“The veil is thin.” This phrase usually refers to the veil between our physical world and the spiritual otherworld; when the veil thins, spirits are able pass between these realms more easily, which is why we light candles and leave offerings for ancestors during this time.
But what if this isn’t the only veil that grows thin during the dark half of the year? What if each of us has our own veil, one that separates our conscious mind from those “hidden” parts of ourselves—the shadow, the inner child, the higher self?
Perhaps like the souls of the dead, those less-accessible parts of ourselves become more accessible during this time. Have you felt it? Shining a light on the shadow can be so painful, but doing so has felt more natural to me these past few weeks.
When I find myself feeling overly sensitive or wounded by someone else’s words, or being hypercritical of another person’s behavior, I can usually find my shadow self driving those thoughts and emotions if I take the time to go inwards.
Journeying through those dark realms—whether it is the spiritual otherworld or our own inner darkness—can be scary. I often feel haunted by the ghosts of old traumas and regrets; words I wish could be unspoken, storylines I wish I could forget, dreams I wish would stop replaying.
But perhaps now is the right time to confront those ghosts—they may have important messages to share.
And if we listen and find that those messages no longer resonate with us, that some ghosts simply remain latched to us for the sole purpose of feeding off our unhappiness, perhaps now is the time to put them to rest and set them free.
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