Winter Solstice: The Long Night of Dreams Written by Misty-Eve
Thursday, 21 December 2006
Tonight is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere - the longest night of the year. This is the night of all nights when we are given the most time to dream about our future. There are those who say that the dreams one has THIS night are especially prophetic for the year to come.
It is good to remember our dreams. Writing down our goals and our dreams helps them come alive in our hearts and minds.
Sagittarius urges us to aspire to greater heights of awareness and spiritual connection to our Celestial Parents, the Creators. The more we desire to aspire, the more our dreams call to us for their fulfillment.
Can you hear them calling you? Can you see these visions in your mind’s eye? Do you find yourself enchanted with them?
The 'gift' of a vision is not realized until acted upon, manifested or 'danced' into this reality.
What are you dreaming about? Can you Dance to it's song?
DANCING OUR DREAMS ALIVE
A Winter Solstice celebration of our connection with Mother Earth
Celtic Celebrations
In Celtic lands, from which most of our Western traditions derive, the Solstice -- or "yule" -- was marked by giant bonfires on hilltops, as the people sought to keep the darkness at bay.
The year's shortest day and longest night, the Winter Solstice, was celebrated with the next new dawn, as it was shown that the Sun had triumphed over darkness, the Sun had not been "eaten," but was born again. Some would drum throughout the night, lending their energy to keep the Sun alive.
Thereafter, each day would be a little longer, the light a little stronger, as Sol waxed and the darkness waned.
It also marked the end of the "nether" time that began in October, with Samhain, when spirits walked freely across the land: portals between living and dying closed again for another year.
The time of growing light had come, as the time of spring and the Equinox would each day draw nearer. While cold and dark the days remained, a glimmer of hope had arrived.
Iroquois: A Time of Dreaming
Celtic peoples celebrated this special time with feasts, however some Native American tribes saw this unique celestial event in a different light. Among the Iroquois, it was a time of dreaming.
Rather than staying up all night to celebrate the dawn, the People of the Longhouse turned in early, to sleep, to dream.
As Mother Night reigned supreme, in dreaming they walked between the worlds of light and darkness, gathering great meaning from what The Great Mystery illuminated for them.
At first light, the entire tribe would gather and each tribal member -- men, women, to the smallest child -- would stand and relate what visions they saw on this special night.
The dreams would be discussed at length by the entire tribe for each vision's meaning -- for the individual, about the world, for the tribe. Sigmund Freud wasn't the first to explore or discover the importance of nightly dreaming any more than Columbus "discovered" the New World. For, the Iroquois practiced this annual event for 1,000 years before the first European set foot on these shores.
French Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s marveled at the Iroquois' annual event, writing about them in letters and journals, especially the aspect of the tribe "acting out" various dreams.
It is a powerful awakening each year, this night of dreams, to be approached in sacred manner. In shamanism, the "gift" of a vision is not realized until acted upon, manifested or "danced" into this reality. That is the Great Truth of our walking between the worlds, at any time of the year, but especially during this time.
What the Iroquois knew, and Westerners would not "discover" for hundreds of years, is that the line between waking "reality" and nightly dreaming is not so impermeable. What the Creator instructs in dreams can be the very "reality" of health, insights, group dynamics and individuality within a community, revealing not only the dreamer's world, but the shared vision -- and lessons -- for a people.
Our modern society has yet to learn this profound truth. Our true desires are slumbering within us even as the Earth turns cold outside and plants sleep as next spring's seeds beneath the ground. We know the world in our hearts, among the Sacred Hoop of our family, friends and loved ones.
What Does This Mean for Me?
It is sad that this time of year has become so commercialized. As our minds are racing to keep up with Christmas shopping, parties, socializing and demands of societal and cultural expectations, our bodies -- if they are in sync with the Earth -- are slowing down.
Our attention should not be on the accelerating demands of action to fulfill some cultural impossibility (Christmas and all its attendant demands on time and energy), but on our inner fires, our visions. If we are in sync with the Earth, our outer world will mean less as our inner world expands. The light within will illuminate how we and our world should be.
This year, let's join in dancing our dreams alive as Mother Night watches over us, giving birth to a new dawn. Let's heed our dreams, the ones that are birthed within us, not the ones imposed from without. Let's let the spirit of our joyful, loving hearts' reality drive out the ghosts of fear and illusion.
"The voice of our original self is often muffled, overwhelmed, even strangled, by the voices of other people’s expectations."
~ Julie Cameron
Many of us unconsciously believe that we’re unworthy or defective. We adopted this belief very early in our lives when the people we looked up to disapproved of our demands, wishes and behaviors. We concluded that we had to learn to be good.
Unfortunately, ‘being good’ usually meant giving up our own differences or uniqueness. We learned that we might get the love we wanted if we acted and felt like others wanted us to.
If we seek true joy and connection with life, we now need to remove these artificial masks and express our deep authentic nature.
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AGILITY: QUOTES OF THE DAY
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"To find your own Way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is -- not the quick little excitement, but the real deep, life-filling bliss."
~ Joseph Campbell, American prolific author, editor, philosopher and teacher, (1904-1987)
"If you ask the Native American, ‘What is silence?’ he will answer: ‘It is the Great Mystery!’ ‘The holy Silence is His voice!’ If you ask: ‘What are the fruits of silence?’ he will say: ‘They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the corner-stone of character.’"
~ Ohiyesa or Dr. Charles Eastman, Santee Dakota Sioux physician and author
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TODAY'S POSITIVE THOUGHT
You create that upon which your attention is focused.
Today's Positive Affirmation:
I focus my attention on those things I desire to create in my life.
Today's Positive Visualization:
As I take a slow and even breath I remember the power of my attention to create my life. I allow myself to experience the power of my inner self as it is expressed through my imagination and thoughts.
I see myself easily focusing my attention on those things I desire to create. In my mind's eye I see my life as I desire it to be, remembering that I have the power to make this happen.
SAGITTARIUS: “I ASPIRE”
Third Decan (Mutable) Influence: “AGILITY”
(December 12th - December 22nd)
The capacity to act quickly and with ease of movement defines this word. Being nimble is a great virtue of Sagittarian people with their quick minds. If they can learn to limit themselves to their proper scope and yet retain agility they have truly accomplished much. There is much to learn as we pass through this influence!
The Holiday season always reminds us of the Reverence we feel toward our spiritual Parents, and urges us to become kinder and more loving as is suitable for the children of the Great Spirit and Holy Earth Mother.
Therefore, as we move through the Sagittarian influence of AGILITY, let's Aspire to become more graceful in our movements, our thoughts, our words and our actions as is so characteristic of those who practice the gentle Craft of Wisdom.
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For more on the lessons of Sagittarius see: http://druidcraft.us/astrology.htm
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Blessings of the Season!
Misty-Eve*
Druidic Craft of the Wise
The American Rite www.druidcraft.us
"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and dance with the Earth in all her glorious colors." ~ Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
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A WORD TO THE WISE
A Daily Newsletter of Astrological Reflections from The Druid Perspective
To learn more about the teachings and instruction in the Druidic Craft of the Wise, visit us on the web: http://druidcraft.us
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If you cant explain it simply, you dont understand it well enough.-- Albert Einstein
I really enjoyed reading this. In dreaming we can connect to anything in the universe and make our wishes come true. It was nice to read of actual collective dreaming celebrations.
Thank you for posting this. I find this information really interesting and thought-provoking. It is through dreams that we receive messages that pertain to our own well-being. I will have to re-read eveything through again and plan to create a dream journal. Thank you again.
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