I woke up yesterday morning to see the last full moon of the solar year (the Cold Moon) still hanging in the sky. At 5 a.m., the dark was still unpenetrable but for the silver light raining down from Grandmother Moon. A few hours later, as the daylight begins to emerge, I know that the darkness will recapture today surprisingly quick, and once again, Grandmother will reveal herself once more but for a little piece she'll cloak until January.
I adore this time of year. In one short week, we'll reach what the Celts called Midwinter (did you know that in the Celtic calendar, winter begins November 1?). The Winter Solstice. The moment the "sol stands still."
Sol, of course, means sun, but as the days wain, I've been contemplating the idea of a moment when the SOUL stands still. Is it, in fact, possible or even desirable?
When our sun hangs for that one moment seemingly unmoving, we know that it is a constantly throbbing orb of fire. In every moment there is the pulsation of expansion and contraction. Likewise, even in the stillest, quietest moment, even in the deepest meditation, our spirit dances with the delight of this divine and playful dance.
Last year, I spent the Winter Solstice in Ghana, West Africa. Ghana is so close to the equator that the sun seems to stand still all year. It's either up or down. You miss out on the middle places. Twelve hours of light. Twelve hours of dark. There you go.
You never notice light waining from day to day, or the blessed moment when it begins to make its return. I really missed that.
So, this year, there's that extra relishing. I'm spending extra time savoring the darkness as it grows this week towards the inevitable and equally savory moment that the light begins to recapture the darkness until the cycle starts all over again in June.
The day the SOL stands STILL is a perfect opportunity to create ritual around your own inner renewal; to exhale with the year; to notice the pause; and then, to inhale the light once more.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Seven Year Itch
Okay.
Officially ridiculous. Not posting since January 9 and it's December 12.
Some blogger I've turned out to be.
What can I say? I came back from Africa exhausted, which lasted until May, when I realized that I had actually entered a new 7-year cycle of my life (see how tired I was? I didn't realize I had entered my 42nd year of life until 5 months later!), and went into official hibernation. After seven years of massive expansion, I was and am ready for a quiter deepening time.
Seven year cycles. Heard of these? My teacher talks of all sorts of life cycles--1 year, 3 year, 5 years, 7, 10 . . . My head tends to swim thinking that in any moment we're practically starting, stopping, and in the middle of any number of cycles. If so, do they matter? Do they matter equally? Does one trump another?
I have my own theory. I do go with the 7 year time frame as one of particular importance. As I look over the course of my own life, starting around year 14, I see a pattern. Frankly, I don't think our patterns establish themselves until then, and this, of course, is based on my massive research of, well, me. As an aside, my daughter turned 14 two days ago. Wonder what pattern she'll start out with? I'll get back with you all a few cycles from now.
Oh, yeah, back to the 7-year pattern. Don't you think it's true? How else did they come up with the term "7 year Itch"? For me, they've gone in patterns of deepening or expanding. Patterns of periods of introspection and intimacy in small groups, going deeper into what is established; and then, patterns of taking in all that is new, establishing new ways of being and doing, new friends and relationships. Within any one pattern, the other exists. But, one predominates.
Now you understand my hibernation? I had to figure all this out. For the first part of the year, I was living as if I was still in massive expansion mode, and felt totally misaligned, But, I couldn't put my finger on where I was going wrong. I wasn't really listening to my energy. My energy was saying, "Please, take sometime to enjoy all you have established. Savor the flavor of all that you have grown into." Yet, my body and mindset were still out in radical expansion mode. Not a good mix.
It really is about recognizing where we are energetically, and then stepping into the life that meets up with that. Isn't that what we mean by "go with the flow?" To align with what is life enhancing in any moment or cycle? To say the Big Yes to what's being offered?
Hey, could one of you give me a heads up in 2014?
Officially ridiculous. Not posting since January 9 and it's December 12.
Some blogger I've turned out to be.
What can I say? I came back from Africa exhausted, which lasted until May, when I realized that I had actually entered a new 7-year cycle of my life (see how tired I was? I didn't realize I had entered my 42nd year of life until 5 months later!), and went into official hibernation. After seven years of massive expansion, I was and am ready for a quiter deepening time.
Seven year cycles. Heard of these? My teacher talks of all sorts of life cycles--1 year, 3 year, 5 years, 7, 10 . . . My head tends to swim thinking that in any moment we're practically starting, stopping, and in the middle of any number of cycles. If so, do they matter? Do they matter equally? Does one trump another?
I have my own theory. I do go with the 7 year time frame as one of particular importance. As I look over the course of my own life, starting around year 14, I see a pattern. Frankly, I don't think our patterns establish themselves until then, and this, of course, is based on my massive research of, well, me. As an aside, my daughter turned 14 two days ago. Wonder what pattern she'll start out with? I'll get back with you all a few cycles from now.
Oh, yeah, back to the 7-year pattern. Don't you think it's true? How else did they come up with the term "7 year Itch"? For me, they've gone in patterns of deepening or expanding. Patterns of periods of introspection and intimacy in small groups, going deeper into what is established; and then, patterns of taking in all that is new, establishing new ways of being and doing, new friends and relationships. Within any one pattern, the other exists. But, one predominates.
Now you understand my hibernation? I had to figure all this out. For the first part of the year, I was living as if I was still in massive expansion mode, and felt totally misaligned, But, I couldn't put my finger on where I was going wrong. I wasn't really listening to my energy. My energy was saying, "Please, take sometime to enjoy all you have established. Savor the flavor of all that you have grown into." Yet, my body and mindset were still out in radical expansion mode. Not a good mix.
It really is about recognizing where we are energetically, and then stepping into the life that meets up with that. Isn't that what we mean by "go with the flow?" To align with what is life enhancing in any moment or cycle? To say the Big Yes to what's being offered?
Hey, could one of you give me a heads up in 2014?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Friends in Hats
This is Jessica and Kate from the "Junior Mavericks" (aka Hasmal Ladies). Both girls are 13 and travel more than an hour each way from their village to Takoradi in order to practice soccer. Jessica, in the center, was the first to start calling me Auntie Abby.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
An Elvis Sighting in Cape Coast
Happy New Year from Ghana!
And as they say so poetically here,
"May the year come round to meet you."
It's an overcast day in Takoradi, which is perfect for today's upcoming soccer match with the Hasmal Ladies U13 soccer team. In our first match last week, we won 2-0. However, now our Hasmal Ladies have the new equipment we brought them, and we'll have to watch out!
Yesterday, New Year's Eve, we went en masse to Cape Coast Castle, the main slave export center of Western Africa during those horrible years. Much emotion, and I will definitely share this experience soon.
Today, the castle is dedicated to two things primarily: remembering and encouraging that we are all one family; and secondly, local handcrafts. The crafts sold here are high quality and, actually, quite good prices despite their presence in a more touristy area. Upon entering one wood carving shop, I struck up a conversation with the young shop keeper, Elvis. Gotta love the name seeing as I was born in Memphis! Elvis and his 80-year-old grandfather live in a nearby village and carved everything in the shop. It's wonderful to actually meet the artists and he was able to point to different pieces and give me an idea of how many days they took to make. Asked how long he had been carving he replied, "I've been cutting my hands my whole life."
Grace and team member Frances were also with me. I told him we were from California and the girls play football, as it is called here. Suddenly his face lit up! "I heard about you on television! You came to play matches in Takoradi. I wanted to travel there to meet you and see the match, but it couldn't happen. Now you are all in my shop! You've come to my shop!"
I went into the courtyard to gather as many of the team as I could. We squeezed in one after the other, buying carvings from Elvis, we making his day, and he making ours.
There in the shadow of horror, we came together through sport and art, and were healed a bit from what we had seen and experienced earlier in the day.
And as they say so poetically here,
"May the year come round to meet you."
It's an overcast day in Takoradi, which is perfect for today's upcoming soccer match with the Hasmal Ladies U13 soccer team. In our first match last week, we won 2-0. However, now our Hasmal Ladies have the new equipment we brought them, and we'll have to watch out!
Yesterday, New Year's Eve, we went en masse to Cape Coast Castle, the main slave export center of Western Africa during those horrible years. Much emotion, and I will definitely share this experience soon.
Today, the castle is dedicated to two things primarily: remembering and encouraging that we are all one family; and secondly, local handcrafts. The crafts sold here are high quality and, actually, quite good prices despite their presence in a more touristy area. Upon entering one wood carving shop, I struck up a conversation with the young shop keeper, Elvis. Gotta love the name seeing as I was born in Memphis! Elvis and his 80-year-old grandfather live in a nearby village and carved everything in the shop. It's wonderful to actually meet the artists and he was able to point to different pieces and give me an idea of how many days they took to make. Asked how long he had been carving he replied, "I've been cutting my hands my whole life."
Grace and team member Frances were also with me. I told him we were from California and the girls play football, as it is called here. Suddenly his face lit up! "I heard about you on television! You came to play matches in Takoradi. I wanted to travel there to meet you and see the match, but it couldn't happen. Now you are all in my shop! You've come to my shop!"
I went into the courtyard to gather as many of the team as I could. We squeezed in one after the other, buying carvings from Elvis, we making his day, and he making ours.
There in the shadow of horror, we came together through sport and art, and were healed a bit from what we had seen and experienced earlier in the day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
