work, the ultimate end game is to become more aware and make different choices. It’s an ongoing process (one never ‘gets rid’ of their shadow) that begins with honesty and curiosity – acknowledging the dissonance in our behaviour, thoughts, or attitudes and becoming curious as to why the same thing keeps happening to us over and over again, or why we have the exaggerated emotional reactions that we do.

In terms of first steps and beginning shadow work, increasing our awareness around the shadow is key and the act of naming our shadow can be very helpful. Magically speaking, it is said that when you call something by its true name, you gain power over that thing. The same is true with confronting and coming to terms with the darker side of ourselves. Below, I’ve included a tarot spread that ties into this principle of the true name. This tarot reading is also best to be performed sometime during the dark moon, so you can take advantage of those inward, contemplative energies of the lunar phase.

This spread was adapted by a journaling exercise from Dark Moon Mysteries by Timothy Roderick.

Things to Keep in Mind

Performing this reading within the context of a ritual or ceremony is a good idea and can make the reading more powerful. Also journaling what you’ve discovered and sitting with your realizations and feelings is integral to the process, and doesn’t require a lot of bells and whistles. However, what I will stress here is that less is more and don’t bite off more than what you can chew. Developing a healthier relationship with your shadow takes time, and tapping into the results (like accessing greater power and becoming a more effective, whole version of yourself) also will not happen overnight. But the results are transformative, and very much worth it.

Shadow work is not a one-and-done deal, which is why it’s a good habit to do a little bit of shadow work regularly during the dark moon. It’s most effective when you take a look at one small thing at a time and then do the work of integration during the rest of the month.

Obviously, the finer details of what that integration work looks like are beyond the scope of this post. If you’re curious as to what those details are and what shadow work looks like in the long-term (and how to get good results and keep yourself safe), I’d recommend digging deeper into the other resources out there. Kelly-Ann Maddox’s YouTube channel is a great place to start, and if you’re more into books, then Meeting the Shadow or Dreaming through Darkness are excellent reads, as well.