Preparing for Solstice

 Tonight, on this eve of Winter Solstice, I send out my blessings.

What is going to happen tomorrow has been the subject of many speculations around the Mayan calendar and the future of our earth. I personally have no fears that the end of the world is coming; instead, I am filled with great joy and excitement for the possibilities that are opening to us.

The Mayan calendar is not ending; it is completing one cycle and starting another. We are not at the end; this is a beginning. The breath of spring in the cold dawn air. The last cycle won't repeat itself.

Even if you don't believe the prophesies that tell of a coming enlightened age, and even if you don't believe that tomorrow's Solstice holds any magic at all, it doesn't matter. We can all choose to change, right now. We can all take this opportunity, real or imagined, to shed our old skins and transform into our highest selves. Release old patterns. Open our perspectives. Love with our hearts. [Illuminate.]

Wake up, sweet loves, wake up.

In order to aid you on your journey, I would like to share a Solstice ritual. Last night, in collaboration with eight other beautiful women, we preformed this ritual to cleanse ourselves of that which no longer serves us and to call in that which will.

First, in the company of yourself or with friends, make a sacred space. An altar of some sort, as elaborate or simple as you desire. I personally like to have the four elements and the four directions represented: air [East], fire [South], water [West] and earth [North]. Add any other sacred or beautiful objects that call to you. I then smudge myself and the four directions to open my circle [even if my circle consists only of myself].

After taking a few minutes to meditate and connect with yourself, take a strip of paper and write down everything you are ready to let go of. This can be anything - attitudes, patterns, energy - whatever it is that no longer serves you. [Think big, go deep.] When you are done, take another strip of paper and write down everything you wish to welcome in. Then roll your strips up and put each in the center of it's own little square of fabric. As an offering, add some herbs, dried flowers, loose tobacco, or even a snip of your hair along with your paper. Then pull in all the edges and tie the bundle up with a piece of string. When you have finished, you should have two bundles: one to release, one to keep.

Make a fire. Inside or out, or use an earthenware bowl or a large shell if nothing else is available. Burn up your releasing bundle, and let go. [I got really into this part. As we get closer to Solstice, I've been compelled to do some deep cleaning in my house. I gathered up all the old herbs and dried flowers and sacred objects - our Mayday goddesses and the gratitude flags we made last Solstice - and burned them up as well. As blessings, as offerings. It felt REALLY GOOD.]

Next take your bundle of all that you're calling in and place it on your altar. Light a candle as you affirm those energies you are welcoming in, and state them out loud. Take some quiet minutes to feel the effects of all this in your body.

To finish the ritual, close the circle by smudging yourself and the directions once more.

Many blessings to you as we enter the darkest day. Many blessings as we release our old, stagnant, and negative energies. Many blessings as we take hands and walk into the new light.

*Gratitude*