Embracing the Magic

---

Creating Worlds with Ritual

I was in a meeting last week and was asked, "If you were a Christmas decoration, what kind would you be? 

I answered quickly and confidently, "I'd be lights."  Because I believe in the alchemy of shining your light into the world's dark corners.

"White or multi-colored?"

I had to think about that a little more, but I decided I'd be multi-colored. That's what's on my Christmas tree. I'm the lone hold of my family on this. That's what decorated my childhood tree so, to me, it's not really a Christmas tree without them - something about the richness, the festiveness, chasing away the dark of the night and the darkness in the soul.

But I also love the single white flame of my candle that counts down the days until Christmas. There is magic in it - fire - the alchemy of light and heat.

While I chose, years ago, to separate myself from the Christian religion with which I was raised, I still engage in the ritual of Advent. Something about the candle light, the stillness, it helps me mark the ending of one year and the start of the next. 

This year, I have a deck of mindfulness cards that remind me to stop and savor a moment of each day - to find center in the midst of so much activity that can pull me out of it. 

I also have a book called All Creation Waits (by Gayle Boss) which tells of a different animal each day and how they navigate the cold and emptiness of a North American winter. 

Each animal story reminds me of the body's wisdom of rest and reset.

And the Winter Solstice is a big part of the Advent season for me. A different ritual from a different culture, in my mind, it is the first holiday of the ones to come. 

I'm a big fan of fire and burning (safely, though. I was raised with Smoky the Bear, after all). I love the Winter Solstice ritual of burning a pinecone or a piece of paper holding all I am ready to release from the year that is ending.

I also appreciate the time to really deliberately honor what I crave for the year to come. 

This is a critical part of creating a world - the space where we vision, where we speak into what we crave to create, where we let ourselves really paint the picture, experience the feelings, have the world we know in our hearts and souls before it is birthed in the temporal world.

And it weaves in with the Christmas story, the baby born in a lowly manger. Carloyn Myss points to this as the message that great things are born from humble beginnings.

For many of us right now, we are moving with busyness, extensive to-do lists, needs and expectations of others to meet.

And yet, this is a fertile time to set the energetics for the coming year. 

Ritual can support us in finding time and space to do this. Give yourself this gift.

What rituals feed you at this time of year? What do you crave to give time to that gets pushed aside by the to-dos? How can you honor this time for yourself this year? How can you hold this sacred space and who can you recruit to support you in it? (This can include your CreateAWorld community - if you share here, we can hold you in your craving.)

May you find nurture and peace in this season.