Return of the Light

We anticipate the Celebration of light and return of the sun.  

The Winter Solstice on the 21st of December marks the returning of the light and provides us with a powerful opportunity to pause, reflect, bless, and integrate all that has transpired in the departing cycle. This sacred time creates a short portal for us to carry the gifts and wisdom of the completion forward as we set intentions for the coming year. 

The Spirit of this season is the antlered Winter Goddess. 

Across the North, since the Neolithic, from the British Isles, Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, the land bridge of the Bering Straights and into the Americas, the female reindeer was venerated as the ‘life-giving mother’. She was the facilitator of fertility, the anima of wild places, forests and mountains, the otherworldly steed of fairies and magical folk.

This image can also be found in Hungary, Mongolia, Russian Steppes and China, where the symbol of the cosmos and the mother of the sun was symbolized as a large horned female doe “carrying the sun in her horns.”

So this solstice remember to look out from your warm cozy home into the cold of the darkening eve. Remember the forgotten winter goddesses of old and their magical reindeer. And on the sacred night when the sun is reborn, look for Mother Christmas waiting silently as a deer in the temple of nature, carrying a bird in her horns.

http://gathervictoria.com/2014/12/04/doe-a-deer-a-female-deer-the-spirit-of-mother-christmas

Building Our Sacred Lodge

The full moon of November is called the Beaver Moon. She shows us how to prepare our lodge for the coming winter months. 

Now we prepare for the time of our inward journey. What do we gather for those dark days ahead? Our ancestors made ceremonies, sang the songs of their ancestors, tucked away seeds for planting in the spring. We have needs in our modern lives. What is in your spirit lodge that needs removing? And what needs to be brought in and fed?

At this time of Thanksgiving, consider making offerings to the animals who live around you. Your Spirits of Place. Expressing gratitude to the ancestors who sent you your gifts is part of the Thanksgiving spirit. 

Artist Clarence Mills

Honoring Our Ancestors

October 31^st is called Samhain by the Celtic people. Its where our Halloween originates. A time to make peace, forgive, ask for forgiveness, and release those who have passed on. Consider the weight of carrying the dead. They might like to be released as well.

A lovely tradition in many cultures is setting a place at the table for your family members who have died. It is a happy occasion of storytelling and remembering the good things about the person. 

The veil is thin today. What did you mean to say before they passed? Listen to what they need to say to you. Be in gratitude for the gifts they gave or the lessons you learned because of them.

Finding Our Path in Elderhood

We are taught how to navigate the path of childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, and middle age. But what about the landscape of elderhood? 

Who is the guide? Who am I now? What is my job? What are the rules? Or do I make my own?

We will follow the direction of the Elders and Wisdom Keepers and discover our identity and what gifts it provides.

Dealing with fear, regret, sadness.

Feeling free, full, and fearsome.

Finding our voice.

Becoming visible.

The Land Between

When we have left what was and are not yet where we hope to be there is a place the elders speak of called the Land Between. It offers us a pause so that we can catch our breath and reconnect to ourselves before continuing. It is the place of transition and can also be the place of transformation.

What all transitions have in common is a loss of identity, for example, I’m no longer the wife, mother, daughter, employee, etc. Our sense of self is actually a conglomeration of shared experiences with people, places, ideologies, and things that tell us who we are or who we believe ourselves to be. The true, powerful and divine cosmic Self has no label at all.

When a link that defines us, or sometimes a series of links are broken, we may feel lost and on unstable ground at the least. Even when the change is a positive one, we can feel unsure of our place in the world. Spiritual initiations may also be the cause for this state of being. We are not who we were and we may not know who we want to be. At this time, it is essential to listen to the messages within. Be gentle with yourself. Be with people who support and care for you. Rest, play, and find things that bring joy no matter how simple.

What transitions also have in common is that we are really still here but have lost those familiar connections to our Self. We sometimes feel like we have died. It is a time to pull ourselves back from where we have been and where we have given ourselves away. Take inventory. Notice what isn't working and what's working now that makes us feel whole.

Ancient cultures knew that ceremony and sacred practices reunite us with ourselves. They bring closure, call back lost power, release the past, and set intention for the journey forward. They provide re-connection to the True Self; the one who has been here all along. We can return to ourselves using the tools our ancestors used and passed down to us. 

Contact Lyn Birmingham at www.Spiritmoon.net for classes, retreats, and personal sessions. 

Trained in core shamanism, Lyn has been teaching and healing for over 30 years.

Email: spiritmoon@spiritmoon.net