Winter Solstice. The North pole is furthest away from the Sun. Northern Hemisphere gets minimal light; and on 21 December you’re in between two longest nights of the year. Held between two seasons, two worlds.
What do you want to plant in the darkness of the night? What seeds you want to see sprouting in spring? And how would you tend to them if you trusted that light will return again?
When I was a child, my late father used to say “Sun – to the summer, winter – to frost” («Солнце — на лето, зима — на мороз.») meaning that after this day days grow longer again… but we’ve officially stepped into winter. Mind that growing up in Kazakhstan it was really frosty – negative 30C was not uncommon, snow storms brought warmth in contrast to the arctic air – covering trees in white blankets. Frost biting at your nose and fingers, eyes lost in the embellishment of sparkling snowflakes dancing their way to the ground.
For years, I was completely unaware of natural cycles: failing to see their sacred invitations from the natural world to hear the heartbeat of the universe. To celebrate insignificance of our human worries held against the tapestry of the eternal consciousness. See my life as a blip, a spark from the wild flame of the Spirit.
In this moment I hear the song of my soul, peeling layers and layers of noise and distractions, I want to say “I’ve arrived” – but I know that nature of human existence is always arriving, always becoming. Perpetual evolution of the soul. I’m humbled by it, every time I turn a corner and feel the next curve of Earth’s breath. I think human mind needs all the yogic trainings and indigenous wisdom to not go mad while standing in awe of beauty of our planet. How this superhuman organism breathes, moves through space? And how special it is to be part of Earth’s story?
This moment in time – this Winter Solstice, or the new moon (that happened day prior) is an offering to pause and appreciate. Because unless you’ve been raised in a rooted tradition, remembering who you really are – a soul having a human experience while living an illusion we call our reality – is hard in the modern world.
To answer a calling after a full year – I hosted a HuMoon Circle today: a gathering of humans to lean on natural cycles in order to hear the spirit, to hear the Soul. Amidst the busy city of Amsterdam, construction noises and human conversations faded into weaving of the spirit tale. Beating of the drum to wake up the heart and bitterly rich cacao to open the door to it.
I cannot put words to it, it was just… otherworldly. I got to host a ceremony. To be able to bridge spirit into the human experience – is an honour I tend to forget I carry. Getting in touch with something so subtle and so elusive and infinitely omni-present. In every molecule, every cell, every branch of a tree and every song of a bird – spirit lives – through you and me. It sings: through ceremony, through holding space for its song…
So make your ritual.
Light a candle.
Accept the invitation of the universe to pause – not to stop – but to appreciate. How lucky we really are.
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