The Promise of Light in the Darkest Night – Episode 494
On the day of the winter solstice, ( December 21st), humans from ancient times observed the natural movement from the dark to the light and have celebrated it in many different ways. It’s symbolic of rebirth and new beginnings, as the sun begins its conquest over the cold and darkness of winter.
Light is the universal symbol for the light of spiritual awareness. The promise that light will return reminds us that we can reconnect with the light within us and shine the light of awareness on our inner darkness.
As humans have done through the ages, we hope to go inside and conquer this darkness, so we can shine again, and even brighter.
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In last week’s podcast (“Good Grief! The Holiday Blues”), I talked about the holiday blues, Charlie Brown and the Grinch. (I played those characters in 6th and 7th grade in my school’s Christmas play).
The reason I did that podcast is that I struggled for many years during the holiday season and I still do a little bit.
The reason I’m doing this podcast today is that it’s my continuing exploration of how to make authentic meaning of this time of year. I guess my struggle has always been to avoid getting caught up and overwhelmed by all the superficial stuff and to stay rooted in what is real.
It occurs to me that question “What is real?” is what stokes my curiosity about these things. “What does it really mean?” I search for meaning.
This particular subject is something I covered 5 years ago and I found it so interesting I thought I would share it again with you. The title of today’s podcast is “The Promise of Light in the Darkest Night”.
Something will happen on December 21st at 3:03 am, PST. The sun will be at the lowest point on the horizon, the point in the year where the night is longest and the day is the shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. This is known as the winter solstice, and it’s a natural, astronomical event that is scientifically calculated to the second, even though many people associate the winter solstice with pagans, druids and Stonehenge.
There are reasons for that.
Humans from ancient times on have observed this natural movement from the dark to the light, and have celebrated it in many different ways. It’s symbolic of rebirth and new beginnings, as the sun begins its conquest over the cold and darkness of winter. After the winter solstice, the days will get longer and warmer until the summer solstice in June, when the sun’s daily path across the sky is at its highest. It then starts moving slowly closer to the horizon to where winter once again reasserts itself.
I read a very interesting book a few years back that was quite excellent in portraying how indigenous peoples looked to nature for transformation and growth. “Shaman, Healer, Sage”, by Alberto Villoldo, illustrates shamanism as one way that ancient people drew wisdom and healing from nature. He writes that this darkness is an opportunity to work on our inner transformation.
The following is from Villoldos’ email newsletter put out by his Four Winds Society:
“Medicine men and women for thousands of years have celebrated the solstice as a time of moving from the dark to the light and acknowledging the continuity of nature’s cycles. For indigenous cultures the sun was the source of life, and the center of spiritual awareness. For the shaman this a heightened time of meditation and reflection, a time for inner work and transformation.
…the time of the dark…a time to explore not only what might be stopping you but as a time to plant the seeds you want to grow for the coming year.”
Now you may not be a shaman or a medicine man or women, but as you probably know, throughout the world there are many celebrations at this time of the year because humans recognize that our existence depends on the light of the sun.
We celebrate light, for example, with brightly colored lights hung on our houses and trees, and with holiday candles. We gather to ward off the cold and the darkness and embrace the warmth of loved ones.
The most popular celebration is Christmas, celebrating the birth of Christ, believed by Christians to be the Light of the World, and as God’s son, bringing the world from darkness to light.
Jews celebrate Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, and the Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day on December 8th, the day the Buddha received enlightenment. Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights celebrating the victory of good over evil. The list of winter festivals goes on and on.
Light is the universal symbol for the light of spiritual awareness. To me, spiritual awareness is acknowledging and connecting with that part of us which is infinite, and all knowing. (You might call it God, Infinite Intelligence, Higher Consciousness, whatever your belief system…)
As a hypnotherapist involved in transformational work, my goal is to help people increase their awareness on all levels, and to shine this light of awareness on those dark, shadow parts that we all have that hold all of us back from realizing our full potential as creative beings.
A popular word this time of year is peace. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, can you take time to connect with the peace that lies deep within you? Connecting with that quiet place within will give you the space to plant the seeds of your own transformation. You might do this through quiet reflection, meditation or prayer. Take some time to yourself to think about your life, and how you want it to be.
Don’t wait until the New Year to plant those seeds. Begin now to write down goals, dreams and visions of what you want to create for the coming year: happiness, health, strength, confidence, abundance. Think about what’s working for you, and what needs to be released that may be holding you back.
Alberto Villoldo said something very intriguing in his book. He believes that we are seeing a new species of human born now on the earth which he refers to as Homo luminous. “Human of light”.
If this is true, (and I would like to believe that it is, regardless of how farfetched it sounds) then we are continuing to evolve as human beings. Let us walk courageously through this dark time, as well as through our own darkness, as we celebrate the light within, in all of our many different ways.
The evolution of our human family need not wait for generations, but can happen now, starting with you.
The darkness at this time teaches us what the trees already know: darkness is only a season, and the light always finds its way back.
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Wishing you a warm and peaceful holiday season,
Ted
p.s. If you need help finding your way back to your own light, reach out for a complimentary phone consultation at https://tedmoreno.com/contact-us/
