As the 12 Days Of Solstice come to their end, consider completing this time of reflection and rebirth with a ritual of your choice. You might be inspired by the simple fire release ritual shared in the “Elemental Blessings” post.
And do take some time in that ritual to reflect on the choices you have made this year and the choices you are contemplating for the coming year.
I share with you now these words from Gary Zukav on what he sees as one of the gifts — the Medicine — of Solstice: choice. Zukav said it so well:
"Each solstice shows us that we can choose. We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the Universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to Life when each arrives."
When I first read Zukav’s words a few years ago, I journeyed with his words and realized how important it is for me to align with the rhythm of life, and how necessary it is for me to entrain with the energies of Mama Earth (I am not separate from her but part of her), and how to make choices in alignment with my values and energies for whatever lessons and experiences Life brings me.
Just as sunset and sunrise are inevitable, so are the periods of winter and summer, however each manifests in your locale. Both winter and summer energies are part of the natural cycles of birth, growth, harvest and rebirth.
The recognition that we cannot control everything around us is, for me, so freeing. We can focus — worry! — less on controlling events and outcomes and, instead, shift our awareness to the ease of flowing in the miracle of living and connecting to the magical flow that courses through our Universe.
We are already a part of that flow.
Let us step into the gift of life, and the gift that winter brings, choosing to connect to the energetic flow that courses through our Universe and our Self . . . and choose to renew our Self for the coming calendar year.