Celebrating & Honouring the Yuletide

Yule is a seasonal celebration, which precedes the origination of Christmas and the Christianization of the earlier civilizations in Europe. Yule was usually observed by taking a tree into the home (Sound familiar?), of which, the family would cut the largest portion of its trunk to be burned little by little in the fireplace during the early winter, while the rest of the tree would remain in the home as a sign of the spring to come. If any of the cut log was left after the winter solstice celebration, it would be preserved and kept in the home for the year and used to light the subsequent log in the coming winter.

Yule marks a reflective time for one to assess the past and what they wish to manifest in the future, hence the symbolic burning of a living tree, to create heat for survival during one of the harshest months of the year. This is the darkest time of the year, when one looks inward and allows them-self to let go of things no longer needed to make room for what is to come, to burn what must be forgotten for the greater good.

This particular Yule time, will also mark the end of a 26,000 year cycle of our planet, with the alignment of our solar system with the very centre of our galaxy. Regardless of what one believes, this is indeed a time to acknowledge what we wish to manifest for our futures as individuals and as humanity as a whole.

What are the things you need to allow yourself to let go of?

What are the things you wish to manifest?

What aspects of you need healing?

Who do you need to send healing to?

As we get into the full swing of Yule, our minds tend to naturally wonder to the things we should have done and things we should NOT have done - we will do one of two things. We either force away the thoughts or we dwell on them. However, neither works to the betterment of self.

 Instead, try to acknowledge them and have the courage to HONOUR them. Ask yourself why you made that decision or why you didn’t, but most importantly be honest with yourself in the process.

One of the most difficult quests I believe anyone has to face, is to have the courage to be honest with oneself. It requires guts to acknowledge the hurt that you have experienced, but more importantly the hurt you have caused others and inflicted upon yourself.

It’s easy to blame others - to say well... "I had to, they gave me no choice" or "What did you expect me to do?" or "It’s not my fault" or..... I could go on forever.

The point is to assess the situation, person or time in your life in isolation - OBJECTIVELY. Look within and release the feelings of fear that led to you making those decisions. Ask yourself why you felt you deserved less or why you felt you deserved more than another person.

Guilting yourself into remorse is certainly not the objective - rather it is having the courage to face the truth of your actions. Once you are able to do that, then you can free yourself from guilt or the justification of your actions and then you can let go, and sometimes whether to yourself or others .......say sorry and be able to move on in TRUTH!

The celebration of Yule is both very emotional and liberating. To allow yourself to fully let go, enables you to be ready and open to receive in the future. It is time to free ourselves from the weight of our fears, insecurities and hurts. When you think about it....what’s the point of holding on to it anyway?! :)

Understanding Totems - Part 1

My belief is that one is capable of seeing signs and symbols from the Divine in everyday life. Based on archetypes past on through generations, civilizations  eras and ages from the Collective Unconscious, there exists an identification of energy and alignment in animal symbolism. I have been studying totems for a little over two years and am happy to share what I have learned with anyone willing to listen.

I simply find it beautiful to recognize that we are connected to each other and nature, and as such to Source and Spirit, and if we are so inclined, we can decipher the messages sent to us daily in waking life or in the Dreamtime, from something as simple as an ant or as unexpected as a visit by an owl.

A Totem can be looked upon as a Messenger, a Guide or Guardian. In different traditions, it is proposed that we are all born with Power Animals or Spiritual Guides - likened to Guardian Angels. The number of guardians differs in faith and belief. Some Native American traditions, numbers the amount to as much as nine. These cover the following directions: East, South, West, North, Above, Below, Within, Left and Right

Explaining each direction requires an entire note on itself (which I will write) but for now one can regard each direction as symbolizing an aspect of one's life and journey, as well as, characteristics of the personality. For Native Americans the directions fall on the Medicine Wheel of life, which teaches the different stages of life an individual must face, being born in the East like the Sun, with life setting in the West, but transforming in the North to return to the Great Spirit. (Directions also tie into the Sacred Elements; Earth, Air, Fire, Water - but will save that for another time.)

Based on knowledge of Scared Geometry, all the directions form the shape called the Merkabah which is a profound shape believed to contain the energy body of the individual, ie the soul. "Mer" means Light. "Ka" means Spirit. "Bah" means Body. We really are just skimming the surface here but let that simmer for now....back to totems.

How to find your Power Animals?

Usually, these Totems take the form of your favorite animals. Also they maybe animals that you have reoccurring dreams about, animals that you fear or even an animal that seems to always find its way into your life or home. Could be something as exotic as a Tiger, simple as an Ant or gross as a Lizard or cockroach (depends on what you find gross).

If one is aware of their Power Animals, then they are able to easily identify various Messenger Totems. These are animals that appear in your life for a moment or for a time period. They may appear in a dream to bring you a message, or you may suddenly be more attuned to coming across the image of a particular animal in material you read or see, or you may even see the creature in waking life. These animals bring a message that is to be heard, and appear only when it is necessary.

Then you have Shadow Totems, these are animals that persons have a fear for or even phobia towards. These spirit guides represent the archetype of a specific type of energy which you are ignoring towards your own personal development. They represent aspects of yourself which you have denied and also fear.

How to get to know your Power Animals and their messages?

Meditation is a great start, but it's usually not so easy for a first timer. The easiest method is to simply begin to research your animal's way of life, its habits, skills. How it hunts, is it more active at night, is it a loner? Does your favorite animal hibernate or have a shell? Does it transform and go through cycles like the Butterfly or Frog? As mentioned before our concepts that we have grown to know from our youth are a result of these archetypal energies being passed on through the ages. Each animal has a lesson to teach; the owl teaches wisdom and seeing into the depths, the spider is the weaver of words and expression, the ant is a teamworker and is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Returning to the Sacred Feminine

Raise your hand if you have ever been stabbed in the back by a female friend.

Raise your hand if you have met issues in the workplace due to a female colleague.

Raise your hand if you have been spoken about negatively by another woman.

Raise your hand if you have received negative customer service from a woman because you are a woman.

Raise your hand if you have been held back or prevented from excelling in school or the workplace by another woman.

Raise your hand if you have committed one of the above offences yourself. (This one is much harder to do huh?!)

The Sacred Feminine, is an appreciation and respect for the innate feminine energy which resides within both women and men. It is Divine and compliments Sacred Masculine energy which is linear and often very determined to reach point B from point A. Sacred Feminine energy prefers the scenic route, which may take longer, but which would be more enjoyable.

Celebrating your Sacred Femininity means recognizing this Right Brained way of thinking and appreciating one’s emotions, intuition and need to create and nurture, in yourself and also in others. Living in a patriarchal society has removed the Divine Feminine from our conscious minds and locked it away in a box within the subconscious.

We have learned that being emotional is wrong, that we need to remove ourselves from our own feelings and ignore the feelings of others. This cycle has reduced our sense of insight and compassion for others, in other words, we have become people who only think with the brain and not the heart, something which has been reduced to flighty journeys of the spiritual, hippies and unsuccessful persons who refuse to have ambition and climb the career ladder.

This way of thinking is masculine and linear, based only on logic and not from compassion. Masculine Energy is purposeful and determined, but without the Feminine becomes cold, empty and loses the beauty and appreciation of the journey to point B. Without the Feminine we only learn outcomes and not the lesson, we become shells operating only on one plane of existence, for material gain.

This brings me back to the much needed return to the Sacred Feminine. We often state that in looking for a male compliment to ourselves we need a man who is strong, a provider, someone that will stand up for you, and then the desire that often eludes us is, that this man should be in touch with his emotions, someone who is willing to talk and express himself and listen to your fears, voice his own and give you the reassurance you need. Yet in raising our boys, we teach them not to cry and to hold their emotions in - to repress the Divine Feminine aspect of themselves.

This unfortunate vicious cycle….sorry to say begins and ends with the woman! We ourselves lack appreciation for our own femininity. We repress it and then when we decide to use it, abuse its power. We fight another woman, rather than compliment her on success, her happy marriage or relationship, her wonderful children, her great haircut or her fabulous shoes or dress. What makes us unhappy for the other? What makes us send negativity to another in thought or action?

The answer is our own imbalance and inner fight of the Sacred Feminine. We are so busy complaining of the lack of opportunity for women, the need for greater freedom, the desire for equality and yet we give none of these to ourselves. What makes a man respectful of a woman and women in general? It is when he sees a woman who is willing to embrace and balance both aspects of herself, one who is determined and driven, yet passionate and emotional. A woman who has compassion for herself and others, who sees the end of the tunnel but appreciates the darkness along the way. How can we ask that of men, when we are lacking it ourselves?

We are on our way, more and more women are returning to the Sacred Feminine, becoming more introspective, more compassionate, and more empathetic. But we are still a long way from point B. It’s time to balance those aspects of ourselves harnessing the Sacred Masculine energy to the purpose of finding balance and actually getting there with Feminine compassion for others and self.