S2 EP13: From Shadow Work to Expansion: Your Midlife Shift Into Sagittarius Season

In this episode of The Midlife Awakening, we explore the powerful transition from the deep emotional work of Scorpio season into the expansive, hopeful energy of Sagittarius season.

Scorpio has taken many of us into the depths — shadow work, subconscious patterns, emotional truths, and the parts of ourselves we’ve long suppressed. And in today’s episode, I share my own personal breakthrough: discovering the Golden Shadow and realising I’ve spent most of my life hiding a part of myself that has always wanted to be expressed.

From childhood memories of singing and dancing to an unexpected emotional reaction while watching The Greatest Showman, Scorpio season revealed something I could no longer deny — and it changed everything.

Now, as we step into Sagittarius season (22 Nov–21 Dec), the energy shifts. Where Scorpio takes us inward, Sagittarius invites us outward — into possibility, belief, expansion, spirituality, self-trust and fun. This season calls you to ask:

✨ What could my life be now?
✨ Who am I becoming?
✨ Do my beliefs still fit the woman I’m evolving into?

We’ll explore:

• The four types of shadows: Dark, Golden, Tender, and Rebellious
• Why midlife makes these shadows impossible to ignore
• The final revelation the Scorpio new moon brings before a seasonal shift
• How Sagittarius helps you step into hope, curiosity and reconnection with joy
• Why this is a perfect time to stop healing for a moment and start living
• My spiritual focus for this season and my connection to Ana Otero's teachings
• The importance of becoming the main character of your own life
• The book of the month: The Power of Fun by Catherine Price

This is your invitation to reclaim joy, explore new philosophies, try new adventures, reconnect with your spiritual roots, or simply allow yourself to breathe and integrate everything you’ve just moved through.

You’ve done the deep work.
 Now you get to expand.

💛 Connect with Me

If this episode resonated, I’d love to hear what your Scorpio season revealed, or what you’re hoping to explore this Sagittarius season.
Come say hi on Instagram or TikTok, or join my new Midlife Awakening community on Substack for deeper reflections, spiritual tools, astrology guidance and weekly content.

Thank you for being here.
 Take care of your heart.
 And go enjoy the silly season.

Transcript

Odelia (00:00.056)
Hey guys and welcome back to the Midlife Awakening. This is a podcast about transformation for women who are waking up to who they really are while navigating everything that comes with midlife. Today we're talking about the transition we're making from the intensity of Scorpio season into the expansive hopeful energy of Sagittarius season. But before we step into what's ahead, I want to pause and look back because Scorpio season was a lot. It's known as the season of shadow work.

A time where the deep layers come up, the patterns we've been avoiding become obvious, and truths we've been ignoring finally demand attention. Like for many of us, Scorpio season brought up a lot that I needed to work on, which I'll be talking about in today's show, including how I stumbled on the fact that there are different types of shadows when it comes to shadow work. But now we're moving into the next season, which is ruled bus-segetarius. And this runs from the 22nd of November to the 21st of December.

So if you've been feeling this strange, beautiful mix of restlessness, hopefulness, and a craving for something more, you are exactly where you're meant to be. As we transition from one season to the next, this is where we come up from exploring and healing our deepest selves in Scorpio season and move into the excitement of exploring the new version of ourselves that we are becoming. In this season, we ask the question, what could my life be?

There could be a focus on either outward adventure, so doing things that you've never done but long to do to satisfy those parts of you that have been suppressed for so long. Or it could be that you take this time for further inward exploration, but not the same as what we did in Scorpio season. This could be an inward exploration of your philosophy or your religious beliefs. This is the time to pursue who we want to become with passionate intent. So let's dive in.

Odelia (02:05.614)
Hey guys, welcome back to Midlife Awakening. My name is Odelia and I'm your host. Now, if you are a first time listener, welcome to the show. I'm so glad that you found your way here. And if you're returning, well, welcome back and thank you for joining me again. So today we're talking about the transition that we're making from Scorpio season to Sagittarius season. These are two very different energies, but they are somewhat similar in a number of ways too. They're both about exploration.

So before we jump into what Sagittarius season is all about and what we can expect in this new season, let's do a little reflection on Scorpio season. So Scorpio season might have felt a little intense if you've been doing your shadow work. Right, because you're going into the depths of yourself and you're exploring the parts of yourself that you either don't like, that you've never expressed, so you've suppressed it for a very long time, and that can be really exhausting.

Now for me, when I set out on the Scorpio season, I was determined to work on my money blocks, which I've done. I've done a lot of work on that this month, which I'm really, really proud about. So I used a tool called RTT, is called, which is known as rapid transformational therapy, which I found to be extremely helpful. As I've said, I'm going to be trying all these different modalities as I go on my journey. And I just knew that there was something really deep within my subconscious that needed exploring in terms of money, money blocks.

And I have to say that that's really helped. I've seen a big difference. Am I where I want to be financially? No, but I definitely have a different perception and I can feel that there has been a shift, not only in my money blocks, but in other areas of my life as well. I've lost a bit of weight. I'm seeing life differently. And so that's what can sometimes happen is you set out to work on something and...

those synchronicities of midlife sort of take you on a different journey and you end up working on what you actually need to be working on at this time. So if you've done your shadow work and you've been working on that, I'd love to hear about your journey. What have you, what have you explored? What have you come across? What have you discovered about yourself or what have you healed within yourself over this period? You know, either you can comment on whatever app you're listening to, or you can reach out to me on sub stack or

Odelia (04:28.7)
Instagram or TikTok, I'm on all those platforms. I'd love to hear your story. Now for me, so I set out this intention to work on my money blocks and that's what I've been doing for the whole season. But then we got to the new moon in Scorpio, which was last week, Thursday, the 20th of November. And, you know, I was feeling pretty good and thinking, you know, I've done...

of work this season and now I can have a bit of rest and enjoy the Sagittarius season. And then I had another discovery, right, some more shadow work that needed to, that sort of came up and needed to be worked on.

That's what this new moon does because it was a new moon in Scorpio. It tends, it has a tendency to reveal the final shadow layer that needs integration before we move into the next season of our life. And for me, that next move sort of, it works quite well. And I was, I wasn't sure if I was going to share the story because it's a personal story and I don't like being vulnerable, but I thought to myself.

Fuck it. If I'm going to do this podcast, I'm going to be authentic and I'm going to share my story. as far back as just bear with me, there is a reason for the story. so as far back as I can remember, you know, people always ask you the question, what did you want to be when you grew up? What is it that you love to do as a child? And for me, the answer has been always very clear, but it's something I've always been in denial about. And if I think back to my earliest childhood memories, it's of me singing and dancing.

That was what I loved to do as a kid. It was like all consuming for me, but it was framed to me as I was growing up that that's not really something that you do as a career. That's not really sort of frowned upon. And, you know, that's not a reputable career. You need to be a doctor or a lawyer or, you know, an accountant, which I ended up becoming. But deep within me, that

Odelia (06:38.898)
love for music and dance has always been there. Always. And I've tried to tonight and push those memories away and say, I don't know what is it that I used to love to do as a kid? Because I did have a period where I went through where I loved interior design. And so I would be like, maybe it was that maybe maybe it was interior design or maybe it was law because I had an interest in law at one point. Maybe it's like, but if I really look at it, it was always music and dance. So Thursday night,

Light of the Moon, The New Moon. I was feeling quite tired and I've been working really hard. And I thought, you know, I'm really in the mood for a movie. Now I don't really watch TV, so for me to be in the mood for a movie is very unusual. So I flipped on Netflix and I was going through like your suggested movies that they suggest for you based on algorithms and up comes The Greatest Showman. Now this is my favorite movie of all time.

The Greatest Shaman. When I watch this movie, it's like something within me is crying out to be recognized. And it's something like I've never felt that way about anything else in my life. Then how I do about the music and the song and the theatrical presentation of the movie. I just love it. It's just, takes me to a different place. And so...

Like most 40 year olds, we go into chat GPT and we start asking the question, is it normal for someone to feel this way? And of course it's not. Yes, you can have a love for musicals, but the way that I feel for musicals on the deepest levels, in a way that I feel like I'm missing out, really sparked something in me and made me realize that this is a part of myself that I've suppressed for so long and I'm not going to do it anymore because it is part of who I am.

So in the spirit of Scorpio season, I've made the decision that I'm going to start embracing this part of myself. And as I was researching this on ChachiBT, I told me about a new term called the golden shadow. And this really threw me because I've only ever heard of shadow work. I've never heard of the golden shadow. And so I dug a little bit more. And it turns out there are a couple of different shadows, right? So I'm going to explain them to you now.

Odelia (09:07.082)
So the first shadow is the dark shadow. And this is the one that we generally know and we hear about out there commercially. And that is the dark shadow. So the traits we reject, those parts of ourselves that we are embarrassed about, those parts of ourselves that we don't want to show to the world because, you know, this is my angry side, my fearful side, my jealous side, those parts of us. OK, then you get the golden shadow. And this is your hidden gifts and talents.

you've suppressed for a very long time because it was never safe for you to explore them or never safe for you to express them much to what like I experienced when I watched the movie and you know it sort of dawned on me this is my golden shadow this is something that I've never ever explored and the next one is called the tender shadow and this is about vulnerable emotional needs so a lot of us tend to be you know

We have this tough artilaya because maybe we have to grow up really quickly, mature very quickly when we're young and take on responsibilities that a child shouldn't take on. And so you don't express those vulnerable emotional needs because it wasn't safe for you to do that as a child. So that would be your tender shadow. And then you get the rebellious shadow. This is the part that resists misalignment. It's the part of you that wants to bring you back to yourself.

So those are the different types of shadows and maybe have a think about that and think about which ones maybe apply to you.

Odelia (10:43.133)
That was my enlightened moment from Scorpio season that I wanted to share. And hopefully it will help somebody else who might be feeling the same about something they've missed out on in their life that they've just pushed down and made excuses for and suppressed over the years, not wanting to admit to it because it would be frowned upon.

So now that is Scorpio season. That is my reflections. Like I said, I'd love to hear from you what your reflections are for the season. And now we're moving into Sagittarius season. So I just wanted to read the snippet from this book, which really explains the transition from Scorpio season to...

to Sagittarius season quite beautifully. And this is a book called Your Zodiac Soul and it's written by John Wordsworth. It's a really beautiful book. It really talks about how basically what we were doing in the show integrated all these different parts of you because we all have the, we have all the 12 signs within our astrology chart. So we have a little bit of each sign within us. Just depends on how isolated I have to my chart, but I won't go too much into astrology right now. So I just wanted to read the snippet because it's quite beautiful.

From the shadowy depths of the soul we now rise with the spirit, like the phoenix from the ashes, into the possibility and reconception of new life. The shift into Sagittarius is a leap of faith and a leap in the dark. For this fiery impulse occurs at a time of yore when we are plunging further into winter's night. The period of the sun's journey will take us right up to the winter solstice on the 21st of December.

Having passed through the doorway of death, the life force is reconceived, metaphysically freed from the confines of embodiment. By the time the sun enters Sagittarius, the rate of acceleration by which the nights grow longer is decreasing. Plotted on a graph, would see a curve gradually bottoming out as the much anticipated solstice approaches. This can be sensed inwardly and likened to a rekindling of an inner spiritual

Odelia (12:51.941)
visionary fire, a fire of recovery and renewal. In Sagittarius, our soul anticipates the return of the light and an alchemical awakening occurs that predicts the rejuvenation, regeneration and continuation of the life cycle.

We cannot authentically rise again until we have faced our shadow, honored our dead and confronted the deepest longings of the soul. But we should not slumber longer than we need to in the watery realms. We are about to pass through the gateway of Sagittarius, and there is a powerful calling now to come back. We are on a journey towards wholeness here, and it is important that we don't abandon ourselves completely to the underworld descent, for it is the bottomless place that will suck the hope out of us if we let it.

The next phase can uplift and re-inspire you with a more expanded possibility of who you are. Think of a time when you came back to life, when hope was restored, when you could see light again after a dark passage, when you found faith in something greater than yourself. Beyond all the fear and haunting doubt, beyond the heartbreak and suffering of loss, what is it that gives your life meaning? As you survey the furtherest horizon of your life.

What do you imagine could lie beyond it? Take yourself out into the wild places of nature and feel the immense majesty of creation. As night falls, spend some time under the dark, velvety sky and behold its magnificent tapestry of stars. As the wheel turns again, sorry, as the wheel turns again now, allow the awe and wonder of the universe to inspire you and ask yourself, what could my life be now?

Now really, really love that verse, that paragraph, because it really does tell us a lot about, although Scorpio season is really important for us to go into the depths of our soul, to seek for healing and seek understanding of ourselves, we don't want to get lost there. Because if we get lost there, I mean, what a terrible place to be lost and to be stuck in. And so that's why we have Sagittarius season that we move into, because that

Odelia (15:07.953)
brings the light back in, that brings us hope, that reignites the fire within us. So once you've gone through this discovery of yourself and this individuation process, the next phase is moving into Sagittarius, which is all about expansion, about adventure, about hope and

we move into that so that we don't get lost in underworld of our emotions. And we have something to look for and we have something to look forward to. So now is a good time to now re-examine your beliefs. And so do your beliefs align with this new person that has, you know, this transformation that you've been through and this new person that's emerging? Do you, like for me, for example, right? This belief that dancing is not a, you know, anything to do with dance and music is

not a reputable career or hobby or it's not something to be proud of. And so that's a belief now that I need to work on to say, it is a beautiful part of me. It's where I find enjoyment. It's where I find life. And if we didn't have the arts, how dull and depressing and boring would life be? You know, the arts, they lift us up. They bring light into our lives.

They bring laughter, they bring imagination, they take us, they transform us and take us to another place where we can forget about what we, you know, the problems of our day-to-day lives or the mundane-ness of our day-to-day lives. It transforms us, it transports us into another time where we are just sitting in pure joy watching something and indulging in something. So, you know, working on our inner beliefs.

realigning them to the self that is now emerging. This is also a really great time to start being the main character in your own life, right? A lot of us struggle with this because for so long, for so many years, we've put everybody else first, know, friends, husbands, spouses, boyfriends, children, elderly parents, we put everybody else first. And when do we get to be?

Odelia (17:21.316)
Number one, when do we get to be the main character in the story? So this is in this season, that's what we're to be embodying. Now Sagittarius is also the teacher of the zodiac. So if you are a teacher or you'd like to be one, this would be a great time for you to explore that part of yourself further or present yourself as such to the world. And if you're not, this would be a really great time to find a teacher that resonates with what you want to do in the world or be in the world. So what are they doing?

How are they doing it? Maybe you could reach there, there's someone that is approachable and you can reach out to them and ask them to be your mentor or your teacher. This would be a really, really good time to do this. The energy is very supportive of us. It's also a great time to take a break from healing and try to figure ourselves out. You know, being on a healing journey is really exhausting. You know, there's all these memes on social media about

I'm healing and you know, someone likes meditating and she looks so beautiful and calm and peaceful. No, that's not, that's not what healing is. It is exhausting. It is gut wrenching. It is, you know, you're crying and you're, you're releasing and your body is tired. Everything is tired. So it is okay, especially coming out of Scorpio season where that's like the deepest work you do to now take a break, to start re-engaging with the world and enjoying yourself.

So this is a really great time to take a break from healing and just to start integrating this new person, this new self without trying to move on to the next thing, the next healing thing on our to-do list. What better time of year than now to have a break, to sit back and enjoy life and how far you have come.

So the book I want to recommend for this month to read is called The Power of Fun by Katherine Price, because you know what? I think with all the work that we've been doing, at least I feel that way, you we need to have a little time out and have a bit of fun and just let our hair down and just enjoy life a bit. So while Sagittarius is all about expansion, philosophy, religion and beliefs, it's also about having fun. Sagittarius loves having a good time and it is the adventurer in the zodiac.

Odelia (19:39.727)
So if you've been doing your healing, now is the time to take a break and enjoy all your progress. Look at how far you've come. Now I'm also gonna do this. I'm gonna try and take my own advice because I do struggle with this a lot. I think a lot of us do. So I'm also gonna try and have some fun this season. I've already got like, you know, a couple of things in my Christmas calendar season that are just for me. know, Christmas is such a crazy time for moms.

because we are trying to make magic for the kids and we're trying to make, we're trying to bring everybody together. But you also need to have some stuff for yourself, right? You also need to do some things for yourself. So I've got really a couple of things in my calendar that are just for me to go and have fun.

But there's something else that I want to explore because as I said in the beginning, either you're going to spend the season going on an adventure, having fun, letting your hair loose, taking a break from healing, or you're going to do a bit more inward exploration. But this is a different kind of inward exploration. This is either going to be around your beliefs, your philosophies, or your spiritual life or religious life, if you like to say it that way. So for me, what I'll be exploring

is also around my religious beliefs, because I've felt this need for a very long time to connect with something more deeply on a spiritual level, which I would like to add to my daily practice as I move forward and as I start this new year. Something that gives me a sense of meaning, a sense of connectedness, and I stumbled on the works of Anna Otero, who has shared the teachings of the Mary Magdalene and Christ Consciousness works.

And it has resonated with me on such a deeply soulful level. Growing up Catholic, it has sort of given me a sort of a foundation of this work. And for me, religion has always been a big part of my life. Growing up Catholic, I always found going to church was very calming for me. It was a place that would sort of reset me for the week, especially for me just after I had my first son before COVID.

Odelia (21:48.138)
I really, because I was going through a very tough time. had postnatal depression, postnatal anxiety. And for me, religion was a savior. It saved me. helped me. It got me through that sense of connectedness. Really got me through a difficult time in my life. And then COVID hits and I stopped going to church for a while. And when I went back, I had done so much. I had grown so much as a person that when I went back, I just didn't have the same experience anymore.

And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not dissing any religion at all. You know, everyone do what's right for you. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. This is just my own personal experience that it just wasn't resonating for me anymore. And so for a while I've been on this, I've sort of been in this limbo, like not really wanting to have a faith in something, because I think that is important and wanting to feel this connectedness to something, but not really sure.

what that was because nothing was really resonating. And I heard Anna Otero do an interview on the Yasmin Bolan podcast a couple of weeks back and everything she talked about just resonated with me on such a deep level, which doesn't talk about the divine masculine and the divine feminine separately, but she talks about the divine union where those two are brought together, which really, for me, it sounded so beautiful and was something I could be on board with.

The point of the story is that for me, other Sagittarius season, this is what I'm going to be exploring. I'm going to be going more in depth into this teaching because I would like to expand my spiritual religious life and bring in some rituals for myself that will ground me on a daily basis because that's really important, especially when we're going through such intense healing, we need to have something that can ground us. So that's my focus for this month.

And you know, reach out and let me know what are you going to be focusing on? Send me, know, tag me in your pictures on Instagram where you're having fun and enjoying Sagittarius season, doing things just for yourself. So as we step into Sagittarius season, remember that you've done the emotional work of Scorpio. You've met your shadows and integrated new parts of yourself. Now you get to expand. This is the season to explore what excites you, discover new beliefs, reconnect with hope.

Odelia (24:14.176)
and step into the version of yourself that's been waiting to emerge. If you've made it this far, thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you more than you know, and I truly hope this episode has resonated for you or with you. If it did, I'd be so grateful if you'd share it with someone who might need to hear it too. And if you'd like to go deeper, come and join me on Substack. I have just opened the doors to my new community, or you can subscribe and receive loads of free content on a weekly basis.

We're only just getting started, so make sure to click that follow button or the little bell so you'll be notified when a new episode drops. I've got a couple of really exciting episodes coming up with interviews with some amazing women, so you don't want to miss those. If you want to stay connected between episodes, then come and follow me on my healing journey on Instagram and TikTok. really do try to consistently, but I'm not that great a consistency. I'm learning, I'm learning. I'll get there.

You'll find the links in show notes or just search The Midlife Awakening. So until next week, be kind to yourself, take care of your heart and go and enjoy the silly season. Bye for now.