Dec

21

Solstice Honoring

Filed Under Cross Quarter Holy Days | 3 Comments

Last night I ate a heavier meal than usual. This morning I slept in. Later I won’t go to the gym as I usually do. It’s solstice time. The sun appears to be standing still as it slowly turns to go back along the horizon line (moving north or south, depending on your hemisphere). This is how we shift into the new season. A lot of people get sick during solstice week, though we don’t need to pause that way. Rather, we can follow the body’s subtle or insistent promptings to slow, tune inward, and when ready, reach out to reconnect with the wheeling planet. Freshly centered within ourselves, we can enjoy the profound delights of sensing the air, listening to the trees, watching the new flight patterns of birds. Something in the body wants to do this; it’s ancient, powerful, and pleasurable. Some people like to sit in meditation on solstice. Others perform ceremony and ritual. Some buy new journals, others select goals for the season, some light candles, others take walks in the park. It doesn’t particularly matter what you do on solstice. It’s the spirit with which you do it that brings the magic. The solstice is a bright jewel on the year’s necklace. Wear it with joy this week.

 

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Dec

8

Dark Sitting on a Winter Moon

Filed Under Full Moon | 1 Comment

The eclipse makes this a special “Long Night Moon.” For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere the December Full Moon heralds the coming of Winter Solstice, which is always a good time for sitting alone in the dark. Dark Sitting is a simple yet profound practice. You can do it with or without lighting a candle. I recommend trying both ways. I like closing the practice with a prayer of gratitude to the guardian angels. I rarely think of them but I know they’re with me, especially when I’m in the dark. You have yours too of course. Say something heartfelt and spontaneous. Or recite this traditional Catholic prayer (scroll midpage to “Christian Prayer”). The advantage of using traditional prayers is that the “mana” or power in the words has been nourished by centuries of repetition, particularly when they’re recited in Latin. Or light a small birthday candle and say these words from Draja Mickaharic’s Practice of Magic: “You who are with me in this life as my guide and protector, I express my gratitude to you with this candle which I light for you. I thank you for your loving care and guidance.” Let the candle safely burn until it extinguishes itself.

This eclipse is visible in west and central North America, the islands in the Pacific, Asia, eastern Africa, Iceland and most of Europe. If you’re not able to view it (the time is listed on our home page), you might enjoy “The Moon is My Mistress” from a blogger who watched last year’s winter lunar eclipse with his wife.

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