{"id":116,"date":"2010-12-21T01:29:08","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T08:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/?p=116"},"modified":"2010-12-21T07:58:51","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T14:58:51","slug":"mid-winter-night-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/?p=116","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Winter Night Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dreamstime_7702976<\/a>Here Comes the Sun–again<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, December 21st <\/sup>, marks the winter solstice<\/a>; the shortest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere) and the point where the sun is at its lowest arc in the sky.\u00a0 Whether you recognize the event as the beginning of winter or mid-winter, rituals and celebrations honouring the return of the light\u2014or rebirth of the sun\/son, in many pre-Christian and non-Christian spiritual traditions\u2014date back thousands of years and across diverse cultures around the globe.<\/p>\n

I can well imagine that for our ancestors, the cold, long, dark nights that set in by early November would have provided ample time for speculations on the likelihood of surviving the winter months and whether the sun would ever return.\u00a0 It\u2019s not surprising, then, that our ancestors created rituals to encourage the sun to return<\/a> and to honour the continuation of life. \u00a0At the very least, a gathering of family and friends around a Yule fire to share whatever treats were available would certainly have lifted some of the winter gloominess.<\/p>\n

Luxuriating in the Quiet Darkness<\/strong><\/p>\n

The extended hours of darkness throughout the winter also allowed time for stillness (rest), introspection and reflection.\u00a0 Just as most plant life goes dormant and many animals hibernate in dark spaces throughout the winter, humans can also benefit from some \u201cdown time\u201d in the winter to rest, and revitalize their bodies, minds and creative processes. Yet, rather than taking the space and time to rest and reflect inwardly on our lives and ideas, many of us feel that we must constantly be in \u201cdoing\u201d rather than \u201cbeing\u201d mode.\u00a0 Indeed, at this time of year many of us are busy running around preparing for whichever seasonal holiday we celebrate and barely taking time to remember to breathe, let alone make room for stillness and quiet reflection.<\/p>\n

With the advent of easy access to electric lights, heating and power, the number of activities we can\u2014and are often expected to–carry out within the span of a day is no longer constrained by the hours of daylight available to us.\u00a0 We can read, work, write or party until the wee hours of the morning, as long we have the stamina to do so.<\/p>\n

Many of us have lost our connection both to nature\u2019s cycles of growth followed by rest\/dormancy or fallow periods and to the diurnal and seasonal cycles of light and dark.\u00a0 Increasingly, I\u2019m beginning to think that in the process of shifting too far out of alignment with the seasonal cycles, not to mention our own bodies\u2019 rhythms and cycles, we have also become misaligned with our inner selves and wisdom.\u00a0 How can we really take time to understand our deeper natures, \u201cnotice what we notice\u201d and convert those observations into inspired creative expressions of our inner voice if we have fallen out of the habit of stillness and introspection?<\/p>\n

Of course, we really need to take time out on a regular basis for stillness and reflection, but I\u2019m going to gently encourage readers of this blog to take some time out for themselves for stillness and quietude over the next couple of weeks.\u00a0 Take time to honour the \u201creason for the season\u201d, as Leigh Vozella (2009)<\/a> so eloquently phrased it in her online article about the history of Yule-tide celebrations.\u00a0 Gift yourself with more sleep, rest and quiet time at home to daydream, journal or do nothing at all.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the Return of the Light<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating a small ceremony to acknowledge the power of winter and appreciate the gifts of both the darkness and the light can start to forge a personally meaningful connection with the seasonal event. Here are some ideas for a low-key, no-fuss winter solstice ritual.<\/p>\n

A guided meditation that perhaps focuses on the positive qualities of darkness as a still space for reflection, introspection and the germination of new ideas, or that recognizes the gifts of both light and dark on a daily basis, might be ideal.\u00a0 You may want to do the meditation in almost complete darkness (perhaps have one or two candles burning) and then switch on more lights to symbolize the return of the sun\u2019s light.\u00a0 You may like to try this meditation from<\/p>\n

This is also a good time of the year to spend some time journaling about the events of the past year.\u00a0 I\u2019ve noticed a number of bloggers are sharing their reflections for 2010 in a fairly public way on their blogs.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to thank them for their courage and willingness to make themselves vulnerable, and for encouraging their readers to\u00a0 take stock of this year and plan for 2011.<\/p>\n

For other ideas, you might want to check out this article by Amy Kreydin (2009)<\/a> on how to observe the winter solstice.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, rituals are completed with the sharing of \u201ccakes and ale\u201d. Even if you choose a small, solitary celebration, it\u2019s still fun to end the ritual with a treat to get you re-grounded.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need an entire feast\u2014just something to nibble and something to drink.\u00a0 My personal preference would be ginger cookies with spicy hot chocolate (add a dash of cinnamon and a very tiny amount of chilli powder or cayenne pepper), but check in with your intuition and go with what works for you.<\/p>\n

A Mid-Winter Night\u2019s Wish<\/strong><\/p>\n

However you celebrate the winter season, I wish all of you a peaceful and restful holiday season. May all be blessed by the return of the sun\u2019s light with much love, laughter, friendship, good health and abundance, and may we all join forces to create a more peaceful, equitable and environmentally sustainable presence on the planet.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Susan Chambers, December 2010<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here Comes the Sun–again Today, December 21st , marks the winter solstice; the shortest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere) and the point where the sun is at its lowest arc in the sky.\u00a0 Whether you recognize the event as the beginning of winter or mid-winter, rituals and celebrations honouring the return of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}