by Carlos Salazar ([email protected])
Traditionally, the winter solstice is one of the most spiritual dates in the year which many cultures considered as a moment of renewal and rebirth. During this time, the feminine divinity gives birth to the Sun starting a new cycle.
During this time the darkness is dissipated and our consciousness is illuminated with new perspectives. The winter solstice is a great moment of spiritual power in which we can focus our intention to act in a more conscious way and align ourselves with the power of nature. Solstice comes from the latin Solstitium which means Sol = Sun and Stitium = stay still. This “stillness” causes the shortest day and longest and darkest night during the year. It is the moment in which the sun appears to stay immobile thus signalling the start of winter. The winter cold causes shifts in our physical and metaphysical bodies as well. It calls for rest, warm foods, relaxation, meditation, and sleep. The lack of sunlight affects our energy, emotions and moods, making this a powerful time for introspection to access and unleash our inner heat and energy sources.
Winter is associated with our darkness, our deepest and most intimate corners of our mind and soul. Winter affects all living forms in one way or another. Trees lose all external features such as leaves, flowers, etc, however internally, sap is running vigorously and the root system continues to nourish from mother Earth to begin the production of new seeds. During this time most living things save their energy and go into an introspective stage (hibernation).
The power of winter is associated with Yin (feminine) and the Water element. Just like everything in the Universe, the polarity of Yin and Yang holds true. Light Vs Darkness. Even though we usually like to identify more with the Light we need to deal with our very real and natural darkness. By conceiving and embracing ourselves as we truly are in all our dimensions, our light and our darkness, we can truly understand and embrace our consciousness and Oneness with the Universe. This period of stillness and darkness invites us to delve within our own darkness, without judgement and with reflective thought. From here we’ll be able to shine our light even stronger.
We invite you to take a few moments to reflect about the way in which you want to live this new cycle. Make or renew your commitment to yourself to live in a conscious way, face your fears headon, and harbour the light that is within you.
“ Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar’s gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart throughout the world. There in the horrors of prisons, lunatic asylums and hospitals, in drab suburban pubs, in brothels and gambling-hells, in the salons of the elegant, the Stock Exchanges, socialist meetings, churches, revivalist gatherings and ecstatic sects, through love and hate, through the experience of passion in every form in his own body, he would reap richer stores of knowledge than text-books a foot thick could give him, and he will know how to doctor the sick with a real knowledge of the human soul. For one does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making our darkness conscious” C.G. Jung
In short, winter is prime time for us to be brave and face the sub/unconscious mind and soul to become a fully conscious being. It’s time for owning our “stuff” and dissolving it under the flame of awareness.
Namaste
Carlos ([email protected])
