On December 21, 2012 the Sun passes through the center of the Milky Way at exactly 11:11am GMT. This astrological event occurs only once in 26,000 years. And so this Winter Solstice is considered to be of great astrological and also numerological significance as it stands for the number 11 – the highest spiritual number in numerology.
Some say The Mayan Calendar ends on that day and call it the end of the world. Yet many see it as the “awakening of humanity”. Barbara Marx Hubbard calls it the Birth of a New Era and together with Stephen Dinan has organized a massive Global Event to celebrate these days. Three Days of Love is just one of the many inspiring and creative initiatives followed and led by a host of people around the world. All this only days before our traditional Christmas, when we celebrate another Birth.
The Solstice and Christmas both portend the Return of the Light. This time of year seems to open our hearts – makes us joyous but also vulnerable to loss. And easier to have the empathy needed to reach out to others. I am struck that it is at this particular moment that the outpouring of empathy from the Connecticut tragedy seems to have broken through the “Conspiracy of Silence” which I wrote about last week. Amazingly, it almost seems possible that the gun laws will be changed. It is actually already happening even here in Norway. This could be a sign of the birth of a new era and a shift of values in the United States. Some of us carry this hope.
Faith Fuller of Center for Right Relationship (CSR Global) writes an insightful blog post about these times. She concludes with some important questions for reflection: “What am I dreaming for the end of this year? What needs to die within me in fiery apocalypse and where am I poised to leap into transcendence? Both dreams are necessary because the old must be cleared away before the new can emerge.”
Happy Holidays! See you after the New Year.
Warmest,
Mara
May this powerful poem by Jennifer Welwood from her “Poems for the Path” be an inspiration to you for these unique evolutionary times.
The Birth of the Soul
My soul said to me, there is suffering,
And she led me into the dark lands,
Deep into the darkness without a light;
She trained me in all the ardors
Of opening to the darkness,
And of waiting, without hope, in the darkest night.
My soul said to me, there is suffering,
And stripped away my robe of glory,
She stripped away my very flesh, and then my bones;
She said, feel deeply now into the emptiness,
Learn all it has to teach you,
But first abandon any dream of going home.
My soul said to me, you are opened now –
I have made your heart transparent;
She descended then, like a queen who claims her throne;
And she blazed forth with a radiance
That illumined all the darkness,
And I knew myself at last, and all was home.
My soul said to me, I am the light
That brings and end to suffering,
I am the mystic star that portends the mystic birth;
I enter matter to redeem her,
Falling down into the darkness;
Now I awaken in your heart and walk the earth
My soul said to me, will you serve now?
I would make of you a vessel;
There is suffering, so many beings lost and alone.
In tears I answered, how can you ask me this,
As though I could refuse you,
As though my every cell were not your own.
My soul said to me, I will carry you,
For your journey is far from over,
But from here your every step belongs to me;
I will guide you and sustain you,
Transform you and act through you,
And not cease until every being is free.