Ayahuasca – The Shadow Goddess and Game Master of Love

February 5th, 2018

By Juliet Tang

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Shadow Work 

Ayahuasca is an entheogenic brew that excels at shadow work. Your shadow is everything you have shunned from childhood that has caused you shame, pain and guilt. As a result, the energy behind those experiences and memories is kept hidden from the conscious self, and eventually forms the shadow self that remains in the dark.

The shadow, or split self becomes the unconscious and invisible force behind your moment-to-moment interactions, decisions and motivations; it is the root cause of your limiting patterns and emotional blockages in life, yet you may have long forgotten about those memories. Eventually, the trapped energy can result in mental, emotional and physical distress.

As Carl Jung stated, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

Shadow work is a crucial component in healing and living your life from a wholesome, aligned and conscious space, and it requires you to consciously face, process, and integrate the shadow self.

Ayahuasca – Journeying Into Your Shadow

There are many ways to do shadow work, and ayahuasca is one of them. Ayahuasca is a form of divine intelligence, and her specialty is bringing your shadow to the forefront so it can be healed and merged with the conscious self.

The process is not to be taken lightly as it requires commitment, integration and the proper set and setting. When one humbly presents him/herself to the plant for a powerful healing journey, the Shadow Goddess goes above and beyond to deliver to you exactly what you need.

No one, not even the most experienced shaman or curandero can present you with a manual on exactly how ayahuasca works. After all, can any of us claim we have figured out how divinity works when it is ever changing, expanding and evolving into infinity?

Many can agree on this: once ayahuasca is in you, you are in her game. Not only she knows you far better than you know yourself, but also she gives you her all to take you on a journey of a lifetime called “know thy self.” In fact, drama is her middle name and she uses any means to immerse you in your own shadow.

It is common to experience her scanning your body, energy and lifetimes as she taps into your long-forgotten emotional blockages, deepest fears, darkest desires and most unconscious patterns which she uses as her chess pieces to seduce you into the most beautiful, tantalizing, or terrifying game you will ever play.

There is no escape in her world, she is your game master for the night. Every thought you have ever uttered to yourself in the dark becomes a thread in which she uses to weave into an intricately personalized and multi-layered vision or experience, and ayahuasca presents it to you in the most vivid, vibrant, mind-blowing and exquisitely-detailed fashion that makes you want to laugh, cry, scream, hold onto your seatbelt, run as fast as you can or hide (though there is nowhere to hide).

You are in the blanket she has woven with top expertise experiencing your own heaven or hell, and it is her duty to make it so real to you that you experience it as if it is truly happening on every level.

Ayahuasca, Life and Love

If the journey can be so challenging, why do this work?

The energy of your shadow self has never seen the light of day, yet it is very much alive in you and causing you to always unconsciously judge, condemn and loathe that unwanted part of you while project it out onto others and the world around you.

As a result, you live as a split version of yourself secretly believing you are a victim and do not deserve to be loved, and you continue to recreate those themes in your life over and over based on the shadow frequency and wonder why what you desire whether it is love or abundance is out of your reach. Nothing is more painful than this.

To choose to embrace all aspects of your shadow marks the beginning of your healing, and to choose to let go of all attachment to the stories that gave you identity becomes gateway to your liberation.

When you first begin working with her, you may believe you are going to receive insights on whether to quit that job or how to heal your relationship only to find yourself in an experience that pushes you to your limits in every way, yet when you finally embrace and surrender to your own shadow, your pain becomes your breakthrough, and the pathway to your own freedom.

In this journey of the unknown, you realize all life is but a reflection and projection of your own consciousness; that is, life can only match you with, and offer you experiences based on your most predominant frequency which always lies in the shadow until you do this work. This is how much life loves you, and it relentlessly delivers endless experiences to let you know whether you are in alignment with your soul.

Ayahuasca is a magnified and intensified version of life – she is here to show you who you are, and what you have been holding onto that is no longer serving you. She has no agenda other than accurately reflecting back to you everything that is seen, and unseen about you. You get to decide what you do with that; this is your evolution and free will.

In your most tormenting moments, you become aware of the deepest love that ayahausca, or life is granting you – you have the ultimate freedom to choose to transmute darkness into light, to surrender to every experience, to release the stories you told, and to embody the light that is the True You at any given moment. After all, everything is a fabricated experience dreamed up by you, and you can decide at any time to step into your own awareness because you are Universal Consciousness.

If you choose to work with ayahuasca, she may break you open in every way, yet it is in this open space where you can find yourself and awaken to your soul.

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” – Rumi

A note from the author:

This article is dedicated to my sister who has bravely chosen, to Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica for delivering the miracles, and to all the courageous souls out there who are embracing their shadows.

With love,
Juliet

P.S. Is ayahuasca calling you? If so, click here to download my checklist, Ayahuasca Preparation and Integration — Questions to Ask Yourself Before, During and After — to help you maximize the gifts aya’ offers. It’s the 3rd download from the top. Happy journeying!

Recommended articles by Juliet Tang:

About the author:

Juliet Tang is an intuitive life coach, spiritual mentor and medicine woman. Her work empowers those who are looking for more alignment and expansion to awaken to their power and purpose on earth, activate more love, abundance and joy in their lives, and manifest their soul’s desires using the conscious creation process.

To learn more, go to juliettang.com, or follow Juliet on Facebook and Instagram.


If you've ever found value in our articles, we'd greatly appreciate your support by purchasing Mindful Meditation Techniques for Kids - A Practical Guide for Adults to Empower Kids with the Gift of Inner Peace and Resilience for Life.

In the spirit of mindfulness, we encourage you to choose the paperback version. Delve into its pages away from screen glare and notifications, allowing yourself to fully immerse in the transformative practices within. The physical book enriches the learning process and serves as a tangible commitment to mindfulness, easily shared among family and friends.

Over the past few years, Wake Up World has faced significant online censorship, impacting our financial ability to stay online. Instead of soliciting donations, we're exploring win-win solutions with our readers to remain financially viable. Moving into book publishing, we hope to secure ongoing funds to continue our mission. With over 8,500 articles published in the past 13 years, we are committed to keeping our content free and accessible to everyone, without resorting to a paywall.