A Ritual to Receive a Gift from the Darkness

We’re in our final days of the descending darkness, soon to arrive at the Winter Solstice, on the 21st, where the sun stands still at the very bottom of the exhale of the year.

How has the darkness been treating you this year? Have you allowed it to invite you into its cozy blanket fort or dreaming cave?

Each moment in the seasonal cycle offers us something. Like a guide we come across on a meandering path through the forest. We are greeted with a warm smile, hand extended with a precious jewel that we are able to hold, be with, learn from, and perhaps utilize.

Sometimes, when we forge ahead with our days filled to the brim, our minds packed with information and thoughts, we don’t notice these gracious seasonal beings standing by, and pass through significant portals with no more than a fleeting glance.

We miss the opportunity to carry the precious jewel for a spell.

We miss the gift the season is handing us. One of the most beautiful gifts this dark season brings us is the ability to hear the subtle voice within. There's a reason why we close our eyes when we want to feel ourselves more presently. The darkness allows us a reprieve from the sensory overload of the light. We are able to feel the subtle, hear the subtle, and see the tiniest twinkles we wouldn't otherwise know were there within us. If nothing more, spend a little time in these long evenings to limit your sensory input. Turn off lights and screens. Go somewhere quiet or put ear plugs in if others are making noise. Allow the inner world to awaken, as the outer world quiets. Allow yourself pause to connect with the darkness and the gifts it is offering you.

Below is a short ritual to help you receive a gift from this time of year:

Close your eyes and feel your body.
Feel how it’s held here by the Earth: the force of gravity, like a gentle hug.
Scan through your shape, and invite in a few gentle, deep breaths.
Can you feel the edges of darkness lingering around you? Even if it’s daylight, there’s the subtle sense of the darkness’ presence here enveloping you. It’s a quiet invitation. A softness coming in.
Can you feel how it presses against your energy field and body?
Do you resist it or let it in?
If you resist it, can you breathe here, and let the darkness caress your sharp edges, and invite a gentle release and softening?
Can you allow it to decelerate you?
Linger here for as long as it feels good, sensing into the darkness, and letting it soothe you.
As you linger in this stillness, imagine you’re on a forest path, and notice a warm and loving seasonal guide standing up ahead, or beside you, hand extended with a gift for you.
Receive the gift with all your senses: notice if there's an image, word or words, a feeling, a sensation, a deep inner knowing, etc. associated with the gift.
Open yourself to receive this gift. Hold it in your hand, or allow it into your body.
Thank this guide/season for the gift.
When you feel ready to complete, notice your body again, your breath, and how you’re anchored to the earth. Open your eyes, and take in the room around you with all of your senses.
Take a moment to journal about your experience.

If you want more info about this time of year, watch my free 20-minute mini-class on How to Celebrate Winter Solstice with Ritual and Plant Medicine for more ways to deepen into the beauty and gifts this season holds.