Sitting out in my sit spot each day has had the effect of rooting me more deeply in the rhythms of nature, making me less inclined to fall in line with the demands of the calendar.
I’ve been pressuring myself to kick off a new offering at the start of 2021. But now, after being more intentional about sitting daily in nature, I’m realizing that January is simply not the time for me to birth something new into the world.
Even in the dark days of January, even with a pandemic raging through the land, the messaging of the New Year will be that we need to do more, better, faster, and harder.
Never are we presented with a season for rest, inwardness, or the enjoyment of simple pleasures. And never will we receive it from our culture.
Let us look elsewhere.
About two weeks ago, we took the syrup off of our two beehives. Each year, these busy, honey-making, pollinating creatures of efficiency are forced to retreat into their hives for a few months since they cannot fly once temperatures dip below 55 degrees.
While overwintering, honeybees cluster in a ball, drawing upon their stores of honey to help them generate warmth. Whatever the external conditions, honeybees need to keep the temperature inside the hive a constant 93 degrees. In this way, honeybee colonies resemble mammals more than insects.
We are mammals who also yearn to overwinter by slowing down, sleeping, and eating our winter stores. Darkness and cold triggers a biological yearning down to our cells to recollect ourselves by curling up in a warm and cozy ball and taking a break from the world.
Our human colony, however, demands that we override our biological and soulful instincts. No matter the cost to body, spirit, or planet, we are obligated to do our part to keep the wheels of commerce turning.
Like honeybees on the verge of colony collapse, we fly ourselves bald in the search for ever more nectar in the fields of life. Unlike the honeybees, however, winter is no different for us than any other time of year. We live and die by a modified version of Caesar’s calendar rather than observing the soulful wisdom of Gaia’s calendar.
It is a deeply countercultural move to slow down, rest, and turn inward. Allowing our bodies and spirits to follow the natural rhythm of light is a radical act and a spiritual discipline.
Offering
Find an item in nature that reflects the season to you. When you go to take whatever it is from the land, pause and ask if you may take it. Leave a small offering behind in exchange for the gift: tobacco, a shell, a pinch of bread.
We will be sharing these offerings at the start of the circle.
Intention
To grow in our understanding and practice of sacred time in our lives.
RSVP
You are invited to join us for a free online journey circle this Wednesday, December 2 from 4-6 pm PST. Open to all skill levels. Email anna “at” gaiashamanism.com for more information.