As winter solstice arrive so did the drama. I always like to spend the winter solstice quietly and peacefully but this year there were other vibes roaming around. They began late last night when Max was violently sick and that particular vibe lasted all night and into this afternoon. I have never seen him so poorly but he was really brave about it all and Pete and I ran about the house all night and sleep escaped us all. Late yesterday an even worse vibe reared its ugly wee head as my lovely Donna (who you all know) was admitted to hospital in a great deal of pain. Surgery looks likely but as I write this I am still waiting to hear. Mimi dutifully responded to the bad vibes and attempted to pee on the sofa and I felt that that rather summed up the day.
Pete, George and Harry had to go to work for most of the day to help get a property ready for Christmas guests and once Max was more stable I had to do the same. We are now home and wondering which way is up. I understand that the boat sailed late this afternoon for thee first time but the next week weather forecast suggests that there won't be many more boats. Who spun the bottle to make life suddenly so challenging? I am thinking that Mimi knows but she is not telling me.
Winter solstice is a time for reflection before welcoming the return of the light but I think I ran a day ahead and did all that yesterday. It is normally my favourite day of the year but I think we shall just erase this one from memory. That said the winter solstice is a festival of rebirth and I am definitely up for that. Many of my friends use today as a day for gathering. Gathering eternal greens from the hedgerows dresses a lovely table as they gather their friends and family around to celebrate. Once around the table the only light is a single candle in the middle as hands join and thoughts rest for a while. Then one by one candles are lit around the room and they welcome the light back into their lives. Not quite how our day has gone but that is life sometimes.
I might be alone in feeling a little sad as the light begins to relight my darkness because I love the darkness and always have done. Winter is, by far, my favourite season and at this midwinter time I like to spend it as alone as possible. For me it is a time to enjoy the totality of the darkness and all that is offers us. It is a space to cocoon into wrapped in blankets and the silence is so comforting for me. I do my best thinking in the dark as my mind is less distracted by visual preoccupations and, thus, concentration is heightened. My soul walking experiences of recent days have all been done in total darkness and I feel that I have reached deep into my subconscious mind and discovered new things. The world uses darkness to sleep in most cases but there are some of us that are at our most wakeful. My illness makes sleep a difficult occupation so I am often quite alone in the darkness and I have learned to use the time well. I have taught myself 'dream incubation' which is an ancient skill that requires a question to be asked just as you feel sleep turning the corner. With practice you should then begin to explore that question in a dream state. I sometimes write the question down and place it under my pillow. As soon as I wake I can remember pieces of the dream and I record these very quickly. Sometimes it takes a long time for the whole dream to be revealed.
The idea is that you view the dream as a play and record it accordingly. You must resist the temptation to analyse the dream by focusing on your own place in it. This will lead to your ego starting to corrupt the analysis. Instead, you focus on the play as a whole noting all the players, the plot and the ending. If the dream is seen as a play the analysis becomes much easier as messages speak through the play. Only after you have completed the analysis should you return to the original question in search of connections and possible answers.
Dream incubation is an ancient practice but it is essentially meditation in sleep and if you develop good skills in wakeful meditation you will be able to incubate dreams. It is my belief that these two practices lead to a more grounded individual who is able to reflect rather than react and thus use their informed instincts much more readily. Perhaps it is a little clearer why I like the darkness.
I am aware that there are a lot of you who do not like the darkness and therefore the winter solstice is a time for hope. Hope is like your Christmas paper chain. Each link offers more hope and so on so I am happy to emerge from the darkness and add my hope to the chain. I have a few specifics if they could be tolerated. I hope for a world where people think more and react less. I also hope for a world that reaches out rather than looks inwards. Finally, I hope that the human race begin to remember what life is really about and lets go of unnecessary preoccupations that starve our souls.
I don't hope for much then!!
Until tomorrow. xx
No comments:
Post a Comment