The term "lightworker" is familiar to many people. It's common for healers to refer to themselves as lightworkers and talk about "only dealing with the light." But what does that really mean?
Even after extensive research on the internet, finding a cohesive definition of "lightworker" was difficult. It seems to mean a healer who is all about the light. The Lightworker.org website defines lightworker as: "Any being dedicated to the cultivation of inner presence and the elevation of awareness in the self and other selves.
Even after extensive research on the internet, finding a cohesive definition of "lightworker" was difficult. It seems to mean a healer who is all about the light. The Lightworker.org website defines lightworker as: "Any being dedicated to the cultivation of inner presence and the elevation of awareness in the self and other selves.
The connotation associated with "lightworker" is firmly rooted in the same old duality of light vs.dark. The definition, although a bit vague, is more balanced. I've met numerous people who identify with being a lightworker. I'm not sure exactly what that is.I do know that's not me.
A few months ago a friend forwarded me the last couple pages of a chapter from Revelations for the New Millennium. I haven't read the book. The portion she sent me contained a beautifully written description of darkworkers. I recognized myself in what I read. Not a new revelation. Hi, my name is Raven and I'm a darkworker.
So what is a darkworker? Goggle that term and you'll get a zillion hits, most of which make darkworkers sound like minions of evil. We aren't. Same old duality....again.
Darkworkers are just as committed to deepening awareness, shifting consciousness and healing as lightworkers are. The difference lies in the tools we use to do that. Darkworkers consciously use shadow and darkness.
The current emphasis on being a lightworker and working only with the light reinforces our dualistic view of healing and who healers are supposed to be. We have reformed "healer" from the image of our own fear of the dark. In doing this we've limited both our view of what healing is and what's possible.
The idea of shadow as a vehicle of healing is part of the healer archetype described by Carl Jung. Jung believed the collective unconscious that all human beings share includes mythic characters or archetypes. Archetypes represent fundamental characteristics or patterns that develop with the evolution of human experience. The healer is one of the original archetypes Jung identified.
The wounded healer is a subset of the healer archetype. The wounded healer isn't simply a healer who is wounded. Being physically, mentally,emotionally,spiritually and energetically wounded is part of the human experience. We all have wounds.
The wounded healer becomes a healer by descending in her own darkness to heal her wounds and reemerging. Yes, there are many healer (therapists, energy workers, etc) who chose to pursue healing after experiencing a personal tragedy or dealing with some aspect of their own wounding. For the wounded healer, dealing with the wound is a do and die situation.
It's not about becoming a healer. It's about survival. You know not journeying into the darkness will kill you, literally or metaphorically. You also know that some part of you will die during the descent but refusing the make the journey isn't a viable choice. Often the thought of being a healer doesn't occur to you until you've passed through your dark night of the soul.
The most powerful and valuable tools a wounded healer has are the ones forged from her own darkness.
Karl Kerenyi, a colleague and contemporary of Carl Jung, described the wounded healer as someone who is able "at home in the darkness of suffering and there to find the germs of light and recovery with which, as though by enchantment, to bring forth Asclepius, the sunlike healer."
A few months ago a friend forwarded me the last couple pages of a chapter from Revelations for the New Millennium. I haven't read the book. The portion she sent me contained a beautifully written description of darkworkers. I recognized myself in what I read. Not a new revelation. Hi, my name is Raven and I'm a darkworker.
So what is a darkworker? Goggle that term and you'll get a zillion hits, most of which make darkworkers sound like minions of evil. We aren't. Same old duality....again.
Darkworkers are just as committed to deepening awareness, shifting consciousness and healing as lightworkers are. The difference lies in the tools we use to do that. Darkworkers consciously use shadow and darkness.
The current emphasis on being a lightworker and working only with the light reinforces our dualistic view of healing and who healers are supposed to be. We have reformed "healer" from the image of our own fear of the dark. In doing this we've limited both our view of what healing is and what's possible.
The idea of shadow as a vehicle of healing is part of the healer archetype described by Carl Jung. Jung believed the collective unconscious that all human beings share includes mythic characters or archetypes. Archetypes represent fundamental characteristics or patterns that develop with the evolution of human experience. The healer is one of the original archetypes Jung identified.
The wounded healer is a subset of the healer archetype. The wounded healer isn't simply a healer who is wounded. Being physically, mentally,emotionally,spiritually and energetically wounded is part of the human experience. We all have wounds.
The wounded healer becomes a healer by descending in her own darkness to heal her wounds and reemerging. Yes, there are many healer (therapists, energy workers, etc) who chose to pursue healing after experiencing a personal tragedy or dealing with some aspect of their own wounding. For the wounded healer, dealing with the wound is a do and die situation.
It's not about becoming a healer. It's about survival. You know not journeying into the darkness will kill you, literally or metaphorically. You also know that some part of you will die during the descent but refusing the make the journey isn't a viable choice. Often the thought of being a healer doesn't occur to you until you've passed through your dark night of the soul.
The most powerful and valuable tools a wounded healer has are the ones forged from her own darkness.
Karl Kerenyi, a colleague and contemporary of Carl Jung, described the wounded healer as someone who is able "at home in the darkness of suffering and there to find the germs of light and recovery with which, as though by enchantment, to bring forth Asclepius, the sunlike healer."
This description also applies to shamanic work. Shamanism is one of the oldest healing modalities. Archaeologists can trace it's history back 40,000 years. Many suspect the tradition goes back even further. I once read the difference between a shaman and other healers is that healers work with light where shamanic practitioners work with shadow/darkness and light. There are other basic differences between shamanic practitioners and healers in other modalities, but that distinction rings true for me.
Shamanism is essentially a darkworker tradition. I find it curious in this climate of lightworkers that shamanism has resurfaced so strongly. I wonder if the resurgence isn't an unconscious attempt to move beyond the duality of light vs. dark. Although I'm often disappointed to find websites about shamanism sanitized of any mention of working with darkness.
Darkness is the universal womb, the mother of all things. Darkness is the void of creation pregnant with all that is possible. Light comes from darkness and returns to it. We too come from the darkness of the womb and return to darkness each night in sleep. Not all darkness is shadow. Shadows are cast by light. The shadow that follows us on the ground is created by sunlight.
On our dualistic planet, darkness and light are reciprocal, indivisible parts of the whole. This is the territory of darkworkers. Rather than choosing between darkness and light, we choose both.
That choice means we often stand as a mirror for other peoples fear of the dark. Every couple years I encounter a potential client who is hesitant to work with me. The way I carry darkness and shadow scares them. I'm still working on not taking that reaction personally. I understand the value of mirrors, but being one is challenging.
Living as a darkworker is an edgy dance. We live in world that still clings to light is good, dark is evil. What we darkworkers see reflected in the world around us is a dichotomy that doesn't match who we are. We aren't selfish, working for the "dark side" or here to destroy anything. We are holding space for those beliefs and for whatever is needed to heal that duality.
Shamanism is essentially a darkworker tradition. I find it curious in this climate of lightworkers that shamanism has resurfaced so strongly. I wonder if the resurgence isn't an unconscious attempt to move beyond the duality of light vs. dark. Although I'm often disappointed to find websites about shamanism sanitized of any mention of working with darkness.
Darkness is the universal womb, the mother of all things. Darkness is the void of creation pregnant with all that is possible. Light comes from darkness and returns to it. We too come from the darkness of the womb and return to darkness each night in sleep. Not all darkness is shadow. Shadows are cast by light. The shadow that follows us on the ground is created by sunlight.
On our dualistic planet, darkness and light are reciprocal, indivisible parts of the whole. This is the territory of darkworkers. Rather than choosing between darkness and light, we choose both.
That choice means we often stand as a mirror for other peoples fear of the dark. Every couple years I encounter a potential client who is hesitant to work with me. The way I carry darkness and shadow scares them. I'm still working on not taking that reaction personally. I understand the value of mirrors, but being one is challenging.
Living as a darkworker is an edgy dance. We live in world that still clings to light is good, dark is evil. What we darkworkers see reflected in the world around us is a dichotomy that doesn't match who we are. We aren't selfish, working for the "dark side" or here to destroy anything. We are holding space for those beliefs and for whatever is needed to heal that duality.
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