Psychic Shadows: Crafting Spells to Banish Ruminating Thoughts
emotional intelligence , anxiety , mental health , how igor ticksIt’s 3am and your brain is replaying that conversation from six months ago, calculating worst-case financial scenarios, or imagining all the ways you’ll fail at that thing you haven’t even started yet. These aren’t just ordinary worries - they’re psychic shadows, specific thought patterns that loop endlessly in your mind like restless spirits. If you’re tired of being held hostage by these ruminating thoughts, this post will teach you how to craft personalized spells that banish each shadow the moment it appears, giving you a mystical toolkit for transforming persistent mental loops into single-word circuit breakers that actually work.
- The Nature of Shadows
- The Art of Spell-Crafting
- Categories of Common Shadows
- The Mystical Practice
- Related Grimoire
The Nature of Shadows
Psychic shadows are different beasts than the general mind monsters or broader psychic weight we carry. While mind monsters are emotional states like anger or pride, and psychic weight encompasses all the mental burden we bear, shadows are specific thought loops that follow predictable patterns:
They’re precise and specific: Not “I’m worried about money” but “What if the market tanks and I lose everything during my gap year?” Not “I’m concerned about health” but “What if I get lazy without work structure and lose all my physical discipline?”
They’re repetitive and sticky: The same thought returns again and again, often triggered by specific situations or even random moments of mental quiet.
They demand rumination: Unlike passing worries, shadows insist you think them through completely, analyze every angle, plan for every contingency - even though this mental work rarely provides relief.
From my own psychic weight catalog, here are shadows I’ve wrestled with:
- The bathroom remodel shadow: “The contractor is trying to screw us over” - a thought that kept me awake for days, cycling through evidence and counter-arguments
- The money insecurity shadow: “I can’t spend money on the larger milk because it’s more expensive per ounce” - even when I was spending $100 on bar tabs
- The work document shadow: “If I don’t finish this perfectly, everyone will think I’m incompetent” - leading to endless revisions and procrastination
Each shadow has its own signature pattern, its own trigger points, its own way of hijacking your mental resources.
The Art of Spell-Crafting
The ancient practice of spell-crafting isn’t about magic wands and cauldrons - it’s about conscious intention channeled through precise words. When you craft a spell for a psychic shadow, you’re creating a circuit-breaker for rumination, a way to interrupt the thought loop and redirect your mental energy.
Step 1: Catch the Shadow
Before you can banish a shadow, you must first see it clearly. This requires developing what I call “shadow awareness” - the ability to notice when you’ve slipped into a rumination loop.
But here’s the crucial distinction: not all mental discomfort deserves banishment. Some thoughts are functional mental pain - friendly spirits that deserve attention because they’re pointing to something that actually needs your focus. Others are mental suffering - the unhelpful meanings and stories we add on top, creating shadows that need banishment.
Functional pain (friendly spirits to nurture):
- “I feel anxious about this presentation” → Points to real preparation needed
- “I feel guilty about breaking that promise” → Points to relationship repair needed
- “I feel disappointed about my performance” → Points to skills that need development
Mental suffering (shadows to banish):
- “I always mess everything up” → Unhelpful story about your identity
- “Everyone will think I’m incompetent” → Catastrophic assumption about others
- “I’ll never be good enough” → Ruminating loop with no constructive action
The signs are usually physical first: tension in your shoulders, a knot in your stomach, that familiar feeling of mental agitation. Then comes the recognition: “Oh, I’m doing that thing again where I imagine the worst-case scenario about…”
But before crafting a spell, ask: Is this pain pointing to something that actually needs my attention, or is this suffering I’m adding on top? Functional pain deserves action. Mental suffering deserves banishment.
Practice this meta-cognition. Label it: “This discomfort I’m experiencing is shadow rumination” - but only after confirming it’s not a friendly spirit with a legitimate message.
Step 2: Analyze Deeply
This is where the real work happens, and it’s where the anxiety management framework becomes crucial. You can’t just suppress the shadow - you need to understand what it’s really about.
Apply the anxiety management process:
Identify the precise threat: What exactly is the shadow warning you about? Strip away the exaggeration and catastrophizing. Get specific.
Generate realistic probabilities: What are the chances this feared outcome actually happens? What are the more likely scenarios?
Examine your confidence and hope: Do you really not have the skills or resources to handle this situation? Look for counter-examples from your past.
Focus on influence, not control: What can you actually influence about this situation? What specific actions could increase the odds of a good outcome?
This analysis phase is critical - it’s where you transform vague dread into actionable understanding.
Step 3: Bind to Word
Now comes the mystical part. Take all that analysis, all that understanding, and distill it into a single word or short phrase. This word becomes your spell - a compressed version of your deeper wisdom that you can deploy instantly when the shadow appears.
The word should feel powerful to you, should resonate with the antidote to your specific shadow. Some examples:
- “Abundance” - for shadows about scarcity and loss
- “Capable” - for shadows about competence and failure
- “Present” - for shadows about future catastrophes
- “Worthy” - for shadows about rejection and abandonment
- “Flow” - for shadows about control and rigidity
The key is that the word should immediately connect you back to your deeper analysis, like a bookmark to your wisdom.
Step 4: Deploy the Spell
When you catch the shadow starting its familiar dance, speak your spell word. Say it out loud if possible, or with clear intention in your mind.
Important limitation: Spells can only be so powerful. You can’t simply make yourself stop thinking about something - try not to think about a pink elephant on a giant ball right now, and you’ll see what I mean. The mind doesn’t work through suppression. Instead, spells work by redirecting your attention to something else. Your spell word should connect you to a different thought, feeling, or action.
This is why it’s crucial to pair spell-work with activities you genuinely enjoy. Be wary of using addictive distractions (endless scrolling, substances, compulsive behaviors) to avoid shadows - these create new problems.
Instead, redirect toward things that genuinely nourish you: calling a friend, taking a walk, working on a meaningful project, listening to music that moves you.
If the spell doesn’t work - if the shadow keeps circling - that’s feedback. Either you need to do more analysis (back to Step 2), you need a different word that better captures your antidote, or you need to pair the spell with concrete redirection activities.
Good spells get stronger with practice. The neural pathway from shadow-recognition to spell-deployment becomes more automatic over time.
Categories of Common Shadows
Financial Shadows
These shadows whisper about scarcity, loss, and financial ruin. They love to catastrophe market conditions and imagine worst-case scenarios.
Common patterns:
- “What if the market crashes while I’m unemployed?”
- “What if I run out of money in retirement?”
- “What if I make a bad investment and lose everything?”
Example spell development: Shadow: “The market will tank and I’ll lose everything” Analysis: Markets fluctuate but historically recover; I have diversified investments; I have skills and network for income generation Spell: “Resilient”
Other powerful financial spells: “Abundance”, “Resourceful”, “Adaptable”
Health and Decay Shadows
These shadows prey on our fears of losing vitality, discipline, and physical capability. They’re particularly active during life transitions or when routines change.
Common patterns:
- “Without work structure, I’ll get lazy and lose all fitness”
- “I’m getting older and my body is failing”
- “If I skip the gym today, I’ll never go back”
Example spell development: Shadow: “I’ll get lazy without work structure and lose all discipline” Analysis: I know my mental health patterns; removing work stress actually enables better health habits; I can create my own structure; physical health is foundational to everything else Spell: “Vitality”
Other powerful health spells: “Strong”, “Disciplined”, “Energy”
Relationship Shadows
These shadows whisper about abandonment, rejection, and social isolation. They often emerge during vulnerable moments or relationship transitions.
Common patterns:
- “If they really knew me, they’d leave”
- “I’m too much/not enough for this relationship”
- “Everyone will be too busy for me when I’m not working”
Example spell development: Shadow: “My family will resent having me around all the time” Analysis: Relationships deepen gradually like weight training; I have flexibility to work around their schedules; abundance mindset with time means no scarcity competition; being present and stress-free makes me a better family member Spell: “Present”
Other powerful relationship spells: “Worthy”, “Connected”, “Loved”
Identity and Worth Shadows
These shadows attack your sense of purpose, competence, and value. They’re especially active during career transitions or when stepping outside conventional paths.
Common patterns:
- “I’m wasting my potential/education/privilege”
- “People will think I’m lazy/irresponsible/failing”
- “I don’t deserve this break when others are struggling”
Example spell development: Shadow: “Taking a gap year means I’m putting myself ahead of my family’s security” Analysis: This is about fear and investing in relationships and health; I’m modeling courage and self-care; the gap year makes me a better father and partner; financial analysis shows we’re secure Spell: “Investing”
Other powerful identity spells: “Purpose”, “Growing”, “Enough”
The Mystical Practice
Daily Shadow Awareness
Developing shadow awareness is like developing any other skill - it requires consistent practice. Build checking for shadows into your daily routine:
- Morning scan: What shadows are already active as you wake up?
- Midday pause: What shadows have emerged during the busy morning?
- Evening review: What shadows visited today? Which spells worked? Which need refinement?
The goal isn’t to eliminate shadows entirely - they often contain important information about what matters to you. The goal is to prevent them from hijacking your mental resources through endless rumination.
Spell Maintenance and Evolution
Spells aren’t static. As you grow and change, your shadows may shift, and your spells may need updating:
Spell weakening: If a spell stops working, it usually means either your underlying fears have evolved, or you need deeper analysis of what the shadow is really about.
Spell strengthening: The more you use a spell successfully, the more automatic the response becomes. Eventually, just recognizing a shadow pattern might be enough to defuse it.
Spell evolution: Sometimes a spell naturally evolves into a more powerful form. “Capable” might become “Unstoppable”, or “Present” might become “Flow”.
When Shadows Transform
The deepest magic happens when shadows transform entirely - when what used to be a source of rumination becomes a source of wisdom or even energy.
The financial anxiety that drove you to learn about investing. The health fears that motivated you to build sustainable fitness habits. The relationship insecurities that taught you to communicate more honestly.
Sometimes the shadow’s message, once heard and integrated, allows it to dissolve completely. Other times, it becomes an ally - a sensitive early warning system that helps you navigate life’s challenges.