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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Winter Sosltice

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_14884681_1809846729227541_4275433016924022846_o.jpgMay there be peace before us.
May there be peace beneath us.
May there be peace around us.
May there be peace within us.

I write each winter about how I feel pulled in two energetic directions at this time of year and those directions feel in opposition to one another: the inward call to descend, hibernate, reflect, renew, incubate, stew and brew up new magic, listen, wait, watch and feel, and the outer call to produce, perform, keep up, do, be, move, give, create.

This week, I saw that my own Past Self from about eight years ago had shared this quote and I’m taking it to heart:

“Focus is often a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do.” – John Carmack

At this time of year I recognize that I often feel a type of defeat, like I’m having to “give up” on the year, on the things I thought I was going to do, etc. and each and every year I have trouble with that point of surrender—with acknowledging what didn’t come to pass, what could not be, what has to wait, and what can be laid aside. After I struggle and wrestle and freak out and whirl and sometimes even weep over the things undone, the surrender moment comes and I realize: “Yep. Not happening,” and there is a relief or release to that moment of letting go. After that, I usually remember that the end of the year is in many ways an arbitrary and imaginary or self-imposed deadline and rather than rushing and scrambling to keep up, I can instead lay some things down and look forward to the bright sense of possibility that dawns with January.

How might you soften and surrender?

How might you lay some things aside?b2ap3_thumbnail_15039635_1818762091669338_4901288478015916309_o.jpg

How might you honor the undone and unfinished and let them rest?

How might you mindfully embrace the twin pulls of this season and let effort and ease join hands?

May you honor wise secrets
and silent mysteries.
May you trust the touch
of the sacred
in all things.

Some resources for Winter Magic are available to you here.

 

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_RobinQuinlivan-Ursa.jpg

Markswoman Blessing

May you honor the fire
behind your eyes.
May you release the arrow.
May you love your art to life.
excerpt © Shelly Anne Tipton Irish 2016

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A Winter Solstice Mystery: Beauty in the Belly of the Dark

As the wheel of the year turns to the Winter Solstice, Nature settles ever deeper into Her cloak of darkness and repose. At the opposite end of the scale, our Western culture marks the holiday season in a flurry of shopping, social obligations and overconsumption — a busy end to a busy year in an outward-focused, ever-doing, hungry-for-more world.

Nature remembers what we humans have forgotten:
every cycle must return to stillness, silence, the dark;
every out-breath requires an in-breath;
every outer endeavor turns back inward to its origins and begins again;
from death comes new life; from the darkest night, the new dawn is born.

Beauty sleeps in the belly of the dark, be it the seeds of the green growth of Spring, the powers and mysteries of the unknown, and our own dormant gifts and potential. Yet the dark has a gatekeeper; our pain, losses and the denied, repressed parts of our life story and humanity also await us in the belly of the dark. We cannot reclaim our beauty without also embracing and healing our wounding; both dwell within the shadowed folds of our inner world, side by side, a mirror of the other, each with gifts and blessings to share.

The part of you that holds your wounding is not your nemesis; it is the truth keeper of how you were hurt, what was taken from you and the choices you made in order to survive and even thrive in the face of adversity. It has stood guard and shielded your tender, beautiful, true Self, waiting for the ripe moment of your healing and blossoming.

If you are one of the fortunate ones, with few bumps and bruises in your life story, still the darkness has gifts lying in wait for you. Because the sacred dark is the truth keeper of the profound potential and mysteries of our authentic, whole/holy humanity that have been denied and repressed in our collective culture.

Open to the ways of Nature at this turning into the Winter Solstice. Heed the call arising from the belly of the dark that invites you to stillness, silence, and opens portals to your inner darkness. Let go of the frenetic activity of the season; follow your breath inward and return to your center in search of the fragments of your life story and true Self ready to return to the light.

So without, so within; as the new dawn is born of the darkest nights, so too can your beauty blossom from the depth of your wounding, and your whole/holy humanity shine forth into the returning light of a newborn day.

Photo Credit: Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Yule - Re-Enchanting Everyday Life

Many years ago, I read "The Re-Enchantment Of Everyday Life" by Thomas Moore. It's one of my favourite non-fiction books ever. I kept a well-thumbed and dog-eared copy of the book within arm's length for many years, until I gave the book away to someone who I thought might love it too. The premise of the book speaks to the notion that as we've become more mechanized, more technologically dependent, we've lost something important, something slow, something about touch and smell and connection to the inherent magic that is ever present in the world. Much of how I see and practice magic has its roots in this book. 

Here's an excerpt that rings especially true for me:

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Gwion Raven
    Gwion Raven says #
    Hello Lizann - Thank you so much for continually following my blog
  • Lizann Bassham
    Lizann Bassham says #
    blessings in the re-enchantment

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Sun Stands Still

Solstice: literally, “the Sun stands [still].”

The Sun is a god of constant motion. Every day of the year, he rises from a different place on the horizon.

But at the solstices, summer and winter, his movement slows. For several days in sequence, he seems to rise from the same place.

Sun stands still.

And while the Sun stands, the world waits.

The 2nd century Protoevangelium of James tells a strange story.

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

The Winter Solstice falls this year on the 22nd of December. The shortest day and the longest night of the year, the sun is now at it's very lowest point. For three days, it's position in the dawn sky will appear to 'stand still' in the furthest south-easterly position of its it's cycle, before it begins to be seen rising ever so slightly further north each morning until the summer solstice, or longest day.

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PaganNewsBeagle Faithful Friday Dec 19

Today's Faithful Friday post concentrates on stories of the upcoming Winter Solstice (with one celebrating the corresponding Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere). Stonehenge for Solstice?; Manchester (UK) streets salute the winter sun; Solstice at Native American site Cahokia Mounds; Solstice parade in NYC; Christmas in New Zealand.

Want to go to Stonehenge to celebrate Winter Solstice? English Heritage has the official scoop on what, when, and where. (The "why" you'll need to come up with yourself.)

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