December New Moon: Speaking with Shadows

Dearest People,

This New Moon cycle ushers us into a season of rebirth. As the days shorten, we may feel expectant, pregnant with the possibilities of what is to come. What innocence is to be born—or reborn—in this turning of the Wheel? We won't know for sometime, and yet this is the promise Winter makes to all of Life. The promise that our world will be born anew if we allow ourselves the time to be with the anticipation—to stay in the liminal, gestative space midwinter offers us. While pregnancy and birth are a joyful and transformative
process, they also can be grueling, painful & dangerous. But like a mother coming into the birth of a second or third child, it often becomes easier for us to surrender to the process of birth. Our bodies becomes a little more familiar, a little more trusting with the journey—and we feel the empowerment that humility teaches us.

So here we are in this liminal, shadowy place, expectant with promise. Let's sink into the now of it. Here is one invitation for how.

Go out early or late in the day, when the shadows are a bit longer.

As you begin your wander, feel into the place of a threshold. It will be a place you can greet the land openly, a place where you can be greeted. A place where you ask for your separation between you and Her to lessen.

You will turn to the East, then South, West, and North, and back to the East (or start in whatever direction you resonate most to). Facing each place, speak a few words that anchor that Direction for you—it could be something you see in the landscape, a feeling or association you have with that Direction. Go slowly. I offer an example below you may use as a guide.

East! air, innocence, freshness, presence

South! fire, wildness & warmth, mother & child

West! water, surrender, shadow & receptivity

North! earth, ancestors, nurturance, stillness

As you do this, let yourself be with the language you are speaking—make eye contact from your heart with each directional place. Be present with your body as it turns this wheel—the relationship between the space of body and the space around it. Trust what comes to mind to speak—say it aloud. Do not edit. And/or trust the Silence that comes in each greeting.

Anchor eyes into heart, and practice seeing the shadows from this place. See the shadows of the beings around. See the one cast by this body. They all exist overlapping in the space. Let the shadows speak to you of interconnection, of change. Who do you see in your shadow? Is there judgment? If so lean into intense curiosity. Where do the shadows fall? South to North? East to West? Let yourself wander with the shadows in this way. Speak to them if desired, aloud or silently. Let the presence cultivated between you and the shadows guide you.

When you feel complete in your experience, close the directional circle we opened—in a way that feels inspired to you—a movement, a simple turning, a joyful greeting, a quiet whisper. Give thanks for what you have received and trust it will continue to work within you as the Moon comes to fullness and the Sun towards Solstice.

Holy, holy, holy