With the approach of the Winter Solstice coming up this weekend, I’ve been reviewing the last year and envisioning the next… One of the most repetitive questions when it comes to Shamanism or traditional Spirituality is “why do you celebrate the Equinox and Solstice? And what do these celebrations mean to you?” Every year I give similar answers; but since Shamanism relates very much to experience, my perspectives always seem to come from a very particular context.
As most of you know the Winter Solstice relates
to the “longest night of the year.” When
we celebrate the Winter Solstice we are actually standing in “the darkest
moment of the year.” 18 years ago give
or take a year Gérard and I spent time with some Huron friends during the
Winter Solstice. As with many
traditional First Nation people it is custom to have elders tell stories during
festivities. At this celebration some of
the stories that were shared spoke of famine as a common occurrence for Huron
ancestors during the darkest time of the year (winter solstice). What I found most remarkable through these
stories was how these people had to find strength and faith to survive their
ordeals. Dark moments in our lives often
reveal the most surprising light in each of us.
EC a Passamaquoddy friend and teacher of
mine once shared that “she adopted the ritual of fasting during the Winter
Solstice” because it allowed her to truly understand what it means to “be
empty.” For her the Winter Solstice
meant, “looking at the emptiness, loneliness, and darkness” within
herself. Through the years of
celebrating this time of year with my First Nation family and friends, I learnt
to respect, and truly value “darkness” in my life. Where most people are eager to rid themselves
of darkness or ignore it altogether, I was taught to accept it as a natural
occurrence; experience it as I would experience light; and truly give it the
“value or worth” it deserves.
In ancient times, many First Nation people
did “prayer bundles” especially during the Winter Solstice and hung them in
trees. Prayer amongst traditional people has always implied a
communication to Spirit; but also translates a profound communion with Creator
and Creation. It’s not just about
“prayer” as a tool or medicine / power, but also about “prayer” as a deep
personal experience. Prayer can
represent man’s personal, medicine story if we deliver ourselves to it. Prayer bundles embody this complete
significance of “prayer” and so, when they hang from the trees they are like
“stars in the heaven” shining a mysterious potential of light through the
darkest of times.
After almost a decade of sharing blog
entries with you, I’m sure many of you have a strong idea about “me” and my
interests. Since January 2015 I’ve been
incredibly busy with my dogs (beagles).
Murfle my senior dog was diagnosed traditional cell carcinoma (bladder
cancer) last year. We committed to
oncology visits and chemotherapy for months and celebrated in August a complete
remission. Unfortunately, in early
September Murfle started bleeding from the vulva and revealed another and more
aggressive cancer. She passed away in
late September.
I often refer to 2015 as my “prayer bundle”
experience because it seems like every event; every lesson we learnt; and every
dark moment delivered us to “some kind of light: Unexpected breakthrough and
insight / consciousness.”
Believe me when I say – “We were incredibly
conscious of the dark this past year and very much involved in the notion of
“prayer”. “
From a cosmological perspective it seemed
we were destined to experience “the reality of darkness” since we moved through
a few dark moons at the start of the year. What was even more impressive was
when we took notice that this year’s Winter Solstice falls on the Full Moon of
Omnipotence (as per our Moon calendar and tradition). Cosmology in 2015 was telling us to “make
peace with the dark and come out of it – BRILLIANT!”
We all have guides, teachers, or guardian
angels; who show us the way when there are some hard times. I’ve always been a dog lover; but this last
year helped me delete the word “pet” from my vocabulary. Murfle, Bella, Sunny, Freddy, Stella and now
Oliver have been the best of teachers, companions, and even god / goddess
presence in my life in 2015.
In 2009 when the Dark Moon Journey started
I told my students “not to approach this time of darkness with fear and
apprehension but to embrace it; surrender to it; and have faith in the final
outcome.” I basically invited everyone to
believe in the darkness and what it would bring to emergence.
“Discover yourselves as children of the
Dark Goddess,” I often affirmed and even lectured. A part of me no doubt had an understanding of
this statement but it wasn’t empirical until September of 2015 when Murfle died. Murfle embodied the Dark Goddess in every
which way and I didn’t realize until the end – that Murfle claimed me as one of
her children. I had to show her that I
wasn’t afraid of the dark…
Through the 49 days of passing, many of us
had dreams of Murfle. Many of them were
quite scary and nightmarish. So much so
that some of us were worried. Again I
remember encouraging people to “have faith”.
“Trust her: Trust the Goddess of Darkness,” I repeated constantly, sometimes not quite convinced myself.
During these 49 days, Murfle guided us to
two other dogs (beagles). Stella and
Oliver appeared in our lives and showed us the “outcome at the end of a dark
tunnel.” Stella was particularly
important for Sunny, a senior dog that we adopted 5 or 6 years ago after he was
abandoned in the woods near our house.
We fed him and took care of him, to eventually adopt him in our
community. IL and her children are his
family. Sunny has never felt completely
integrated. A part of him stayed “judged
as useless; rejected and abandoned.”
It’s as if we needed someone or something to reach out to him in the
dark and bring him Home.
Honestly I saw the scene as a Dreamer (of
course) and envisioned the scene as the “hand of the Dark Goddess delivering a
puppy to us.” This female beagle pup
appeared with a personality to bring any dog home!! J Sunny who doesn’t do well with new dogs fell
in love with Stella. It was amazing to
watch this small, Beagle puppy teach a Senior Golden Retriever how to let go of
fear and trust…
Oliver appeared in our lives and became
Bella’s new companion after Murfle’s passing.
I really had the feeling that Bella proved herself to the Dark Goddess
like many of us; and in return the Goddess was kind and generous. Oliver appeared with a lot of enthusiasm and
affection. He brought livelihood to
Bella and triggered in her some of the wisdom and motherly teachings that
Murfle had shown her… Bella seemed
genuinely happy with the puppy and was able to let go of the loss of Murfle.
There’s nothing more difficult than to
loose a loved one. Darkness comes in all
kinds of packages: Divorce, illness, death, betrayal, loneliness, fear,
etc…. It’s part of life and our
incarnation experience to move through darkness and hopefully find some
light. For me 2015 has been one
experience over another about “darkness.”
I truly and literally touched all of the “words / experiences” I’ve
mentioned in the second sentence of this paragraph. In the end, I’m left with profound insights
and a sense of “prayer” that I never had before. I see more clearly and I stand in gratitude
of not only the results or outcomes of darkness; but especially the
journey: The details that brought us
here – now.
Happy Winter Solstice to everyone.
·
To those who stand in the dark
– “it’s time to look up at the stars and believe in them.”
·
To those who are journeying
towards “prayer” – don’t stop exploring, experiencing and trusting. The end is worth the journey.
·
And to those who are looking
forward to the next frontier – breath in the unknown, and Mystery! A part of you already knows where all of this
will take you. Sit in the unknown with a
sense of all knowing and you’ll bring your circle home….
HAPPY SOLSTICE to ALL
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