Through the Exorcist and The World, this week we’re being called to de-possess something from within us that’s had a hold on us for too long. Can we untangle ourselves from this spirit once and for all? Welcome everyone! For an overview of what I’m doing here, please check out
On the eve of my trip to begin a long solo retreat on a remote island, I'll respond candidly to this post. Possession isn't good. Wisdom or joy aren't possession. Possession is ego. The exorcist can only be truth, being in one's true nature that reveals all lies In a note, Jenna wrote presence can be a movement, a flow, but I know presence as what doesn't change. Stillness of presence. Sit and be empty of all thought, idea, archetype, tarot card, world. Discover what remains, one's true self. Live from this perspective. "Be in the world, but not of it."
Hi Julie! Thank you so much for your willingness to share your perspective here, I so deeply appreciate it. ❤️ I've got this belief (that my guides keep saying to me over and over again) that we're collectively moving towards a more relational way. Once I started really getting into that idea, I felt like I needed to begin by coming into deep relationship with my self, because it seems like the way I relate with myself is similar to, or a reflection of, the way I relate with others. And so, in doing this work, I came to see the self as wholly sacred and couldn't see any part that inherently flawed or that I felt needed to be conquered or destroyed in order for me to be fulfilled. As I deepened into this, I began to see less and less distinction between self and other. Those boundaries, those edges, that seem to be between me and something/one else are so fluid. I came to realize that we all overlap more than we are distinct. So much of what makes up me is actually the coming together of others. And so this is sort of the perspective I was coming from regarding possession.
That being said, I hear what you're saying about possession and ego and understand that point of view too.
And thank you, too, for mentioning my note about stillness in presence. I thought a lot about that after having read (my other friend, Julie's) post that I quoted. My guides have been showing me this framework that I'm calling the Container of Presence (which I'm trying to write a post about, but struggling some) and I think what I'm coming to understand, at least for now, is that presence is both stillness and fluid movement. It's that paradox of divinity again.
I'm so excited that you're going on retreat! I hope the experience is everything you want it to be. I'll be sending lots of love your way. Have a blessed journey!
Jenna, great post, this is really an interesting pairing... Starting with possession. What came to me was rapture. Being enraptured or in a trance state. As seen in shamanistic rituals that support healing. Or being controlled by scrolling screens and overthink. Comes down to our relationship with all this. As you said, it can be both sides, joy or fear, peace or agitation. The exorcist is key to the “untangling.” (Perfect word for that, by the way) Knowing when to let this possession be and when to step in. The exorcist seems to be an unseen daemon that supports the Heroine through her journey, with all the challenges and graces till the end of the cycle. The exorcist is a crucial support for making it through. Or in the shadow a means of getting stuck within the cycle, like the hamsters wheel. Yet at the end, as you said Jenna, that final uncoupling that lets the cycle end so we can move on…
❤️❤️❤️ ah, yes, so perfect! You've once again deepened my understanding of these archetypes. The trance state of shamans is a perfect example of possession, and it then makes me think too of the lwa in vodou. Though I know very little about it (and so, probably shouldn't have brought it up at all), my understanding is that one (or more) of the lwa take possession of a person at a ritual and then can provide healing to the community through that person. And then, really, plant medicine would be a form of possession too.
(I know this was a topic we were discussing on your post and not here, but while I'm thinking of it...on the Asherah tarot, do you have the smaller or larger sized deck? I was looking into it but not sure which of them would be better. Thank you!)
I love this interpretation of these archetypes, particularly the Exorcist. I have always felt that shadow/judging side of the Exorcist archetype (and they come in many forms, including, sometimes, Healer) but I hadn't been able to articulate it that clearly. I also appreciated the short, but sweet summary of the hero's journey. Looking forward to delving into what I want to dispossess. I'm guessing it has something to do with scarcity.
Scarcity...boy, that's a big one, isn't it? Although I can't remember who now, some spiritual teacher once said that the only thing that's not real is lack. That one really stuck with me, and I've often wondered if fears of lack/scarcity could actually be at the root of all other fears. The general idea of not-enoughness is certainly something that possesses me. Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Rebecca! 🤗❤️
Yes! That makes sense that it’s the one thing that’s not real, but somehow it is SO powerful. And sometimes, when I’m sitting down talking to all the guides I’ll say why? Why does this have to be so hard for us to get our heads and hearts around? It seems to make so much trouble in the world. I’m really working on yanking it out of me— and my lineage. Thanks for sharing that it gets to you, too!
In a very mysterious way, as others have said here, I did actually experience a rediscovery the other day, something i thought I’d lost in myself, a vibration, an ability to “see”. The World resonated with me a lot. But yes, I also realised, with the rediscovery, that i need to celebrate it while staying away from the patterns of the past, when that vibration led me astray. I’m still waiting for the Exorcist, therefore, but reading your post gives me hope he’s close by. Thank you!
Thank you, Zoe! I love that you've rediscovered something you thought was lost...an ability to see. That's wonderful! And the way you've described it makes me think of the feeling of reunion, which, to me is so beautiful, and also of the spiral. I keep seeing an image of the Exorcist helping you with this reunion by keeping you on your new path. Thank you again for sharing your experience with me. I just love it! ❤️
I suspect many others feel the same way - are you sure you aren’t writing these to me? 👁️ I feel very seen.
Awareness has been coming online for me over the past few months about how harshly I am judging myself for my feelings. And especially how I act in response to undesirable or uncomfortable feelings. I’m heaping lots of shame and judgement on myself. And as I read this post I heard the Exorcist knocking gently, asking if I’m ready to be extricated from the devil’s knot I have wound myself into.
I just had an excellent astrology reading where she said that my Aries Sun and Mercury in Aries indicate that I am meant to learn how to feel anger AND express it during this lifetime. I went around vomiting my anger on people for a long time, and then I developed awareness and wanted to stop doing that, so I’m coming out of several years that were focused on trying to suppress or eliminate anger entirely. The Exorcist is calling me to feel and experience the fullness of my own experience, to own and honor the richness of my felt and lived experience. To live without apology for the amount of space I take up, to take responsibility for myself but not to stifle or flay myself for being a human who contains multitudes.
Wow, Jenna, thank you SO much for sharing this! Your comment brought tears to my eyes, it's so beautiful. Cheers to extricating ourselves from devil's knots (I love that!)! I've read these words over and over: "The Exorcist is calling me to feel and experience the fullness of my own experience, to own and honor the richness of my felt and lived experience. To live without apology for the amount of space I take up, to take responsibility for myself but not to stifle or flay myself for being a human who contains multitudes." YES! That is pure amazingness. ❤️❤️❤️
I cannot even begin to express how the exorcist and the world, how your words and message, are spot on in my life right now once again. This is a deeply introspective time of endings snd release. Of completion and breaking free.
I am so grateful for your weekly messages, Jenna. They have now officially become a ritual for the beginning of each week. ❤️⚡️
It is my birthday week and I am being very conscious of what I have been hanging onto - fears, worries, angers, resentments, low self esteem etc...things that now no longer serve me and my vision. These cards are perfect for me at the moment - to release possession of those things that no longer serve me and to step back into my world feeling lighter and stronger, a new version of me, a stronger wiser version of me.
Thank you for this, very insightful and really speaks to me today. The tarot image of the world has been with me for the past week, and so it was interesting to read of this alongside the exorcist archetype. Thank you for your work.
On the eve of my trip to begin a long solo retreat on a remote island, I'll respond candidly to this post. Possession isn't good. Wisdom or joy aren't possession. Possession is ego. The exorcist can only be truth, being in one's true nature that reveals all lies In a note, Jenna wrote presence can be a movement, a flow, but I know presence as what doesn't change. Stillness of presence. Sit and be empty of all thought, idea, archetype, tarot card, world. Discover what remains, one's true self. Live from this perspective. "Be in the world, but not of it."
Hi Julie! Thank you so much for your willingness to share your perspective here, I so deeply appreciate it. ❤️ I've got this belief (that my guides keep saying to me over and over again) that we're collectively moving towards a more relational way. Once I started really getting into that idea, I felt like I needed to begin by coming into deep relationship with my self, because it seems like the way I relate with myself is similar to, or a reflection of, the way I relate with others. And so, in doing this work, I came to see the self as wholly sacred and couldn't see any part that inherently flawed or that I felt needed to be conquered or destroyed in order for me to be fulfilled. As I deepened into this, I began to see less and less distinction between self and other. Those boundaries, those edges, that seem to be between me and something/one else are so fluid. I came to realize that we all overlap more than we are distinct. So much of what makes up me is actually the coming together of others. And so this is sort of the perspective I was coming from regarding possession.
That being said, I hear what you're saying about possession and ego and understand that point of view too.
And thank you, too, for mentioning my note about stillness in presence. I thought a lot about that after having read (my other friend, Julie's) post that I quoted. My guides have been showing me this framework that I'm calling the Container of Presence (which I'm trying to write a post about, but struggling some) and I think what I'm coming to understand, at least for now, is that presence is both stillness and fluid movement. It's that paradox of divinity again.
I'm so excited that you're going on retreat! I hope the experience is everything you want it to be. I'll be sending lots of love your way. Have a blessed journey!
Jenna, great post, this is really an interesting pairing... Starting with possession. What came to me was rapture. Being enraptured or in a trance state. As seen in shamanistic rituals that support healing. Or being controlled by scrolling screens and overthink. Comes down to our relationship with all this. As you said, it can be both sides, joy or fear, peace or agitation. The exorcist is key to the “untangling.” (Perfect word for that, by the way) Knowing when to let this possession be and when to step in. The exorcist seems to be an unseen daemon that supports the Heroine through her journey, with all the challenges and graces till the end of the cycle. The exorcist is a crucial support for making it through. Or in the shadow a means of getting stuck within the cycle, like the hamsters wheel. Yet at the end, as you said Jenna, that final uncoupling that lets the cycle end so we can move on…
❤️❤️❤️ ah, yes, so perfect! You've once again deepened my understanding of these archetypes. The trance state of shamans is a perfect example of possession, and it then makes me think too of the lwa in vodou. Though I know very little about it (and so, probably shouldn't have brought it up at all), my understanding is that one (or more) of the lwa take possession of a person at a ritual and then can provide healing to the community through that person. And then, really, plant medicine would be a form of possession too.
(I know this was a topic we were discussing on your post and not here, but while I'm thinking of it...on the Asherah tarot, do you have the smaller or larger sized deck? I was looking into it but not sure which of them would be better. Thank you!)
I have the tarot sized (larger) deck. The smaller one is playing card size.
I love this interpretation of these archetypes, particularly the Exorcist. I have always felt that shadow/judging side of the Exorcist archetype (and they come in many forms, including, sometimes, Healer) but I hadn't been able to articulate it that clearly. I also appreciated the short, but sweet summary of the hero's journey. Looking forward to delving into what I want to dispossess. I'm guessing it has something to do with scarcity.
Scarcity...boy, that's a big one, isn't it? Although I can't remember who now, some spiritual teacher once said that the only thing that's not real is lack. That one really stuck with me, and I've often wondered if fears of lack/scarcity could actually be at the root of all other fears. The general idea of not-enoughness is certainly something that possesses me. Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Rebecca! 🤗❤️
Yes! That makes sense that it’s the one thing that’s not real, but somehow it is SO powerful. And sometimes, when I’m sitting down talking to all the guides I’ll say why? Why does this have to be so hard for us to get our heads and hearts around? It seems to make so much trouble in the world. I’m really working on yanking it out of me— and my lineage. Thanks for sharing that it gets to you, too!
In a very mysterious way, as others have said here, I did actually experience a rediscovery the other day, something i thought I’d lost in myself, a vibration, an ability to “see”. The World resonated with me a lot. But yes, I also realised, with the rediscovery, that i need to celebrate it while staying away from the patterns of the past, when that vibration led me astray. I’m still waiting for the Exorcist, therefore, but reading your post gives me hope he’s close by. Thank you!
Thank you, Zoe! I love that you've rediscovered something you thought was lost...an ability to see. That's wonderful! And the way you've described it makes me think of the feeling of reunion, which, to me is so beautiful, and also of the spiral. I keep seeing an image of the Exorcist helping you with this reunion by keeping you on your new path. Thank you again for sharing your experience with me. I just love it! ❤️
Ooooooof. Ok. I feel called out. Going to have to think on this one 💛 thank you Jenna!
Me too, Kerani! It feels like every week the cards remind me that they're watching me and I cannot hide. 😬😁
Hahaha I love how that both sounds reassuring and ominous at the same time 🤣
I suspect many others feel the same way - are you sure you aren’t writing these to me? 👁️ I feel very seen.
Awareness has been coming online for me over the past few months about how harshly I am judging myself for my feelings. And especially how I act in response to undesirable or uncomfortable feelings. I’m heaping lots of shame and judgement on myself. And as I read this post I heard the Exorcist knocking gently, asking if I’m ready to be extricated from the devil’s knot I have wound myself into.
I just had an excellent astrology reading where she said that my Aries Sun and Mercury in Aries indicate that I am meant to learn how to feel anger AND express it during this lifetime. I went around vomiting my anger on people for a long time, and then I developed awareness and wanted to stop doing that, so I’m coming out of several years that were focused on trying to suppress or eliminate anger entirely. The Exorcist is calling me to feel and experience the fullness of my own experience, to own and honor the richness of my felt and lived experience. To live without apology for the amount of space I take up, to take responsibility for myself but not to stifle or flay myself for being a human who contains multitudes.
Wow, Jenna, thank you SO much for sharing this! Your comment brought tears to my eyes, it's so beautiful. Cheers to extricating ourselves from devil's knots (I love that!)! I've read these words over and over: "The Exorcist is calling me to feel and experience the fullness of my own experience, to own and honor the richness of my felt and lived experience. To live without apology for the amount of space I take up, to take responsibility for myself but not to stifle or flay myself for being a human who contains multitudes." YES! That is pure amazingness. ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you Jenna, I love how you weave these together to arrive at such a meaningful message.
Thank you, Donna! ❤️❤️🤗❤️❤️
I cannot even begin to express how the exorcist and the world, how your words and message, are spot on in my life right now once again. This is a deeply introspective time of endings snd release. Of completion and breaking free.
I am so grateful for your weekly messages, Jenna. They have now officially become a ritual for the beginning of each week. ❤️⚡️
Oh my gosh, Liz, this made my day! 🤗❤️ Thank you so much! It's amazing to me how much the cards are spot on for me too, every single week.
Oh this is just perfect, Jenna.
It is my birthday week and I am being very conscious of what I have been hanging onto - fears, worries, angers, resentments, low self esteem etc...things that now no longer serve me and my vision. These cards are perfect for me at the moment - to release possession of those things that no longer serve me and to step back into my world feeling lighter and stronger, a new version of me, a stronger wiser version of me.
Thank you, Jenna. 🙏💜✨
Have a sweet happy birthday Sam! ❤️
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my beloved friend! ❤️❤️❤️ This message of releasing what possesses us seems like a perfect birthday tradition. I love this!
Thank you dear one... Yes, I like this ritual too.. it feels very profound xxx
Happy Birthday, Sam! 💫
Bless you! Thank you so much for your kind wishes.
Thank you for this, very insightful and really speaks to me today. The tarot image of the world has been with me for the past week, and so it was interesting to read of this alongside the exorcist archetype. Thank you for your work.
Thank you so much! I love that The World has been with you all week. It's such a powerful card!