Dark Womanhood: Spiritual Justice & Breaking Taboos.

A major aspect of my spiritual work is unlearning shame, disgust, or fears surrounding power and freedom of expression. For most women in our society, that’s what shadow work looks like- unlearning shame. Breaking taboos sounds like a major, obvious act of rebellion but for a woman it can be as simple as allowing herself to be angry when disrespected. 

Over generations and generations we have been taught to shrink ourselves, and to center those we are in relationship with. We don’t truly see ourselves. When we look in the mirror, we see what we believe everyone else thinks of us. When we feel a feeling, we immediately respond with what we think others will respond. 

For girls, introduction to adulthood and puberty is painful. For boys, while sometimes embarrassing, it is mostly empowering. The initiation consisting of hair growth, voice change, body composition shifts, and newfound romantic desires- these are all celebrated in young boys as signs of maturity. Of these, the most celebrated are romantic urges or “conquests.” Even at this young age boys are taught that girls are something to conquer, to wear like medals. The minds of our boys never stood a chance against the conditioning of an oppressive, post colonial society.

Girlhood and puberty are painful, not empowering. However, this is not be default. I remember the first sight of hair on my armpits and legs. I remember the first shave. I remember wearing socks to my knees, as if someone was going to find out my secret- that I was human. At nine years old I had already discovered the unique pain of being ashamed of your body for doing what it was built to do.

Given these facts of modern society, taboo is a unique concept for women. Taboo is inextricably woven into the fabric of our identity. Breaking taboo looks a lot like repairing an identity fragmented by the sexualized eyes of men, demonized by history, and discarded by the women we grew up with. 

Shadow work, in this context, is simply grieving what was taken and learning to become whole in oneself. For a man, he has always been taught to center his wellbeing and his needs. He has always known his “power”- albeit, a very warped version of it. For a woman, to do so shakes the very foundation of the world as she’s always known it. To reclaim your power as a woman is to become okay with being called evil. 

Witchcraft and other demonized magical or spiritual practices (like Hoodoo) are incredible initiation processes into reclaiming the “dark” feminine, which is really just the power that the feminine has been taught to forget. This has been done to our men as well, however in less obvious ways. 

For the purpose of this piece, I will simply leave you with this- your greatest act of spiritual justice on behalf of women before and after you would be to reclaim your power. Perform spellwork, do your shadow work, grieve what’s been taken, get honest and get bold. Reclaim what those before you couldn’t and what those existing alongside you are scared to do. This is spiritual justice.