Inner Experiment Day 7: Awaiting the Invincible Sun….
I’m posting today’s results early because I’m getting ready to head into preparations for the Solstice….
Tomorrow is the winter solstice, which marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year.
Tonight at sunset my family will turn off all the electric lights. We’ll operate by fire and candlelight until tomorrow morning, when I’ll go out to greet the sun as it rises.
I love connecting with the holy days of the earth. They transcend religion, because they celebrate our shared experience as co-habitants of our planet. We may have different perspectives, histories, stories and experiences, but the earth’s relationship to the sun and the moon impact us all.
The ancient Romans celebrated “Sol Invictus” or “the unconquered sun” on December 25, to mark the lengthening of the days after the winter solstice. Later the Christian Church decided to place the feast of Jesus’ birth on December 25, linking Christ to the sun and ”the light of the world.” So marking the Solstice is a lovely opening into Christmas.
Each day my heart is growing lighter. The pull to go deeper into my encounter with mystery increases as I continue the Inner Experiment. I’m feeling quiet and contemplative. I’m playing with conscious eating, bringing awareness to all the ingredients in my food. The tuna salad I ate for lunch became a dance…a dance with the energy of the fish whose gills inhaled cold and salty water and the cucumbers absorbing nourishment from the soil and the warm sun.
Today I am crying more easily, and laughing more spontaneously too.
I’m coming back home to myself. I haven’t felt this centered since I left Ireland. Good to know that I don’t need to leave the country to remember who I am.
So I’m off to sit in the darkness and await the return of the Unconquered Sun. Peace of the longest nights to you,
Kimberly Schneider
www.facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
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