It Should Be Called W’inner. In Part 1 of this two-post series, we talked about the importance of keeping in-sync with the seasons--how winter is a naturally inner cycle. This article focuses on the second of two Winter Solstice exercises I do with my women’s group each year. We do them together, but you can do them just as easily at home by yourself as a reflective experience.
In Part 1, we covered The Ceremony of Recognition. Now it’s time to burn, baby, burn!
Burning the Old/ Letting Go. My first experience of this powerful ritual was at a holiday church service. We were invited to write down on slips of paper everything we wanted to get rid of in our lives. Then, we lined up to toss them in a “burning bowl” just outside the church doors and watched these burdens go up in flames. If what weighs you down doesn’t come to mind immediately, here are some areas to consider:
Stress
Health issues
Relationship issues
Attitudes that are getting you nowhere fast
A job that is making you miserable
Winter is about dying. This “astrologize” keeps us in harmony with the seasons and celestial cycles by reminding us that everything under the Sun passes into another form. Lucky for us, that’s only literal once in a lifetime for us personally. But between now and then, there are many “mini-deaths” and things we must be let go to nurture the seeds of new beginnings each spring.
We carry our burdens—written on the slips of paper-- to the fire, and they are dissolved or absolved by being literally transformed. I am amused every year how fast and furiously some people write! Their lists for unburdening themselves, I suspect, are longer than their lists to Santa. Each of these spirited women lines up eagerly to be rid of these parts of her life by tossing them into the fireplace. (Note: If you use a bowl or other container indoors, please be extra careful about fire hazards.)
Focus on During and After. The real insight from this exercise happens as you make the list and discover your “load.” It comes after by allowing yourself to believe in and feel the release and relief when you finally let them go. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry, if you forgot anything. You can have a reprise anytime you want—a re-do or an add-to!
Another important after-effect: As burdens come up, especially during the stress-filled holiday season, imagine burning them in your mind, just as you did in the Burning Bowl Ceremony.
Share the Wealth. As always, your comments and sharing the results with your Spirited Woman community help us all grow and expand our techniques for spirited living.
Happy Holidays! May this be a time of discovering the beauty of your inner spirit—and how the repetitive nature of the seasons gives our lives rhythm, pulse, and meaning.
- Joyce Maseon - www.joycemason.com
Click here for more of Joyce's posts.
Joyce
Mason has been an astrologer for over 20 years and a writer ever since
she could hold a pencil. Her trademark is insight with humor. Learn
more about Joyce, her two blogs, and her library of articles on topics
from A to Zzz (astrology to dreamwork) on her Writer Joyce Mason website. Don’t miss her spirited living blog, Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights or her astrology site, The Radical Virgo.
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