Healing your Shadows: Inviting the Light In to Heal Karmic Wounds
Written By Gabriela Herstik
We all have trauma. We all have wounds that we need to heal, regardless if they’re old or fresh or sewn up. If you’re being drawn to a certain part of your darkness and don’t know why- if there’s something that feels remembered in your sadness or sorrows or hurt- you may be feeling karmic wounds. You are incarnated with certain people from life to life- there to teach you a lesson in some way, shape or form. And sometimes when we encounter people we’ve known before, the lessons and hurts they teach us bring up our karmic past, and parts of our souls that are hard to reach.
This spell for karmic healing uses the tarot cards I wrote about a couple of weeks ago to create a transition into surrendering old patterns and wounds. The symbols and images on the tarot cards allow us to connect with a part of ourselves we may not always listen to- especially when the cards speak of heavier issues. By working with a few of the cards that scare us, we are able to tap into past pains and traumas and access them from a new way. Use what scares you, leap into it and heal it. Use my last post as a guide for what card speaks to you- or use whatever other card you feel drawn to.
Mugwort available on The Hoodwitch.com
What you’ll need:
Tarot cards- 2 or 3 tarot cards.
They can be:
The Tower
The Two of Swords
The Ten of Swords
Death
The Devil
Or any card you’re drawn to for healing purposes.
Sage/ Mugwort/ Lavender/ Sweetgrass to cleanse your sacred space
A shower
A fireproof bowl
Pen and paper
A black and white candle
Some uninterrupted time in sacred space
Optional::
Anything needed to cast a circle
Stones: Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Onyx, Obsidian
Altar Set Up
Set up your altar facing the North with your two candles, cards and whatever stones you choose to use. Have your fire proof bowl and your pen and paper ready to use. You can create an altar with whatever makes you feel whole and protected and healed. Buy yourself some flowers, cover your space in mementos- do whatever. Just make sure you have enough space to light pieces of paper on fire safely!
Before you shower, cleanse your sacred space with some white sage, mugwort, sweetgrass or lavender.
• Shower.
Undress intentionally. Take time to slow down and start breathing into your feelings. Once you’re naked imagine yourself in a cocoon of white light. Bathe in it. Take a few slow, deep breaths and step into the shower. Continue to breathe intentionally as you feel the rush of warmth come over you like a waterfall of white light. Imagine that every drop of water on your skin is healing you, kissing any of your wounds. Let your mind wander to whatever feels like home. Imagine you’re somewhere far away under a waterfall. There’s nothing wrong- you are blissful. Warm. Safe. Free. Take time and enjoy the light.
Once you’re done showering, take time to put on some lotion or oil, imagine white light moving from your palms into your skin. Give yourself a massage. Bask in how wonderful it feels to touch yourself. Give yourself some TLC. Ground yourself.
• IF you want:: Cast a circle
Once you feel all effervescent and loved on, move to your altar. You can stay nude, also called skyclad, or you can wear something that makes you feel amazing and powerful- a robe, some lingerie, a comfy sweater. What feels most like YOU? Wear that.
Using your finger, a wand, a crystal wand or an athame, cast a circle. Moving clockwise, extend your arm and walk around the parameter of your workspace in a circle three times, imaging white/violet light shooting out from whatever you’re using and forming a circle ofaround you like a protective hedge of energy. You can say something if you’d like, like
“I cast this circle as a sacred space between worlds. Only that which serves in my highest purpose and in my highest favor resides here. This is a space of love, of healing. So mote it be”
• Meditate on the Tarot
Now comes the fun part. Sit down with your tarot cards. Take a second and breathe. Look at the cards, and take deep breaths, gazing into the cards and listening for anything they may be telling you. How can the hurt, the fear, the pain in the cards you’ve chosen help heal you? What is it that you need to let go of or pick up or soften? What part of your karma are the cards you’re working with talking to you about?
• Light your candles
Light your black candle thinking about all the pain you want to release and let go of. Imagine any unneeded energy getting dissolved by the white light that surrounds you. Gaze into the flame of your candle, softening your eyesight and imagining everything that has hurt you burning in the flames. Once you feel ready, light your white candle, imagining that violet light is surrounding you. As you light the candle imagine healing. Bliss. Peace. Feel everything in your soul. Gaze into the flame, imagining the warmth healing any wound you may feel. Imagine it getting covered with loving kisses from the universe. Gaze into both flames and feel softness and warmth.
REMEMBER- Listen to your intuition. Soften your gaze and see where the flames take you. Listen to the little voices in your soul reminding you of where you’ve been- listen to what it is you need to heal.
• Burn It and Let it Go
Grab your paper and pen. With your tarot cards in front of you, take a second and think of what part of yourself or your soul you want to heal. Fold your paper in half. On the left half right about what you want to let go of. On the right half write what you want to manifest, and heal. Rip the left half of your paper into strips and light each on fire, disposing them in the bowl to burn when you’re done. Imagine each thing you want to let go of dissolving into the universe, detaching itself from you.
You can say something like
“I release these old wounds and patterns that no longer serve me into the universe, so mote it be” when you’re done. Take your time- bask in the actual physical act of watching these papers burn. When you’re called to, do the same thing to the right half of the paper. This time imagine each of these intentions as bubbles of energy bursting in the universe, ready to manifest. With each strip of paper you burn, imagine a bandage of white light healing your hurt and your pain. When you’re done you can say something like “I release my wounds into the universe, and I cover myself in love and white light to heal. I bask in the essence of the divine//universe. So mote it be”
• Sit with it
Once you’ve burned it all up, sit with your tarot cards and your candles. When you feel ready, close your eyes and take five deep breaths. Imagine that you are bathed in white light. You can hold or place any crystals along your body- a rose quartz on your heart and an amethyst on your third eye are especially healing. Imagine a vortex of white light covering and engulfing you, healing you of your hurt. Don’t rush the process. When you’re finished, sit up. Put your forehead to the ground and imagine any excess energy being grounded through you into the earth. Take some time to journal or create if you feel the need to record what you’re feeling. As always- follow your intuition.
• If you cast a circle:
Walk counter- clockwise once. Imagining all the energy going up through whatever you cast the circle with, through your body and into your feet and the ground. When you’re finished you can say “The circle is open, may it never be broken”. Ground your energy once more.
When you’re done, take time to relax. Do whatever it is that makes you feel good. Sage. Write. Create. Bask in your healing. You may revisit this ritual whenever you need- focusing on what you want to release during the Waning Moon, and focusing on what you want to manifest during the Waxing Moon.
In summary
• Shower- imagining a waterfall of white light
• Cast a circle
• Meditate on your chosen tarot cards
• Light your candles focusing on what you want to let go of and heal
• Write down what you want to let go of and heal on paper- burn it
• Sit with your feelings
• Ground your energy
• Close your circle
• Celebrate and journal!