Something fundamental to moving through the Gene Key process is understanding our shadows. So what are our shadows?

The shadow, those aspects of ourselves that remain hidden from us, the parts we unconsciously feel shame, guilt, anger or even sadness about once we discover we bear them. Until that moment they are unconscious behaviours that hurt others when we react and hurt ourselves with when repressed. They limit the frequency we operate from until we bring conscious awareness to them and transmute them into world awakening gifts.

​We benefit from having people in our lives who love us enough to help us see a shadow without judgement. All too often our shadows have been shown to us by people who judge them and unless we have the deep presence of acceptance we will remain within that shadow.

There are aspects of our nature that we wouldn’t even view as shadow, such as our intellect, which is held in high esteem in our modern world. A mind can remember and recall facts but it can be used to attack and disempower others or become obsessed with details. Someone possessed by the intellect can throw facts at you until the cows come home, but there will be an emptiness to their words, a lack of true understanding. This is one I have become aware of over the years and will use it to prevent myself from feeling deep pains within my being.
It is not easy when we first notice a shadow within, but awareness of it is the first step in the process of transmutation. We also have to entertain the possibility that a certain shadow is within us, even if we have not witnessed it yet. This is fundamental if the Gene Keys process is to work for you. I have seen people, myself included, think they have already transmuted the shadow when in fact it still remains in the shadow. It doesn’t mean we become bogged down in it, but as we focus on bringing the gifts forward the shadow will arise in the moment it’s time has come for compassionate awareness.
When we transmute the shadow of intellect we witness a gift called precision, where our heart and intuition guides the way, calling upon the facts when needed. We feel a magnetism of people coming from this gift and we are often turned off by those who lead from the intellect. Those with the gift of precision make excellent writers, speakers and musicians, using words to uplift the frequency of others. This is just one example of a shadow- gift relationship.
The beauty of the Gene Keys is that it helps us become aware of shadow behaviours and helps us recognize that they are simply a low frequency version of a heart centred gift we come to bring into the world. As we allow, accept and embrace the parts of ourselves that we like the least we realize the gift that has been dormant the whole time. Instead of escaping the shadow we face it with courage, dive in and through it into a whole new world of possibilities. Sometimes we can thrive at the gift level in certain areas of life, but in other areas of life, in certain relationships will slip back into the shadow.
Be gentle with yourselves and your shadows, therein lies the power of the work.

An aspect of the Gene Keys work is supporting the bringing forth of our creativity in the world. Now, I am no artistic genius, but the following was a fun exercise to move through. It ignited some creative flair and had me deeply contemplating a prominent Gene Key. 

My wife Nicole Powell and I took some time out one afternoon recently to paint the Life's Work of our Gene Keys. It was a 3 stage painting, firstly allowing ourselves to express the shadow of the key, then the gift and then the siddhi. The 2nd Gene Key is my life's work, shadow of dislocation (picture #1), the gift of orientation (picture #2) and the siddhi of Unity (picture #3).

I did not know how one painting would lead to the next, but there is an intelligence to spirit, and I was quite surprised to see what ended up on the canvas for all 3. Now, I have a painting, with the siddhic layer of Unity over the other two layers, which hangs on the wall in my office as a reminder of my life's work. And from time to time I stare at it to see if any new awareness bubbles forth into my consciousness.
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Nicole and I will be leading a workshop where you can paint your own Gene Key Life's Work, on December 15th. Details are in this following link, would love to see some of you there flexing your creative muscles and deepening your understanding of the Gene Keys. Even if you are unable to make it we would be excited to see how you might paint your own Gene Keys in your own time. And if not painting, what form of creative expression inspires you?