five things friday: whoosh, solstice, messy sacred
Published: Fri, 12/23/22
December 23, 2022
Hello there,
The holiday whoosh is in full whooshiness here in grey and damp Cotati. Writing to
you is a bubble of calm amongst it all and I treasure it. In this spirit I offer this weeks things, humble as they may be, and I hope they bring a spark of something good to you. Thank you for sharing some of your time to read them.
1. As usual I've had a rush of last minute maker inspiration, so instead of tree gazing with hot chocolate in hand and humming to carols, the house is strewn with fabric and glue guns, wire and hopefully not too many dropped pins in the carpet to stab unsuspecting feet. Baking is up for this afternoon so a goodly coat of flour will join the mix.
After almost 60 years on the planet it is just now occurring to me that this is Christmas for me. The mess, the creation, the disorder, the liminal bubble of life rearranging ordinary days around
an event with so many meanings, or no meaning, for people. I'm not failing at the holiday, just seduced by perfectionism. No matter how much I want the Christmas card version of the holiday, for me it is all about the glorious disorder of it all.
If you are in the in the chaos and mess and stress of it all more than the twinkly serenity, I see you. I'm here with you. It is all sacred if we let it be. I'm trying. It feels better that way.
So I raise a glass and a
sweet north star to us all, in the mess, in the serenity, in the non-celebrating, in the struggling, in the joy. May we all know the sacred in it all.
2. We have just ticked past the solstice. I wrote a little bit about here and a little more here.
(from the Earth Magic Oracle Cards by Steven
Farmer)
It is the time of year where the shift begins from going in and down to up and out, hopefully bringing with us the wisdom of the dark and deep. We may not feel it yet, but all the twinkling lights and candles, all the shinny, glittery trees, all the good wishes of hope and joy, it is all calling the light back. It is interesting that winter,
the time of pause, also heralds the turn towards more light.
3. But before we go running for that light, some wisdom from Wendell
Berry:
To Know the Dark
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
4. My friend and colleague Sherry shared this, a lovely
telling of the story of the Holly King and the Oak Child. Very solstice, winter, cyclic, mythic.
5.
A blessing for your week (I know, I know, it is one of those cards some find scary and seems out of place during this time of year, but trust the oracular. It always have wisdom) :
(from The Shadowscape Tarot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law)
May you find in the dark the key to your liberation and reclamation of any power, any belonging, any love, lost to the inevitable challenges of being human.
Until next time, good tidings and merry, happy,
everything, Sandi
Coming soon...
I'm been feeling into a little thing something I want to share with you all. A guide to entering the New Year in a gentle way. In a way lets
the elements carry us, inform us, inspire us to build a nourishing foundation for 2023.
