A Modern Internalization of Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas

What is the possible modern significance of Christmas -“Christ” “mass”.  And what is the significance that it happens at the same time as winter solstice? And also near Hanukkah? When it is utterly dark and cold and bare in nature?  


These are all celebrations of light.  The shift of the longest night, most darkness finally shifting its balance to more light. What an impact this has on nature. The end of the season of dying off and the very subtle beginning of the resurrection, regrowth, restoration of life to nature.  The miraculous story of the temple oils for Hanukkah, and then the star of Bethlehem, the luminescence of the angel who appeared to announce the birth of the Christed one, a small baby born in poor conditions who would bring light to the people and experience enlightenment.


Yesterday a friend, who had returned home to chilly PA from warm Florida, had the unfortunate circumstance of a flooded basement in her country home.  My only consolation to her was that in the dark heaviness of strife there is always a coming of lighter times, more light.  In these times we can focus on the light even when the dark is loud.  We can give thanks for what we do have, focusing on growing light in the shadows, turning up the flashlights.


What is the ultimate lesson in all the celebrations of this month? Could it be something that we apply today, right now, instead of harkening to the past as a remembrance? Perhaps the message is of restoration; after all, winter is a time of restoration and slumber for animals and plants- a time of rest.  Perhaps we are to learn that even in the dark, there is always light.  We might face the darkness in order to get the gift of light, not running from the strife, but acknowledging that it exists, like winter, shadows are purposeful.  They show us where there is a lack of light. Where inside of you do you have a shadow that you might not be acknowledging? Anything holding you back or keeping you from living in your most ultimate light?  Where might you allow an enlightenment to occur? Where can you put down the heavy darkness that you carry in the subconscious self?


Many of us go into the darkness of our shadows and get stuck there. We begin to believe that this state is our truth, and the ego takes over.  Wayne Dyer says that ego stands for Edging God Out…code for the opposite of love. Believing the stories of our past allows us to become tethered to just that, a story, a fiction, often one that is not helpful and not fully true because we are honestly just not wise enough to know the whole story. In our troubles and traumas we perceive things, past and present, through our own filter of personality and the limited capacity of being one singular person in the midst of a great big plan.  We don’t know the whole plan. There could be a much larger, wiser plan afoot. One in which the darkness is meant to reveal the light. 


So where is there dark space inside of you wishing to let the light in? This season is a wide open invitation to open yourself up, to let the light of this special season pour into you.  It is an invitation to enter the light of birth, to leave the darkness of the cave, the womb, to be birthed into the light of love, the hope and transformation of a world based in love and kindness. This is what the season is for,  not just to recall the hope and love that was brought to the planet historically, but to LIVE it, now, here, inside of you.  


Remember that a world transformed through the light of God, the return of life in nature, the coming of the son/sun, is the victory of light over darkness. It is a filling of the void with life force, a return of warmth in the form of life and hope.  It is a restoration of life over death.  This is what a small babe in a shabby stable brought to the world, not more focus on riches and power, but of a cozy, swaddled, hopeful scenario where love was so potent it called the stars closer to the earth, uniting heaven with earth, creating a bridge for all of us to traverse the path of more light. We were given a path of hope during strife, of life rather than decay, of the power of love to heal and optimism to conquer despair.  


For those who find heaviness in this season, seek the darkness, call it to converse and ask it to show you where the light blew out, for darkness has no power on its own. Darkness is just the absence or obstruction of light.  Where is darkness covering the love, the light, the lessons? Where has darkness pulled you away from God, where have you Edged God Out due to loss and pain? Can you pray to be restored? Pray to lift the veil of darkness and allow the abundance of light to fill those spaces inside of you. Can you let go, give the painful parts to God for transformation, and choose to lighten yourself? Choose the freedom and life giving return of light into your whole self.  Invite the light of source, the power of life and hope and creation into every cell, into old cobwebs of memory, into the cords that tie you to the past, and allow the season of rebirth to enter your reality, to transform your own reality in a way that chooses light, chooses love and puts growth, warmth, and restoration in the forefront of your moment by moment thoughts and choices.

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