What Is Shadow Syndrome?

Shadow Syndrome is characterized by feelings of unworthiness, of being a fraud, and looking to others for validation. While this can be debilitating, it’s actually a gift that can lead us towards our truth. One of the costs of witchcraft is learning to understand the darkness, including that which lives within us. Often these symptoms arise because the true witch within is telling us that it’s time to walk our authentic path. This is the calling to heal our shadows and claim the title of real witch, however we define it.

Symptoms of Shadow Syndrome include perfectionism, chronic social comparison and feeling that you’re not enough. Sufferers of Shadow Syndrome often take no pleasure from their successes and dwell on their failures. One of the most telling external symptoms is the perpetual engagement trying to one-up others’ struggles with their own tales of woe. This is the shadow claiming their pain to be the greatest of all. Only through shadow healing can your unique, “real” witch inside of be unleashed.

Read the entire guide to Shadow Syndrome, including tips for recovering from it, here.