Sacred Winter

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For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we are reminded of the dark days of winter and the promise of the return of the light. I cherish this dark time of year and the winter season yet to come. This is when I get very quiet, rest, reflect, and breathe forward new possibilities into the spring season.

This time of the year holds more than 20 different sacred holidays and observances around the world between December and January. The path my heart follows is rooted in a dedication to honoring the rhythms of the Earth, and the Divine Feminine and Masculine as spiritual and grounding practice. For as long as I can recall, I have been deeply inspired by the traditional weavings of the ancient people who I come from and honor the homelands of what we now refer to as Germany, Scotland, England, and Northwestern Europe. Following the seasons helps me feel close to them. Embodying my own sacred Feminine and Masculine qualities helps me embody the contrast of polarity and nonduality. This solstice season will be set aside with new understandings as I am now our eldest still embodied within our immediate lineage, with both of my parents now sitting with our ancient people. I envision this to be a special time.

As we each lean into our own practices of faith and spirit and remembrance, may we all be reminded of the one common thread that runs through us all: connection. May you feel warmed by the fire of your heart and hearth and honor the connection we all share to the greater mystery of what it means to be an eternal being held within a temporal shell on this magnificent planet of ours.

(Image above of the black ebony statue of Madonna and Child, from when I visited Truro Cathedral in Cornwall in 2022)

Until next time I offer these words of wisdom for better or for worse. Please take them with a grain of salt for we each live our own individual truths. Our mission while we are here is to understand, accept, and celebrate that one very simple, but incredibly significant fact. For all this, I am grateful.

The Sacred and the Mundane

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I am dedicating this to the most sacred of places we may find mundane, normal, and passed by.

This is the entrance to a country driveway. This is a spot that most drive past every day without even taking notice. To the left of this drive is a large, bountiful cornfield. To the right is a pasture for beautiful and friendly dairy cows.

What I can share about this spot is that it may be the most magical of all passed by places on Earth. For this spot is where, eight years ago, I was held for the very first time by the Man who caught my breath in my chest and heart and dreams, and who invited me to rethink everything about what I understood a relationship could be.

This is the place where I Knew when I first held Him, I was holding onto a great tree of a Man - an ancient oak of a Man. I immediately Felt this and Knew this as soon as I put my arms around Him in this place, that He could hold me steady through all of what Life has to contribute. And, not only have we held each other through the storms, we have held each other in tenderness, laughter, joy, healing, connection, hope, creativity, and immense expansion as individuals.

When I pass by this place I feel the rush, the excitement, and the promise.

Here is to all of the sacred places we pass by every day. We may not understand it immediately in our mundane daily flow, but we pass by places like this every day... places where love has been kindled and places where love has been lost... places where life has been created and places where life has transitioned... places where brilliance has been fully realized and places where great suffering and atrocities have occurred.

The land upon which we all move is the same land upon which our ancient peoples moved... ancestors of ancestors. They hold us even now as we move through our daily and sacred mundane. The land holds us now through our daily and sacred mundane.

Please notice all of these sacred and mundane and normal places as you pass by. All we need to do is to slow down, to listen, and to become aware that these places exist everywhere.

The land and our collective ancestors will benefit from our attention, our care, and our tending.

Until next time I offer these words of wisdom for better or for worse. Please take them with a grain of salt for we each live our own individual truths. Our mission while we are here is to understand, accept, and celebrate that one very simple, but incredibly significant fact. For all this, I am grateful.