Today is the Winter Solstice. It is the shortest day of the year (and thus the longest night) and it marks the beautiful and sacred transition from darkness into light. We are now ending the journey of shortening days and beginning the journey back towards the longest day and shortest night (Summer Solstice). And although we are at a literal pinnacle of darkness, celebrations of light are all around us – because we know that being at that summit means that light is returning. The celebration of the miracle of lights known as Hanukkah has just ended, and Christmas approaches to help us celebrate the birth of “the light of the world.” A new calendar year will be beginning as well.
Wherever you look, there are celebrations of renewal, activation and initiation. And each of these, we hold with honor and respect – cradled in the warmth and fire of our hearts, and steadied by the clarity and intention of our minds. We are at the threshold. We are bearing witness to and participating in a sacred moment of transition and transformation – and if we allow ourselves to settle at the powerful crux of release and connection – we can find “it.”
But what is that crux? What does it mean? What does it feel like? What is that “it?” What is that stirring within each us that whispers from an ancient core – “Connect.” “Breathe.” “See.” “Be.”
There are many ways in which I might try (and have tried) to answer these questions for myself – and as I have said to many of my patients within the contexts of numerous questions – I dare not attempt the injustice of answering that for you. What I will dare, however, is to ask these questions alongside you. We can journey together. And so – if I may – let me invite you to ask some questions. Let’s work together to carve a holding space out of that broader unknowing – and let’s pause there to be open to receiving answers. Lets remember that gentle guidance to summon wisdom – within that sacred holding space – “Speak. I’m listening.”
There are innumerable ways to connect to the universal truths available to us when we seek them. There are so many languages, access points, theories and even holidays that we can use to understand what it means to connect to that sacred “thing” that exists at the center.
I have recently been reminded of the simple yet deeply profound ways in which breath can serve as such an access point. More specifically – that still, yet abundantly full moment in between breaths. So beautifully and literally – right within our heart center – an access point to an uncontainable liminal space.
And so perhaps we can consider these celebrations of light to be more fully – celebrations of the dance and movement between light and dark. Celebrations of those liminal or in-between spaces – where the magic lives. I like to think of images of the shoreline as a way of illustrating these in-between spaces where connections occur. Think of that beautiful space on a beach (visible at low tide) that exits under water at high tide – but that is revealed filled with a wealth of new treasures when the tide is out. Think of that frozen moment of progressive movement when you throw a ball into the air and it slows to a brief (yet infinite) pause before gravity pulls it back to earth – fostering flow, ensuring completion.
Think of that space in between breaths. Here are our access points.
And of course – then more questions, right? What are we accessing? The divine? Ourselves? Our personal and collective unconscious(es)? Are these different?
Psychoanalytic theorists have written about the experiences of transcendence that become available in the liminal space between conscious and unconscious, me and you, matter and spirit, etc. They have used terms like; transcendent function and the Other Voice, the analytic third, etc. to identify that moment – that space – when and where insights are accessed and integration and actualization of the self become possible.
I could easily get pulled (more fully) into a wordy tangent of intellectualized notions – (I do love this stuff) – but I will take a breath and work to remember the tools that I have – that we have – to live more fully – and with deeper awareness of the complete freedom, wholeness, and magical joy that is available to each and every one of us.
And so – Solstice Greetings, dear friends.
May the blessing of light be upon you, Light without and Light within
(Celtic blessing)
