Shadow work is the descent into our own depths. A crowned figure stands among the thorns, an eye held in one hand, their body a tree with a skull for a head, rooted in what has died and is still alive. The spikes that pierce them are not only pain. They are lessons, and each one pulled out brings clarity and purpose.
When the ground shifts and your sense of stability shatters, it can feel like the end. But what you were can no longer be, and who you are becoming is stronger. Ignore the thorns and you’ll keep blundering into them. Face them and you can walk around them or over them. As the Rumi line in the corner reads, “The wound is where the light enters you.” Pull yourself out of the entanglement one thorn at a time, and you will step free.