Tomorrow night, Thursday December 22 at 7:00pm we will celebrate the first Winter Solstice of the Aquarian Age by creating a healing vibratory field with Kundalini Yoga and Pranayam and chanting The First Sodhung Mantra for 31 minutes. This mantra aligns heaven and earth in you through the profound resonance of this mantra and visualization. A long gong meditation follows... so it will prove to be a powerful and elevating evening. Yogi Tea and cookies will be served afterwards. Class is on a donation basis ($15 recommended).
Winter Solstice is a powerful portal for transformation. The shortest day and longest night of the year opens the way for a gradual return of "the light". It's no accident that so many holidays and celebrations of every culture celebrate this time of year with ceremony. In the Kundalini Yoga Community, we celebrate both the winter and the summer solstices with a week-long celebration in Florida and New Mexico, respectively. As I am unable to attend this year's Winter Solstice Celebration in Lake Wales, Florida...I have decided to hold this special class so that others, like myself, could gather and meditate together.
Solstice rites are one of our oldest cultural celebrations dating back to the dawn of modern civilization 30,000 years ago. For ancient as well as modern people, the Winter Solstice was and still is an awesome and mysterious phenomenon.
Yule, or Jul is an old Anglo-Saxon word that means "wheel". The winter solstice is the turning point in the natural cycle of the year...and so it is a good time for spiritual work. Some neo-pagans believe that the dark nights of winter are when the veil between the spirit world and the living world is the thinnest and so are best used for self-examination and meditation. Yule traditions celebrate nature's renewal and our connection to the cosmos and earth.
In Scandinavian and Germanic countries, they celebrate Saint Lucia (lucia=light) by dressing a chosen girl in white robes with a blood-red sash and sending her around to work her healing miracles. In Poland, there is the festival of Gody at which time people forgive one another and share food. In Belgium, there is the Koleduvane festival which commemorates the birth of the sun. In China, the Dongzhi Festival (the "extreme of winter") celebrates the shifting of darkness to light which increases the flow of positive energy.
Traditionally, Indigenous People have always gone into ceremony to celebrate what is considered the longest night and greeted the New Sun on the next day with the utmost reverence. Pagans decorated inside their homes with plants and branches to bring in fertility and promote growth and this has evolved into the modern Christmas tree. In the Christian tradition, the birth of baby Jesus is celebrated around this time which signifies the coming of the one who brings the light. In Jewish tradition, Chanukah is called the "festival of lights" and the eight days of celebration involve the lighting of candles, ceremony and sharing food and gifts with loved ones.
The instant that the earth's axis stops tilting away from the sun and starts going back in the other direction is the actual moment of the Winter Solstice. However, the Winter Solstice is not just a metaphorical event. It is a significant astronomical event that has consequences for life here on this earth.
Please join me in celebration of this auspicious time. Bring a mat, blanket, or pillow if needed ...bring a friend....and come prepared to raise your consciousness with like minded souls. Please visit the website for more information and the address.
Sat Nam,
Raghubir
No comments:
Post a Comment