Sweet Friends, thanks for being with us in the Dome last weekend. Here are some notes from my teaching themes and explorations. Enjoy!

It’s time to take your needs seriously.

Energy of Winter  - Turn on the wheel toward the north…slow, quiet earth energy.  A time to reflect, regroup and rejuvenate and come more deeply into alignment with the ancestors. 

Energy of the North is about Reenergize our relationship with mother earth –getting low to the earth in order to hear her wisdom whispering up.

Darkness. Culturally I think we can push away the idea of darkness, the quiet… but in truth there is so much beauty here!  The darkness is receptive, womb energy, deep and quiet and vibrating with potential. It’s potent. There is mystery here. There is magic.

The birth of anything begins in the darkness -The seed underground. An animal in a womb. A Phoenix birthed from the ashes. We are like a little bulb gaining strength under the earth, in need of darkness as much as we’re in need of light.

 As we move toward the longest night of the year, What is your heart feeling like? How are you navigating this tender, dark time of year? 

We get to walk in this divine darkness together!  Deep and rich – and as much as I love looking at stars on a pitch black night noticing their light – this energy of the North is inviting you to love that dark night sky and also experience darkness like eating a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips!  Treasures within treasures.  Little specks of sweetness everywhere. 

Winter Solstice: Also known as “Midwinter” in some Northern European traditions. At this time, we’re in the deep darkness. (In the Gaulish/Celtic calendar, this month was known as “the deepest darkness,”) The date of the winter solstice is generally between December 20 and 23 depending on the year and location.

In some cultures, the solstice is/was a time of celebration: phew, the sun is returning, the days are getting longer - we’re going to make it!! Often, it was a time to recognize rest - the harvesting was done, there was less light to work by, and less calories needed to be spent to ensure enough food for the long winter.

It is/was also a time to honor the ancestors. There are two different winter solstice monuments in the UK. One in Ireland and one in Scotland. Both were engineered so that the sun on the winter solstice would light up a long pathway and pour down a channel into a central chamber. This central chamber in both monuments was a place where the dead were buried - aka a place where the ancestors hung out.

Ancestors: “It is enough to just call on the ancestors.  The second you become conscious of them, you are calling on them.  As we are speaking of them, our ancestors are with us.  They have the power to affect our lives.  They have the power to guide us in our journey of life.” – Puma Singona

We can call on our ancestors for support, guidance, assistance and healing.  These aren’t just our genetic family, but the collective energy of those who have come before us.  There are human ancestors, tree ancestors and even star ancestors.  It’s said that before our ancestors in the stars, we have ancestors of the place of ultimate origin or source.

Traditions Around the World:

• In Peru, Inti Raymi is an Inca festival that celebrates the winter solstice and the Sun God. (This celebration takes place for them in the summer months!)

• Burning the Clocks is a festival held in Brighton, England on the winter solstice. It is a celebration of the return of the light.

• In ancient Egypt, there was the Feast of Aset (Isis), celebrated around the winter solstice.

• Yalda Night is an Iranian holiday that celebrates the winter solstice.

• Dongzhi is a Chinese holiday that celebrates the winter solstice.

• Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival that celebrated the winter solstice. It was a time of feasting, drinking, and revelry.

• Yule is a pagan festival that celebrates the winter solstice harkening from the Norsemen of Scandanavia. It is celebrated in many parts of Europe and North America. Yule traditions vary depending on the region and tradition.

• In Japan, the celebration is called TOJI and people traditionally soak in hot baths with the yuzu citrus fruit to welcome the winter solstice and protect their bodies from the common cold.

• The Zuni people of New Mexico perform the Shalako dance on the Winter Solstice and the Hopi celebrate the Sun Chief.

• In the Iroquois tradition “Rather than staying up all night to celebrate the dawn, the People of the Longhouse turned in early, to sleep, to dream. As Mother Night reigned supreme, in dreaming they walked between the worlds of light and darkness, gathering great meaning from what The Great Mystery illuminated for them.”
  
  Some sources say that humans may have observed the winter solstice as early as Neolithic period—the last part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,200 B.C.
  

  WALNUT - part of the energy of the north is honoring the earth. As such, I wanted to create a ritual item that used all upcycled items. I did buy the walnuts - but we ate the insides :) The fabric for the “bed” of the walnut is from an antique quilt. Each walnut has borage flower (aids with astral travel and depression) and palo santo (to honor the ancestors) mixed in with the rocks as well as a garnet or two. They also have either lavender or valerian to aid with rest. This is a great item to hold in your hand, to place on an altar, or to use in a ritual - placing something inside the walnut shell to rest and restore (symbolic item, or a scrap of paper with words).