Winter Solstice 2022

 

                                                   Winter Deer - By D. Hirst November 2022

Over the last twenty years, I have attended quite a few winter solstice events and hosted a dozen or so winter solstice ceremonies with my husband.  We love the time of the longest night as the celebration of the closing of Nature’s year and the welcoming of the new year ahead.  There is excitement about moving from a short amount of daylight to a day that gets longer light.

Past celebrations start with smudging all the guests and then creating a sacred space to hold the ceremony. After the sacred space is invoked, I lead several short meditations, we have some drumming and fire ceremony - even if it is the fireplace - and close with a sharing circle and then closing the sacred space.  After the ceremony, we have food and chatting and laughing.  

The ceremony, for me, is a tradition that helps me keep my spiritual balance through out the year.  It is a time where the camaraderie of the Tribe of people that attend our gatherings increases the energy of the prayers and meditations that we do, and, increases the energy in our house. 

I am grateful for our celebrations and togetherness.  I wish you peace, love, and sanctuary at this Winter Solstice.

Blessings,

Judy

It's About Time

 

The grumbling I have been hearing about not having enough time for Christmas… how there is not enough of it; how we don't need daylight savings time anymore; how it seemed to be getting darker at an earlier time, and how much time friends and family take, never mind the amount of time you spend at work. And, who has time for Christmas shopping?

If we did not have clocks and if we did not have time, would we still do the same things?  Would we still need to find food to feed ourselves?  Yes!  Would we still need to make sure that we had shelter?  Yes! Would we still do things with friends and family?  Yes!  We would act mostly in the same way.

So what does it mean when people say, "I can't take time for that!"  What they are really saying is that they do not really want to do the activity in question.

Yet, we need to find the time to be compassionate for our self and for others.  We need to find time to be in harmony with our friends and family.  We need to find time for self healing.  We must absolutely find time to live our life, to love, to meditate, and to be mindful. 

Many blessings.

Judy

Self Care at Christmas

 

Just being more conscious of one's self will make this Christmas a much easier time for you.  The list above is to stick on your fridge, or in your wallet so that you don't forget.  Too often, we forget that if we don't care for self first, no one else will do it for us.  No one can sleep more for us, or drink more water for us.  Others cannot exercise for us or relax us.  Those things must come from inside us.  

Make a pledge to yourself that this Christmas season, you will be kind to yourself first, and then kind to others.  

Many blessings.