These misty, moisty, muddy days leading us from late November into December are caked with the magic of dark.
We know we have to go even deeper into dark's depths before the sun stills - neither exhausted or refreshed - just resting a while and savouring in our own misty magic we are invited to linger in our germinating, alchemical dark.
Sprouting Seeds
Look closely and you will see after not so many weeks of lying in mud and loam the tender acorn shoot is already strong enough to break through the hard shell of the seed. There, see, despite being cast aside fallen leaves and stony mud.
And what of you and me after the surreal many months just lived? We have been lying within our own stony, strange societal mud - suddenly cast from our tree of knowing onto new ground. Shocked by loss, fearful of where we find ourselves we can hardly believe that all this could possibly be about new joyous life and not painful, lonely oblivion. Yet any death is a new opportunity to re-birth as a new 'tree' with a new knowing.
Retreating into the womb of winter we can both steady and ready ourselves for what we can choose to become in the weeks and months that lie before us. We have free will, it is a gift of life. We can choose to gift ourselves with rest in these precious weeks that lead to this year's winter solstice. A winter solstice that is truly a magical mid-point between one time and the next.
As we breathe into this dark and curious womb with our misty, moisty breath, life nurtures the seed of our becoming. A new life sprouts through our brittle shell and a new tree of knowing is born.
Together we can create a magnificent forest of magic and wonder and awe that will open to illuminate our hearts. And as the sun's rays grow once more into spring we too can illuminate Mother Earth to create a most glorious new year.